Renaming Dyal Singh College

The decision to rename the Dyal Singh Evening College in Delhi to Vande Mataram Mahavidyalaya is a most unfortunate and uncalled for development, and we condemn it. This detachment of the name of a visionary person such as Dyal Singh Majithia is a disturbing, immoral, and unethical move by the management of the college. Dyal Singh was a true nationalist and a patriot who donated much of his wealth to the country, to promote institutions of higher education. He also founded the Tribune—a leading English-language newspaper, as well as the Punjab National Bank. Born with a progressive mind to serve the nation, its society and its people, Dyal Singh donated his properties to set up such institutions that played a crucial role in nation building.

He also played a pivotal role in the freedom struggle of the country, and was one of the founding members of a political party that mobilised people at the grass-roots level towards the freedom struggle. He set up educational institutions that provided opportunities to the common people to fulfil their dreams of higher education. He also set up a trust to run the Tribune, which played a substantial role in the freedom struggle, and virtually became indispensible to the people in the north of Delhi.