Jinnah Tower is a landmark monument in the city of

Guntur Guntur () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Guntur district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Guntur is spread across 168.49 km square and is the third-largest city in the state. It is situated to the west of the Ba ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

. It is named after the founder of Pakistan,

Muhammad Ali Jinnah Muhammad Ali Jinnah (, ; born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the ...

and is located on

Mahatma Gandhi Road This is a list of roads across the world named after the Indian anti-colonial nationalist and lawyer, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi ( Mahatma Gandhi), known for his nonviolent resistance to lead a successful campaign for India's independence from ...

of the city. It is being re-painted to tricolor and renamed because of the controversy regarding Jinnah being the founder of Pakistan should not be stated in India.

Structure

The tower was erected on six pillars which open to a dome, typical of the then Muslim architecture in early twentieth century. The tower is currently in a state of neglect and crumbling. According to the State Archaeology Department, the tower could be brought under the list of protected monuments if it has history of more than 60 years.

Origins

About its origins, one story is that a representative of Jinnah, Judaliyaquat Ali Khan, visited

in the pre-Independence era. Khan was felicitated by Lal Jan, the grandfather of the former Rajya Sabha member, S. M. Laljan Basha and current advisor to the Government of Andhra Pradesh Minorities welfare department, S.M. Ziauddin. He is said to have built a tower to commemorate the leader of the Muslim League. According to another narrative, two Municipal Chairmen,

Nadimpalli Narasimha Rao Nadimpalli is a remote rural village in Puthalapattu mandal of Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh in India. Government and politics Pantapalle gram panchayat is the local self-government of the village. It is divided into wards and each wa ...

and

Tellakula Jalayya Tellakula Jalayya was a Member of Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly from 1955 to 1962 from Guntur I Constituency, and he served as the first Chairman of Guntur Municipal Corporation. Tellakula Jalayya and Nadimpalli Narasimha Rao during thei ...

were responsible during their respective terms of office for the construction of the tower — as a symbol of peace and harmony.

References

{{Guntur topics Tourist attractions in Guntur Monuments and memorials in Andhra Pradesh Memorials to Muhammad Ali Jinnah Towers in India Buildings and structures in Guntur