In a meeting held on Friday, the Governing Body of Dyal Singh College decided to rename the evening college to Vande Mataram Mahavidyalaya once it is converted to a full-time morning college. On September 21, Principal Pawan K Sharma, Dyal Singh Evening College received a notification from the Executive Council stating the approval for the evening college to become a morning college.
The college has been named after Sardar Dyal Singh Manjithia, the first freedom fighter of Punjab, founder of The Tribune and Punjab National Bank.
At first, the name Madan Mohan Malviya College was suggested but commenting on the finalised name, Amitabh Sinha, Chairman of the GB said, “Woh (Malviya) kiske bachche the? Hum unhi ko pranaam kar rahe hain. Maa ka darza sabse upar hota hai aur unhe pranaam karna hai. (Whose child was Malviya? We are paying respect to her. The stature of the mother is above all else). Vande Mataram means to pay obeisance to the mother. There is no politics in the name.”
Mr. Sinha said the decision was unanimously taken by the 16 members of the GB and added, “Whether it’s your own mother or Bharat Mata, mother is mother. Those who have a problem with paying obeisance to the mother, there is a question mark on whether they are human beings or not.”
In the Press Release by the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), it has been stated that they are against changing the name of the college at this point when the college is struggling to accommodate the students in the given infrastructure. Neeraj Mishra, the media coordinator of NSUI, comments, “The College has more than 5000 students and during exams with more than 95% attendance, the students have to sit in the canteen and mats or tents are laid out for them to take their exams. First, all infrastructural facilities must be provided and names can be changed to anything later.”
Kunal Sehrawat, the DUSU Vice President, was not available for a comment.
Feature Image Credits: Hindustan Times
Prachi Mehra