Lal Krishna Advani, a top BJP leader who received the Bharat Ratna, has seen a lot at the age of 96.
When I saw the independence of the country, I also suffered the pain of partition. When we agitated for Ramlala, we also saw a temple being built. Advani, born in Karachi in 1927, left his palace-like house after partition.
But even today the memories of the first 20 years of his life are in his mind. A few years ago, he even said that he feels sad that the Sindh province in which I was born is not a part of India.
Not only this, when he went to Pakistan in 2005, he also reached Karachi. There he also saw his house, which he had left behind during partition.
When Advani reached his home, he saw that his steel cupboard, three carpets and bed were kept intact. His eyes were filled with tears after seeing them.
However, his house was not the same as before and that two storey house had now turned into a 5 storey building. Advani’s house, living in the Parsi Colony of Karachi, was known as ‘Lal Cottage’.
Now its name has become JJ Luxury Apartments. Most of the old houses in this area were demolished and now apartments have been built here. From real estate point of view it has become a big value.
The house which LK Advani’s family left behind now has 5 floors and a total of 39 apartments have been built. There are 8 flats in each floor and it is owned by the Memon family, originally from Gujarat.
At present its owner is Iqbal Hussain Jiwani. Jiwani’s father had come from Gujarat and had bought this bungalow from Abdul Jalees Mohammed.
This building was sold to Abdul Jalis by Advani’s father Kishanchand Dharamdas Advani on September 6, 1947.
Abdul Jalees, originally from Arabia, gave the building to Jiwani in 1974 and moved to Saudi Arabia.
Interestingly, the seal on the deed was that of the Government of India. The reason for this was that partition was new at that time and Pakistan’s system had not been developed.
Jivani told that when he bought it, there were 6 bedrooms in this bungalow. There was a small garden and a separate closed room.
Jivani had given this complete information about this house in 2005, when the media had come searching for the ancestral house of LK Advani.