Won’t allow renaming of Dyal Singh College: Javadekar

Meanwhile, with the college putting up a banner with the name ‘Vande Mataram Dyal Singh College’ during its annual function, Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking action.

Kaur, the Minister for Food Processing and Industries, has demanded the sacking of chairman of the college, Amitabh Sinha, for his “malafide intention”. Sinha is a member of BJP national executive. Kaur also demanded strict action against Delhi University Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Tyagi for supporting such a move.

College authorities clarified that the banner was put up by students after they got approval from Sinha, who refused to comment. V-C Tyagi said that “the name has not been changed. A Vice-Chancellor cannot do these things. There are formal procedures for it”.

After the evening college was converted into a day college in November 2017, the governing body of the college passed a resolution stating that its name will be changed to Vande Mataram Mahavidyalaya. This is because a Dyal Singh (Morning) College already exists. The resolution has been sent to the DU V-C for approval.

Many leaders protested against the move, saying it was “oppressive” and undermined the contribution of the founder-S Dyal Singh Majithia. Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Rajouri Garden MLA and general secretary of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, said, “This is completely unacceptable. We also want action against the V-C… this is happening at his behest.”