Bir Devinder Singh (file photo)
Why Harsimrat Badal is silent on renaming of Dayal Singh College, asks Bir Devinder
Patiala, November 23, 2017: Former Deputy Speaker, Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Bir Devinder Singh on Thursday questioned the silence maintained by Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal on the raging issue of renaming of Delhi’s Dyal Singh College.
Her silence seems more intriguing since Manjit Singh GK and Manjinder Singh Sirsa, the leaders of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) and her own party hav taken a forceful and logical stand against arbitrary decision of renaming this prominent institution as Vande Mataram Mahavidyalaya.
Even as Bir Devinder appreciated the relentless efforts by both Akali leaders for restoring the college’s original name, he found the silence of Harsimrat Badal, ever since the controversy erupted more than a week ago, as quite baffling.
“I wonder, Why Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who is otherwise quite vocal on such issues, has not come forward boldly so far to stall this move smacking parochial mindset of the management of Dayal Singh Evening College, Delhi to change its original name,” fumed Bir Devinder.
He noted that the entire leadership of the DSGMC, Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) and other Sikh organizations were up in arms against the move to demolish the name of the founder of the college Sardar Dayal Singh Majithia, a legendary philanthropist and educationist, who made monumental contribution to promote the cause of education.
This move bearing a striking similarity in Pakistan was opposed and successfully stalled by eminent scholars, writers, teachers and the students when the Government there tried to drop the name of Sardar Dayal Sing Majithia from the college and the library he had established at Lahore, he recalled.
The former Deputy Speaker expected Harsimrat Kaur Badal to lead a delegation of Punjab MPs, MLAs, DSGMC and SGPC members and take up the matter with her colleague in the Union Cabinet and HRD Minister Prakash Javdekar to seek his effective intervention.
He suggested that the Ministry of HRD could immediately send an advisory to the Vice- Chancellor of Delhi University to reject the proposal of the college management committee in deference to the sentiments of the entire Sikh Community, a significant minority of the country.