Jinnah's only child, Dina Wadia, passes away at 98

Published November 2, 2017
Mr Jinnah with his sister Fatima and his daughter Dina. —​ Courtesy National Archives Islamabad
Mr Jinnah with his sister Fatima and his daughter Dina. —​ Courtesy National Archives Islamabad
Dina Wadia (extreme left), Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s only child, flew in from Delhi to attend her father’s funeral. —Photo: The Press Information Department, Ministry of Information, Broadcasting & National Heritage, Islamabad
Dina Wadia (extreme left), Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s only child, flew in from Delhi to attend her father’s funeral. —Photo: The Press Information Department, Ministry of Information, Broadcasting & National Heritage, Islamabad

Dina Wadia, the only child of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Rattanbai Petit, passed away in New York on Thursday, sources in Mumbai and New York confirmed.

She was 98 years old.

She had been born on the night between August 14 and 15 in 1919.

Jinnah had raised Dina alone after his separation from Rattanbai and her subsequent demise.

Mr Jinnah and Dina share a private moment in the grounds of their home on West Heath Road in Hampstead, London. —​ Courtesy National Archives Islamabad
Mr Jinnah and Dina share a private moment in the grounds of their home on West Heath Road in Hampstead, London. —​ Courtesy National Archives Islamabad

He loved her deeply, but their relationship had become strained after Dina fell in love with and married an Indian Parsi named Neville Wadia at the age of 17.

Dina and Neville lived in Mumbai and had two children, a boy and a girl, before the couple divorced.

Dina had first visited Pakistan in 1948, when the year-old country had lost its founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

The last time she visited Pakistan was in 2004, accompanied by her son, Nasli Wadia, and grandchildren, Jehangir and Ness.

After visiting the mausoleum of her father, she had written in the visitors' book: “This has been very sad and wonderful for me. May his [Jinnah's] dream for Pakistan come true.”

Opinion

Editorial

Limiting the damage
Updated 07 Mar, 2026

Limiting the damage

WITH looming energy shortages due to the US-Israel war on Iran, the government has revived a range of Covid-era...
Diplomatic option
07 Mar, 2026

Diplomatic option

WITH Operation Ghazab lil Haq underway for over a week now, Pakistan has demonstrated that it can take firm action...
Polio, again
07 Mar, 2026

Polio, again

ANOTHER child has fallen victim to polio, this time in Sindh. The National Institute of Health this week confirmed...
On unstable ground
Updated 06 Mar, 2026

On unstable ground

PAKISTAN’S economic managers repeatedly tout improvements in macroeconomic indicators, including rising foreign...
Divide et impera
06 Mar, 2026

Divide et impera

AS if the high loss of life in Iran, regional escalation and economic turbulence caused by the US-Israeli aggression...
New approach needed
06 Mar, 2026

New approach needed

WITH one World Cup campaign ending in despair, Pakistan began to plan for the start of the cycle of another by...