Lahore's Aitchison College dedicates classroom in honour of Indian former CM, a pre-Partition alumnus

Nearly eight decades after the Partition of India, a classroom at Aitchison College in Lahore has become a symbol of enduring friendship across borders. On June 10, 'Classroom No. 108' at the 140-year-old institution was dedicated to Harcharan Singh Brar, a student of the college before Partition who later served as the Chief Minister of Punjab (India) from 1995 to 1996.

A plaque bearing the words 'God is One' in English, Urdu and Gurmukhi ('Ik Onkar') was unveiled by Brar's daughter, Babli Brar. The tribute was funded by Brar's schoolmate and lifelong friend, Syed Babar Ali, now 100 years old. Babar Ali is believed to be Aitchison's oldest living alumnus, a prominent industrialist, former finance minister of Pakistan, and the longest-serving member of the college's Board of Governors. Their friendship, forged in undivided Punjab, survived Partition, subsequent wars, and decades of strained relations between India and Pakistan until Brar's death in 2009.

Aitchison College, founded in 1886, is often referred to as Pakistan's 'Eton' for its role in educating generations of leaders, including former Prime Ministers Imran Khan, Zafarullah Khan Jamali, and Feroz Khan Noon.

Brar joined the college in 1937, excelling as a student, prefect, and sportsman. During his last visit to Lahore in 1989, he inaugurated a library at Aitchison and dedicated it to Babar Ali. More than three decades later, Ali has returned the gesture by funding the classroom dedication.

The Brar plaque is part of a broader remembrance project through which Babar Ali has funded classrooms and plaques honouring classmates and teachers from 1934 to 1943. These include Pandit Hetwa Nand Kashyap, Ram Rakha Mal, Sardar Harbaksh Singh, Sardar Harnam Singh Bal, Lala Dhani Ram, Lala Shanti Lal Sehgal, and the sons of Patiala Maharaja Bhupinder Singh. Together, they recall an undivided Punjab before history scattered its people across borders.

Muhammad Mohsin Khan Leghari, a fourth-generation Aitchisonian, former senator, and Punjab minister whose family includes former President Farooq Leghari, said the honour reflected the school's tradition of dedicating rooms and facilities to distinguished alumni. 'Sons of rajas, maharajas, nawabs and tribal chiefs studied here. It was about grooming leadership,' he said.

The commemorations coincide with a wider effort in Lahore to revisit aspects of its pre-Partition past. Historic names such as Krishan Nagar from Islampura, Ram Gali from Rahman Gali, and Sant Nagar from Sunnat Nagar have been restored, while discussions on memorialising Bhagat Singh continue. The trend gained momentum after the Lahore Heritage Area Revival project launched in 2025.

For descendants of former students, Aitchison's story remains inseparable from Partition. 'Hindu, Muslim and Sikh boys studied together here. After Partition they lost contact, but we have tried to preserve their stories,' said Dr Tarunjit Singh Butalia, the college's honorary envoy. Of Aitchison's approximately 245 students in 1947, about 160 were Hindu and Sikh boys, many of whom left for summer holidays and never returned.

Butalia recalled one student who had just dropped off his bicycle for repairs when an army truck arrived at school. A soldier told him his father had sent for him and gave him minutes to gather his belongings. 'He asked if he could meet his friends before leaving,' Butalia said. 'He was told no.' Within hours, the boy was on his way to India.

Today, only a handful of pre-Partition Aitchisonians are believed to be alive in India, but many whose names now line Aitchison's red-brick corridors left Lahore in 1947 and never returned, until now through these dedications.