Dina Wadia (born 15 August 1919) was the daughter and only child of Governor-General of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Rattanbai Jinnah.
Biography[]
Dina Jinnah was born in London, England on 15 August 1919, the daughter of Indian National Congress activist Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Rattanbai Jinnah. Dina was a pampered child, and she attended school during her family's stay in the United Kingdom. She was disowned by her father for deciding to marry Neville Wadia, a Zoroastrian Parsi-Indian businessman; marrying outside of the Muslim faith was not allowed. She did not travel to Pakistan until her father's funeral in September 1948, and she later attempted to inherit some of her father's possessions, despite being disinherited. Her son Nusli succeed her husband as the chairman of Bombay Dyeing. In 2004, Dina visited Pakistan with her son along with her grandsons Ness Wadia and Jehangir Wadia for the first time ever since 1948.
Dina died at her home in Madison Avenue in New York City on 2 November 2017, at the age of 98 from pneumonia. Her death was deeply mourned by the people of Pakistan, and was described as the "nation's grief". Several political leaders, including the then Prime Minister and President of Pakistan issued official statements on her death, and later said that she was "greatly respected and admired in Pakistan". The Sindh Assembly in Pakistan observed a one-minute silence in her remembrance and offered Al-Fatiha for her and her father's departed soul. Dina was survived by her son and Wadia group chairman Nusli Wadia, daughter Diana Wadia, and grandsons Ness Wadia and Jehangir Wadia.