INSULTING JINNAH AND IQBAL IN LAWRENCE COLLEGE (REFLECTIVE OF TERRIBLE INFERIORITY COMPLEX AMONGST SOME OLD GALLIANS) by (Maj Gen (R) Inayat Ollah Khan Niazi) Brief Background 1. A controversy was generated on re-naming of Hamid Hall and bringing back old colonial names of houses. I would like to share my views in the hope that these may help in arriving at correct decisions based on facts, despite the fact that we have a GOVERNOR WHOSE LOYALTIES IN THIS RESPECT ARE MISPLACED. He has found no time to hold even one meeting of the Board of Governors (since last year and a half) JUST TO AVOID THIS ISSUE !!!!! I will share these views in the following three parts: a. Inappropriately conducted and a dubious resolution. b. Naming of college auditorium. c. Naming of houses. INAPPROPRIATELY CONDUCTED AND DUBIOUS RESOLUTION 2. On GG`s 150th Founder`s Day celebrations, the worst day in GGs history, Gen Amjad was called to tell the audience something about accountability, of all the subjects !!!! Brig Zafar Hayat had earlier come and talked proudly about how the college was renamed Lawrence College in 1985 after having been named Ghora Gali and Pine Hill in 1978.. The general officer never talked about accountability. He straight away surprised us by asking whether we were celebrating our 150th or 63/64th Founder’s Day? He thereby suggested that old colonial names of houses be revived and that EVEN Hamid Hall be renamed as Lawrence Hall ( after a COLONIALIST), but “WITH DUE RESPECT” to the ones that were being insulted. HUMEROUS? The Board of Governors, like a herd of sheep, unanimously approved that.This is a very wrong lesson we are passing on to our next generation. It is not just a question about names, it is the values behind names (Jinnah, Iqbal, Yazeed, Abu Jahl, Mir Jaffar etc). 3. I will discuss both the issues separately. Before that let me say categorically, my source being an authentic one, that all this was pre-planned and dubiously manipulated by a few old Gallians, particularly Gen Amjad, Brig Zafar Hayat, Brig Effendi and the then principal . Above board and an honorable method would have been to announce this as an agenda point months earlier, speakers should have been called to give different views and then the matter should have been put to vote. Entire college teaching staff should have participated, alongwith Senior School students. Both should have voted with no influence of the teaching staff on the students. I regret to point out that no debate was carried out and opposite views were not even sought. It was all done in a dubious, intriguing, cheap and hasty manner. That so called resolution is therefore not acceptable, being a manipulated and a fake one whereby no agenda was given in advance and opposite views were not even asked for. (School and houses names were earlier changed in 1973). I alongwith a few more old Gallians did not vote for bringing colonial names back. To say that this was a unanimous resolution is a blatant lie and distortion of facts. PROPOSALS 4. I strongly recommend to Governor Punjab and GOC 12 Division that this controversy should be settled by asking interested old Gallians to assemble in GG, a debate should then be organized and the mater put to vote. Teaching staff (existing and retired) should also participate alongwith students of Senior School. NAMING OF COLLEGE AUDITORIUM 5. After whom should the college auditorium be named? Should it be Henry Lawrence after whom it was named till 1973 for the first 26 years after our independence or after Mr. Hamid on whose name it remained for 37 years? If time period and history have any significance, there was no reason to change the name of Hamid Hall. Another angle to judge from is: who had a better personality to inspire and motivate us and whose contributions to the college were more? Lets see: 6. HENRY LAWRENCE. Large majority of Gallians, including old Gallians are unaware of who this personalities was. A few facts about Henry Lawrence, given below, may help us in our decision making: a. (1) FACT: A considerable part of what now constitutes Pakistan was butchered by Henry Lawrence and his group of friends: Nicholson who ransacked NWFP and Abbott who conquered Hazara. Henry Lawrence and his brother played havoc with Punjab. (2) COMMENT: Henry Lawrence was amongst our conquerors and enemy. When did old Gallians learn to honour conquerors and enemies? Is that an honourable emotion? b. (1) FACT: Henry Lawrence commanded the British and Indian troops during the battle of Lucknow which was part of our battle of independence, having already participated in killing of Muslims in India and Afghanistan. He was fighting our ancestors. He killed them. Was he still not our enemy? (2). COMMENT: Does any nation or dignified people honour an enemy, a conqueror or one who killed one`s ancestors who were fighting for our independence? Shameful. c. (1) FACT: Henry Lawrence`s military acumen can be judged from the fact that he failed to defeat his adversaries and died at Lucknow. His failure was against ill organized and ill-armed Indian troops, woefully lacking in organized leadership. There were no Indian officers at that time. He attacked them and failed. He was a brigadier, then known as brigadier general in British army for ONLY TWO MONTHS !!! (2). COMMENT: Does anyone derive any inspiration from this? An ORDINARY COLONIAL army officer being worshipped in GG and defended simply because of the COLONIAL name! d. (1) FACT: The greatest holocaust in history is not of 5/6 million Jews in Germany, but of the 10 million Indians, including Muslims, during the years around the 1857 War of Independence. (2). COMMENT: Does that qualify Henry Lawrence to be honoured by us for his contribution in this respect? Or, are 10 million Indian souls an insignificant number to be killed by East India Company? Honouring a butcher? e. (1) FACTS: Henry Lawrence suggested setting up of an asylum for wards of British troops who died fighting our ancestors. It may be noted that Henry Lawrence was also commanding Indian troops fighting for the British. He never included the wards of Indian troops who laid down their lives for the British. Does that not betray prejudice? (2) . Please also note that when the question arose of the eligibility of the children of Indian troops, the definition of children of British troops was changed to include only those children whose parents were both British. The aim was to train them as good Christians! (3). COMMENTS. Must we honour him for this prejudice? Does it betray segregation? Apartheid? Thereby, implying that Indians and dogs not allowed in the great Lawrence Asylum. Or , are these too mild an insult for some Old Gallians? Must we continue to honour him for this ridiculous concept, betraying a prejudiced and segregated mindset? f. (1) FACT: After the conquest of Punjab, Henry Lawrence suggested that Punjab should not be annexed ! (2). COMMENT: Is that not hypocrisy? Did he not know that his suggestion would never be accepted? After all,why were the British in India in the first place? What was he doing in India? Must we honour him for this hypocrisy /naivity or deception to please the locals. g. (1) FACTS: After the conquest of Punjab, including Lahore, the British incurred a heavy debt. For part of the payment Henry Lawrence suggested that Kashmir be sold to his friend Gulab Singh, for which Pakistan is suffering till today. Henry Lawrence was one of the two signatories on behalf of the British for this deal. (2) COMMENTS: Should we honour Henry Lawrence for this? Does Kashmir have no significance or emotional value for us? Is name, Henry Lawrence, superior to the Kashmiris? How ridiculous can some Old Gallians become? 7. Henry Lawrence died in 1857, whereas, this college was raised in 1860. It would not have been named after him had it not been for his brother who was the governor of Punjab. Henry Lawrence was NOT THE FOUNDER of this college, a terrible distortion of college history we have allowed all these years and which has affected our emotions and values. His contribution to the college was zero. It was raised by Punjab Government from our money (taxes). 8. One should seriously contemplate on the fact that nothing has been named after him in UK. 9. The only logic given in favour of naming the hall and college after him is that it is part of our history. My response to this is: yes, history is a reality. We must own our history and learn from it. Since this is a disgraceful part of our history we should not be deriving any motivation from it. Bad history compelled us to create a new nation. We must look at this issue with the spirit of 1947. This logic of history is least convincing. I am sure the supporters of this logic, (no pun intended), would not like to form a delegation, go to UK embassy and convince them of this logic of learning from history and ask them to name some important institution after Hitler? Their response can be predicted. Would such a delegation ever go to the prime minister of Pakistan and motivate him that in order to remember history, not to forget it, and learn from it we must rename Islamabad as “Abu Lahababad” and Rawalpindi as “Abu Jahalabad”? Are we not romanticizing colonial names too much and for too long? Or, is it an invincible COLONIAL LUST and slavish mindset? 10. MR.HAMID: Who was Ch Abdul Hamid? He joined the college in 1927as the first Muslim teacher. He retired as principal in 1955. On independence, Mr. Hamid learnt that the locals were burning Murree Brewery and were planning to burn the college also. He dropped his plan to go to India to fetch his family when many families were being killed. How may human beings would do that? Not inspiring? 11. He contacted a few honorable local notables, who provided him with armed personnel. Together, they defended the college and simultaneously also motivated the locals to refrain from burning it. They succeeded. Is that deed alone not enough to honour Mr. Hamid “with due respect”? Had Henry Lawrence done that, who knows, we may have gone into his grave to kiss his feet. 12. If was during Mr. Hamid`s time that Gallian spirit was deeply inculcated and overall improvements brought about in the college. Such was his performance as principal that when he retired the boys of Senior School pushed his car from his residence till Murree despite his frequent insistence not to do so. Is that not an unusual event in the history of world educational institutions? Not inspiring, I suppose? 13. The gentleman had no allegation against him, on any ground whatsoever, whether it be financial, moral, integrity etc. Amongst all the British and Pakistani principals of this college, he alone was a true icon. That certainly invokes jealousies. 14. Mr. Hamid died in 1961.He never maneuvered to get the hall named after him. His charisma was such that it survived and the hall was named after him in 1973, eleven long years after his death. It was a popular decision. Why this insult to him now? What was his fault? 15. Mr. Hamid, however, I must admit, had one glaring drawback, which from the point of view of some old Gallians can never be over-looked: like most of us, the colour of his skin was brown. It was not white. By that standard, therefore, Henry Lawrence wins by a big margin. 16. However, I would still like to be educated. Would someone please highlight at least one quality of Henry Lawrence, sorry Sir Henry Lawrence, whereby we should, as honourable Pakistanis, derive inspiration or motivation from him and honour him. JUST ONE QUALITY. Or, am I asking for too much? NAMING OF HOUSES 17. The second issue is that of bringing the old colonial house names back because it was part of our history. Which part of history are we talking about? The college was Lawrence Memorial Asylum in1860. In 1910 it became Lawrence Memorial School. Up till then it had no houses. It became Lawrence College in 1926. Number of houses and their names changed a few times. By 1947 it had seven houses, four named after British governors. In 1948 these were reduced to four, and Walker House (fourth house) was added in honour of a principal whose tenure as a principal was only one year. 18. Let there be no mistake: as I pointed out in my earlier write-up, the aim of these reverend principals was to train children of British troops (both parents British) who died fighting Indians, including Muslims, and to groom them into good Christians. These four principals, after whom these houses were named, were padres (reverends) who were strictly implementing this aim. Even in 1948 Muslim students were made to attend church. NONE of them tried for enrolment of any Muslim, or Indians, and the number of Indian students in 1942 was about four and approximately eight during independence (college could give the correct figures). So, which part of history do supporters of colonial names wish to relish? 19. These names were in use till 1973, i.e. for around 26 years since our independence. The Muslim names had been in use for the past 38 years. Which part of history do we wish to revert to and relish? Were Muslim names not part of GGs history? They were certainly not part of GGs COLONIAL HISTORY! Why have the Muslim names been so unbearable for some old Gallians? What is so cherishable about colonial names? 20. The question asked by the general was “Were we celebrating 150th Founders Day on 63/64th Founders Day”? My answer is: we were supposed to be celebrating 150th Founder `s Day under the SPIRIT OF 1947. However, if that question was not meant to be a mere slogan, then am I to assume that those who wished to celebrate 150th Founder`s Day were suggesting to rename the college as Lawrence Asylum, which it was 150 years back? Secondly, were they also suggesting that the first priority of admission to the college be given to the children of British troops who have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan? That would really please Henry Lawrence. 21. Supporting colonial names over names of Muslim heroes is simply disgusting and sickening. NOT GETTING HURT BY INSULTING JINNAH AND IQBAL CERTAINLY PUTS ONES PATRIOTISM IN DOUBT !!!!! Colonial names have certainly retained their intoxication. Please remember, there are values attached to names. Some MORONS have asked as to what contributions did Tipu Sultan make towards Lawrence College? Well, what contributions did Henry Lawrence make for Lawrence College? Institutions are not necessarily named based on contributions. Mostly they are meant to inspire new generations (Tariq, Qasim, Salauddin, Khalid – names of companies in PMA). 22. I am not against FOREIGN names provided the foreigners set up institutions with their own money without any element of prejudice or apartheid like Ganga Ram and Jhanki Devi hospitals. We must educate our new generation about correct historical values based on honour and dignity. I am afraid, honouring enemies and conquerors etc is highly undignified and shameful. We must not romanticize colonial names any more. 23. However,I am ready to learn. Would someone, AGAIN, please name one quality whereby these reverends inspire old Gallians? Or, am I again asking for too much? Have we forgotten Macaulay`s educational reforms for India, whereby it was aimed to let Indians look like Indians, but develop their minds and their thinking to be British. Do some of us find a manifestation of that in ourselves? Are some of us not Macaullays product?
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 12:15:52 +0000
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