A worker knocks down the school building. —Photo by the writer

CHAKWAL: The 105-year-old historic building of the Government High School No 1 Chakwal was demolished on Thursday.

The building was built by five members of the Sikh community in 1910 but due to the constant neglect and apathy by the officials concerned, the building kept on crumbling.

“The building was declared dangerous. The structure crumbled to such an extent that it could not be preserved,” District Coordination Officer (DCO) Javed Mehmood Bhatti told Dawn. He said the plaque stating the foundation of the school had been preserved. “A new building on the same design will be built. The old building had four storeys but we are going to build a two-storey building which would be extended to four-storey later,” he added.

Jameel Arshad, the district building officer, said the new building would be built at a cost of Rs42.7 million. “We would try our best to build the building on the design of the old one,” he maintained.

The school was built in 1910 by Sardar Chet Singh, Sardar Harbans Singh and their three friends in memory of their teacher Munshi Sant Singh. The school was named as “Sant Singh Khalsa High School Chakwal.” The school was opened to all students irrespective of their religions.

In the wake of the partition, the school remained closed for two years. Its founders were forced to migrate but after reaching New Delhi, which became their new hometown, the first thing they did was to set up a school and named it “Sant Singh Khalsa High School Chakwal New Delhi” which is still functioning in the Lajpat Nagar area of the Indian capital.

The demolition of such a grand building sent a wave of shock among the heirs of the school’s founders and the citizens of Chakwal who vented their sentiments on the social media.

“I am really shocked and sorry to hear this. It was a landmark building of Chakwal. How could they do that to the most loved institution and landmark of Chakwal,” reacted Sardar Rattan Deep Singh Kohli, the grandson of Sardar Chet Singh. We in India were connected with the school and will lose a memorable institution and our childhood memory.”

He said whoever went to Chakwal after partition whether they had studied there or not or even lived in nearby villages always came back saying that they had visited the school. Their houses or other properties had long gone but the school was the only institution which reminded them of their past and connected them to their birthplace.

“I was told during my last visit to the school that this was a historic building and would be maintained at all cost. But with a very heavy heart and tears in my eyes I have seen photos of school building being demolished,” he regretted.

“I hope that the new building would generate same sentiments and connection we all Chakwalis had with the school,” he said.

“Today a historic grand building was demolished. Salute to those who built this in 1909. The building should have been preserved at any cost,” added Yunus Awan, a senior journalist who is also the president of the School Old Association.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2015

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