The Lokmanya Tilak Swarajya Bhoomi Trust on Saturday demanded that the Jinnah House in Malabar Hill be handed over to it for creating a mural depicting the legacy of Tilak.
In a statement issued here on Saturday, founder president of the trust, Prakash Silam said it had written to the Public Works Department on January 29, 2016 that the Jinnah House premises be handed over to it.
‘Jinnah House’ was the residence of Pakistan’s founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah in Malabar Hill of south Mumbai.
Recently, BJP MLA Mangal Prabhat Lodha had demanded that the Jinnah House be pulled down and a cultural centre be constructed in its place.
Criticising the BJP MLA, Silam said the iconic Jinnah House is now an heritage structure and that pulling it down will not erase the "bitter history".
“Barrister Jinnah upon learning of the sad demise of Lokmanya Tilak rushed to Mumbai from Pune to pay his last respects to the leader” he stated. He added that late Muhammad Ali Jinnah had great respect for Lokmanya Tilak.
He further stated that two years ago the trust had written to the state government that they wanted to have a mural depicting the history of ties between Lokmanya Tilak, Jinnah and Mahatma Gandhi at the bungalow.
Silam accused Lodha of deliberately trying to create obstacles in the process of having a mural at the Jinnah House.
He said that the trust had expected that Lodha being the local MLA would help them in their efforts. Silam said that people will not tolerate any attempts by the government to take any decision favouring its party MLA.
Pakistan on Friday had expressed concern over the safety of ‘Jinnah House’ and said India should show respect towards it, after BJP MLA Mangal Prabhat Lodha last week demanded that the building be demolished and a cultural centre built in its place.