No move made to reclaim Jinnah Courts building, PA told

The Sindh Assembly was informed on Monday that the provincial government is yet to make a move to get back the possession of the heritage building of the Jinnah Courts, which houses the headquarters of the Sindh Rangers.

The information was provided during the PA’s question hour on the Sindh Culture, Tourism & Antiquities Department. Culture Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah answered the verbal and written queries of the legislators.

The House was informed that the paramilitary force had shifted their HQ to the Jinnah Courts on a temporary basis in April 1999, and that the protected heritage building was built between June 1932 and June 1933.

The building is protected under the Sindh Cultural Heritage (Preservation) Act of 1994 and is a property of the government’s culture department. The Jinnah Courts was constructed with the help of donations by citizens and the province’s local bodies to provide residential facilities to students moving to Karachi from all over Sindh.

The hostel remained a place of high importance during the Pakistan Movement, as the Founder of the Nation, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, also visited it. The building was originally named Leslie Wilson Muslim Hostel, but soon after the country’s independence, it was renamed after the nation’s founder.

The culture minister also informed the House that there are 24 huts in very good condition for entertaining tourists at the spot of Keenjhar Lake of Thatta. He said that soon a system will be introduced for enabling the potential visitors to the lake to reserve these huts by making payments through the online website.