Standing tall on Asghar Mall Road, the 112-year-old majestic building of Government Post Graduate College reflects the glorious past of the Potohar region in education and culture.

Originally established as a school by Sanatana Dharma Sabha in 1903, a popular Hindu movement in the sub-continent that established a number of educational institutions, the current building, which houses the college, was built in 1913. However, the Asghar Mall school was given the status of a college in 1948 after the partition and became the first public-sector college in Potohar. Its old name is Sanatan Dharma High School.

The institution was spread over more than 100 kanal of land but now the area has been reduced to 96 kanal due to encroachments. The institution also had a temple adjacent to the college, which was part of the institution but now it’s separate. According to the alumni of the college, it used to be an ‘Aaram Bagh’ but it has now vanished and the area is left with an abandoned structure of the temple, surrounded by commercial buildings as well as houses.

Before this development, the temple was part of the campus. However, the Star of David, crescent, crucifix, and Hindu religious symbols are still visible on the main building – a testament to its pluralistic past.The building was constructed with donations from different people, including Hindus, Sikhs, British, and Muslims. Some parts of the campus hostel also bore a plaque with the names of philanthropists, mostly Hindus. For instance, some rooms were constructed by Lala Peshawari Lal in memory of his father Lala Haran Das, while some rooms were constructed by Seth Ram Gopal and Jevan Devi in memory of Lala Pindi Das.

The college underwent renovations during the tenure of military dictator General Pervez Musharraf when floor tiles were replaced in the main building, but it still requires renovations, particularly new doors and windows.

“New buildings have been constructed on the campus and the old building houses the Allama Iqbal Library and intermediate classes, while BS programme classes started in newly constructed classrooms,” said Prof Sajid Mehmood Farooqi, head of the geography department at the college.He told Dawn that in 1948, the college was upgraded to allow intermediate classes and in 1963 postgraduate and Master’s classes were introduced. Currently, the college offers BA (Hons), MA, and MSc programmes in Urdu, English, Mathematics, Economics, Geography, and Physics, he said.

l The building established in 1913 materialised due to donations by Hindu, Muslims, Sikhs l College faces shortage of faculty l Students complain about lopsided ground

He said the college had more than 1100 students, including girls. “The first woman vice chancellor of Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad, Prof. Dr Kaneez Fatima, was also the head of the geography department in 1972 when she was appointed as the vice chancellor,” he shared.

Besides prominent educationists like Dr Fatima, fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, actor Muhammad Afzal alias Rambo, and former law minister Babar Awan are among its alumni.

Meanwhile, the Punjab government is considering upgrading Asghar Mall Post Graduate College to the status of a university. A senior faculty member, however, underscored that the government should improve the condition of the college instead. He said that the building was meant for college requirements and that the government would need to allocate more space and staff to turn it into a university. The faculty member also said many faculty posts were also vacant and the government should recruit more teachers.

Cricket ground

There is also a massive cricket ground – which makes it unique from other educational institutions in Rawalpindi.The ground, however, needs repairs because it requires extra effort to drain rainwater which is usually accumulated on one side of the ground after every rainfall.

The students have urged the district administration to fix the ground. They said that the Parks and Horticulture Authority had improved the condition of grounds in many colleges, but they failed to improve it in the first public sector college of the district. A senior official of district administration told Dawn that the deputy commissioner asked the sports department and the education department to make a plan to improve the college.

He said that a plan would be made the next month and submitted to the Punjab government to acquire required funds for the college. He said a survey would be started by the geography department of the college, and a report would be submitted to the district administration for repairs.

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2025