The college should be returned to missionaries in the interest of justice for religious minorities and other groups
ISLAMABAD: Soon after the conquest of Punjab was completed by the British in 1849, the American Presbyterian Mission entered the field of education. It opened a primary school in Rawalpindi in 1856, which was upgraded to the status of a high school in 1862. It was in this school near the Raja Bazaar building that Gordon College was founded in 1893 by Dr Andrew Gordon. The glorious period of Gordon College was during the principalship of Dr R R Stewart (1934-1955), who was an outstanding educationist. In 1948, it was the only college in Rawalpindi. For a long time, it was the most prestigious college in the Potohar region.
Despite tremendous services by Christian missionaries, Gordon College was snatched from the group in 1972 due to the policy of nationalisation. The college should be returned to the missionaries in the interest of justice for religious minorities and other groups. Gordon College should also be given the status of a university. Well-wishers of the college should campaign to unfold its Gordian knot by remembering its motto, “Seek and ye shall find.”
Taraq Jazy
Published in The Express Tribune, May 28th, 2016.
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