Former deputy chief minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal today urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and nip an attempt to create communal disharmony by some mischievous elements who wanted to rename the Dyal Singh Evening College, Delhi as Vande Matram college.In a letter to the Prime Minister, the SAD president said the entirely needless and dangerous controversy over the renaming of the Dyal Singh College named after nation builder Dyal Singh Majitha would only bring a bad name to the country’s democratic and secular society. He said there were countless institutions in the country being run in the name of Sardar Bhagat Singh, Mahatama Gandhi and others and no one could think of replacing these names with Vande Matram even though one could stretch logic mischievously to justify this step. “It would be hard to understand the rationale or the mindset behind such moves, as it is behind the move to change the name of Dyal Singh College”, he added.Giving details of the controversy, Mr Badal said Dyal Singh was a great philanthropist–patriot who had willed his estate in 1895 for the establishment of an educational trust. The Dyal Singh College was established at Lahore in 1910. After the Partition of India, Dyal Singh College was established in Karnal and Delhi. It started functioning in the capital as a constituent college of the University of Delhi in 1959 and was taken over by the University of Delhi as a university maintained institution in 1978.
Mr Badal said all the records of the College were in the name Dyal Singh Trust. Further, as per the transfer deed dated 22.06, 1978 between Dyal Singh College Trust Society and the University of Delhi (Point 12) it was decided that the institution would continue under the same name after its takeover by the University. “The decision of the Governing Body to change the name from Dyal Singh College to Vande Matram Vidyalya is thus a breach of this clause”, he added. The SAD president also disclosed that an unnecessary controversy was being created around the sacred expression of “Vande Matram” and that this had the potential to blow up into a major controversy and conflict in the country. He said the expression Vande Matram evoked spontaneous emotional patriotic fervor in the minds of every Indian and it must be kept beyond the realm of petty political controversies. “Already passions have begun to be aroused along sectarian lines on the issue. This needs to be nipped in the bud, denying any excuse to mischievous elements to disturb the hard earned atmosphere of peace and communal harmony, especially in Punjab and Delhi”, he added.
Stating that the issue really was one of preserving the patriotic heritage bequeathed to the country by one of the greatest nationalists in the form of S Dyal Singh Majithia who was also behind the creation of The Tribune newspaper and Punjab National Bank, Mr Badal requested the Prime Minister to intervene and get the needless provocation stopped so that a measure of sobriety could be restored on this issue. Your kind intervention will strengthen the sentiment of peace and communal harmony in the country”, he added.