Dyal Singh College's renaming 'shocking and unacceptable': Harsimrat Badal

The chairperson of Dyal Singh College's governing body on November 18 asserted that the new name 'Vande Mataram Mahavidyalaya' is an inspiring name.

Union Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Saturday strongly objected to the decision to rename Dyal Singh College (Evening) to Vande Mataram Mahavidyalaya, calling it as 'shocking and unacceptable'.

The governing body of Dyal Singh College, affiliated to the Delhi University, last week passed a resolution to change the name of the erstwhile evening college to 'Vande Mataram'.

"Unacceptable and shocking. The person who is so keen to change name must change his own name, he can put all his wealth to create something and give it whatever name he wants. How can you take away the legacy of someone else?" Harsimrat Badal, who is the Food Processing Minister in the NDA government, told news agency ANI.

Earlier this year, the college had decided to turn Dyal Singh Evening into a regular day college. Some of the teachers and students had been dissatisfied with the proposal that the new regular shift college would continue to function on the same campus, thereby cutting into resources and creating infrastructural constraints.

Union Minister Harsimrat Badal

Harsimrat said that even Pakistan has recognised the contibution of Sardar Deen Dayal Singh Majithia, adding, "colleges are being run on his name (in Pakistan)".

Captain Amarinder Singh

Punjab Chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh opposed the move and took to Twitter to express his disagreement with the name change decision

"Strongly oppose renaming of Dyal Singh College as #vandemataramcollege. Founder Dyal Singh Majithia was a progressive visionary. We should preserve his great legacy instead of indulging in petty name changing games," he tweeted.

Sukhbir Badal has called for PM's intervention

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal asked for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention in the matter. Delhi BJP legislator Manjinder Singh Sirsa had on Monday filed a police complaint against the college's principal and chairman over the name change.

Even the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) passed a resolution against the move, stating that it has hurt the sentiment of Sikhs.

NSUI has also criticised the re-naming

The Congress' student wing NSUI criticised the move, saying the governing board should have focused on improving the college infrastructure rather than changing its name. Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the BJP was still stuck in the past, instead of making efforts to create a better future for the students.

The chairperson of Dyal Singh College's governing body on November 18 asserted that the new name 'Vande Mataram Mahavidyalaya' is an inspiring name for the college.

"Notification was issued that Executive Council approved Dyal Singh evening college becoming a full-fledged day college. Then we had to give it a new and inspiring name, we decided it should be 'Vande Mataram Mahavidyalaya'," Sinha further said.

"It was passed unanimously. But some started protesting saying that it is not acceptable? Why so? Everybody in this universe is because of his/her mother," he added.

OneIndia News