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Question mark on the status of Khalsa College

I fully endorse the view in the editorial “Status of Khalsa College” (March 30) that no decision should be taken on the conversion of Khalsa College into a privately managed university in haste. It is the duty of the present management of the college to let the people know why the standards of performance of the college are slowly deteriorating and how a privately managed university would meet this challenge.

After all there are renowned Christian colleges doting our country that have produced “world-class” intellectuals. And here is another Sikh minority college, an epitome of Sikh culture and history, and an architectural marvel, facing a serious challenge of performance. It is a general tendency among the managements of public institutions to first let the institutions weaken and then, under the guise of “non-performance”, hand them over to private managements.

Teachers are protesting against the proposal of the Majithias for the fear of losing their job security, besides other reasons. People from three villages who have donated land to the college are also protesting against the move by the president of the governing council. The real issue: Where is the need to convert a public institution into a private one? It is all the more baffling when right next door is located on the land provided by Khalsa Collge a reputed university in the name of Guru Nanak Dev!

Satyajit Singh Majithia, President of the governing council of Khalsa College, has argued that the demand for elevating Khalsa College to a university goes back to the 1920s as other minority institutions like Aligarh Muslim University or Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi have been established by the Indian Government. At the same time Majithia’s idea of Khalsa University is not to provide expanded space for Punjabi culture or Sikh heritage, but to open up professional courses to make money from the middle class and throw all those poor students out who can ill-afford market-determined educational expenses.

The governing council of the college should ask the Union Government to financially support a university on the pattern of Aligarh Muslim University. In that case, Khalsa College could be one of the constituent colleges of the Centrally funded university located at a new place. In the tug of war between the governing council and those opposing the proposal of making the college a private university. people are reading something foul. A message is spreading fast that the relatives of the Chief Minister want to grab the prime property of the college, including more than 300 acres of land.

Prof MANJIT SINGH, Department of Sociology, Panjab University, Chandigarh

You have correctly written that the management of Khalsa College, Amritsar, should not take a hasty decision to change the status of the 119-year-old institution, which was built by the Sikh community in 1892 by collecting money from its members. Sikh dignitaries in various fields are products of this institution. The Sikhs the world over are disturbed by the decision of the committee to change the status of the college and we want that the status of this historic institution in no case should be changed.

AMARJIT SINGH GORAYA, Australia

III

The news that the Punjab Cabinet has deferred the decision on Khalsa College’s future has brought a sigh of relief, though temporarily, for all those who love to see the existence of Khalsa College intact. A hope has rekindled that the Council of Ministers will demonstrate fairness and not get carried away only because Satyajit Singh Majithia’s son-in-law is the high-profile Deputy Chief Minister.

AMANPREET KAUR, Gurdaspur

The move to convert Khalsa College into a university is a bad option. There is neither jubilation nor enthusiasm within the community on the issue. Rather, there is a sad mood all over. The reason: The birth of a new university will engulf the identity of the 119-year-old prestigious Khalsa College. The history will put the blame on today’s Sikh political leadership for becoming an instrument in destroying the Sikh heritage.

HARKANWAR SINGH, Amritsar

Manpreet’s vision

The Tribune’s coverage and analysis of Manpreet Badal’s rally is commendable. By launching a new party, Manpreet Badal has created ripples in the political waters of Punjab. The points enumerated by Manpreet do seem utopian, given the current scenario in which corruption, favouritism, parochialism and communalism prevail.

What Manpreet has brought forward are simply the basic principles on which democracy should function, keeping in view the common man’s needs.

AMANVIR SINGH TIWANA,AMIT GARG, Patiala.

Save tiger, save forest
It is heartening to know that the number of tigers is growing (“Tiger count goes up”, March 30). Tigers play a crucial role in the ecosystem and the cost of saving tigers is nothing as compared to the cost that mankind would have to pay if we lose this species. But still the fast depleting number of big cats is a cause for serious concern.
Tigers are among the ten most endangered species in the world as they serve as an umbrella species for much of the biodiversity. The tiger has always been a symbol of power and the responsibility of saving the tiger fairly and squarely lies with the government, especially the forest department.
Saving the tiger means we save the forest since tigers cannot live in places where trees have vanished. If we make sure tigers live, we have to make sure that deer, antelope and all other animals that the tiger eats also live. To make these herbivores live, we must make sure that all the trees, grass and other plants that these animals need for food are protected. In this way, the whole forest gets saved! Not only is the tiger a beautiful animal but it is also an indicator of the forest’s health. Saving the tiger means saving the entire forest kingdom.
The tiger thus becomes the symbol for the protection of all species on our earth since it is at the top of the food chain. This is why we sometimes call the tiger an apex predator, an indicator of our ecosystem’s health.
Poaching, deforestation and human expansion have brought all species of the tiger to the brink of extinction. Efforts to ensure the survival of tigers require the ability to protect large geographic areas in which innumerable species coexist.
HARISH K. MONGA, Ferozepur