Jinnah’s driver dies, with a wish unfulfilled

Syed Shah Abdul Hye, one-time chauffeur of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, died at 92 in his Karnataka residence last week with a wish unfulfilled.

In an interview with this newspaper in August 2003, Hye had expressed a desire to meet Jinnah’s daughter Dina and grandson Nusli Wadia, the chairman of Bombay Dyeing. ‘‘When I went to meet my daughters in the US, I tried to meet Dina, but she had isolated herself from the world. I wrote many letters to Nusli Wadia also, but never got a reply,’’ he had said. Hye worked with ‘Bhai’ (Jinnah) from around 1936 to 1940. In the 2003 interview, Hye recalled the elections to provincial assemblies when someone put the League flag on Jinnah’s car. Jinnah blew his top and told Hye: ‘‘Until I build Pakistan, I don’t want any flag on my car’’.

Hye eventually left the Jinnahs in 1940. After Partition, he settled at Kunjibettu in Karnataka’s Udupi.