1 THD PROPOSED KHALSA COLLEGE. 631
2 and brilliant future, well worthy of the aspirations of the manlier races of the
3 Panjab, and opening to them a new sphere of activity and intellectual
4 advancement.: The movement is to take the form of a Central Khdlsdé
5 College, to be established on the lines of the Mahomedan College at Aligarh,
6 worked in connection with a system of schools in the outlying districts, for
7 which it will serve asa feeder. The proposed college aims at giving its pupils
8 education in Western learning, combined with the advantage of instruction
9 in the teachings of the Gurus, thus affording them an opportunity of keeping
10 pace with the more zealous of their countrymen in educational progress and
11 the development of their mental powers, and at the same time preserving the
12 tradition of their forefathers, and maintaining their own individuality as the
13 faithful disciples of their Gurus. Thus, the object is to give the Sikhs an
14 education suited to the spirit of the age, which shall not only make them
15 better scholars, but, by fostering the national sentiments, also make them
16 better Sikhs, and enable them to retain the more valuable characteristics of
17 their race. The subsidiary schools which it is intended to open, will bring
18 education within the reach of the masses of the Sikh community. It is clear
19 that nothing but a rigid observance of the religious rules laid down by their
20 leaders, and of the tenets of their faith, can keep the Sikhs together as a
21 class, and that, with the laxity now prevailing among the generality of the
22 Sikhs in the observance of these rules, the characteristic of their race would
23 be gradually lost, the military spirit of the nation would die out, and Sikhism
24 would insensibly lapse to Hinduism with which it is surrounded, or be
25 irretrievably lost in the unfathomable gulf of time. -
26 As pointed out by the “ Khélsé Dewdn” in their appeal for help to their
27 Sikh brethren, even “the few Khdls&é students who come forth from the
28 recognized colleges of the Panjab exhibit a tendency to despise and abandon
29 the religious and civil traditions of their fathers.” The result equally ap-
30 plies to the other sects receiving education in Government educational insti-
31 tutions. The typical educated native assumes a spirit of hostility towards
32 the religion of his forefathers ; he considers himself free from social restraints,
33 and looks on his elders with contempt ; he shuns the society of those who,
34 with nobler sentiments and finer aims, represent the true aristocracy of the
35 country ; he imitates the European in mode of living, dresses himself as a
36 European, and in every walk of life assumes a European air, but he remains,
37 after all, a native. He imitates few European virtues, but the habits which
38 in his arrogance he adopts, estrange him from his own countrymen, nay, from
39 his own kinsmen. The result is, of course, due to a disregard of religious
40 instruction and moral precepts. But, however deplorable such a state of affairs
41 may be, Government is not responsible for it. Government has provided
42 a system of education purely non-religious, which shall suit equally the
43 circumstances of all its subjects. If it were to provide instruction in the
44 Qurdn, or Hadis, in one of its educational institutions for a Mahomedan,
45 the Hindu would claim instruction in his Vedas and the Sikh in his Granth.
46 This would create controversies, which the Government, as at present con-
47 stituted, would be the last to engender or tolerate. So far, therefore, as
48 the action of Government in the matter of education is concerned, itis
49 manifest that it has done for us all it could, consistently with justice to each
50 race and to itself as a Christian Government.
51 On‘the 7th of September, 1890, a deputation of the Khdlsdé College
52 Committee waited on the Mahardjd of Patiala, and presented His Highness
53 with an address, fully explaining the aims and objects of the proposed
54 movement, and appealing -to his liberality to lend a helping hand to the
55 institution, The Mahardjé made the munificent donation of a lakh and
56 The proposal for a
57 Central Khdlsdé College.
58 Its aims and objeots,
59 The typical educated
60 native.
61 Munificence of the
62 Mahardjé of Patials
63 and Nabhé,
64 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh Ji eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com