Dina Wadia - Present Times

Present Times

In March 2004, Dina came to Lahore, Pakistan to watch a cricket match between Pakistan and India. She considered "cricket diplomacy" to be an enthralling dimension that illustrated an entirely new phase in relations between India and Pakistan. But she and her son Nusli Wadia chose not to share their thoughts with the public on what was certainly a highly emotional encounter. Dina had not travelled to Pakistan since her father's funeral in September 1948. A great sense of drama was embedded in an old woman's visit, as a foreigner, to a country that was founded by her father.

Dina, her son Nusli Wadia and grandsons Ness Wadia and Jehangir Wadia visited the mausoleum of her father to pay homage. She also visited the museum located within the premises of the mausoleum and saw the articles used by her father. In the visitors' book, Dina wrote: "This has been very sad and wonderful for me. May his dream for Pakistan come true." This would appear to be a very appropriate summation of a life-experience that is essentially inexplicable. Reports said that she asked for copies of three pictures she saw in the mausoleum's antiquities room. In one picture, she is standing with her father and aunt, Fatima Jinnah. The other is a painting of her mother, Maryam Jinnah. In the third, her father is dictating a letter, showing Mohammad Ali Jinnah's political persona.

She also went to the Mazar of Madar-e-Millat Fatima Jinnah to pay respects to her aunt and Flagstaff House Pakistan to host the flag of Pakistan and her father's house Wazir Mansion.