Prime ministers and ministers, military leaders, journalists, lawyers, actors and educationists have studied in the halls of the 115-year-old Government Gordon College building.

The college emerged from a missionary school in Raja Bazaar in 1893, and the school, which was affiliated with Calcutta University, was given college status and moved to a new building on Liaquat Road – near Liaquat Bagh – in 1902.

It was named after Dr Andrew Gordon of the American Presbyterian Mission, who also wrote a book titled Our India Mission about mission services in India.

Gordon College was famous in the Potohar region for its educational and cultural activities before the 1947 partition and after Pakistan was formed. Its debate, drama and literary clubs produced speakers, actors, poets and writers.

The college was also a centre of political movements. The movement to oust military dictator Gen Ayub Khan began at Gordon College, and its debating club produced current politicians such as Senator Pervaiz Rasheed and Sheikh Rashid Ahmed.

The renowned Urdu poet Jagan Nath Azad, former prime minister Shaukat Aziz, former army chief Jehangir Karamat, former Inter-Services Intelligence Director General retired Gen Shamsur Rahman, retired Gen Asim Bajwa, Brig Tariq Mehmood, former Azad Kashmir prime ministers Sardar Sikandar and Sultan Mehmood, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak, former justice Shah Deen, Dr Tasaduq Hussain Khalid, Dr Mujahid Kamran, former minister Raja Shahid Zafar, MNA Malik Shakil Awan and others studied at the institution.

Renowned Indian actors Balraj Sahni and Shayam Kumar, and Pakistani actors Rahat Kazmi, Sahira Kazmi and Shujaat Hashmi are also Gordon College alumni.

The college was built in 1902, and its main block, known as Jubilee Hall, was built on Dec 29, 1957 and inaugurated by then president Iskander Mirza.

The college has the largest library in the region, containing 60,000 books, the oldest of which was printed in 1669. The book is titled An Exposition of the Book of Job: The sum of CCCXVI Lectures Preached in the city of Edenburgh.

The college building is a mix of Mughal and colonial architecture. It was funded by donations from various members of society and religious groups, including Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims, whose names have been displayed on plaques in Jubilee Hall.

The institution was nationalised in 1972, and has since been run by the government, but it remained a centre of excellence in the region. However, the college’s main building requires some repairs, with broken windows and doors telling of negligence on the part of the government.

College principal Dr Mohammad Riaz Malik said they are struggling to improve things at the college to bring back the institution’s glorious past. He explained that the college, which used to be coeducational, was turned into a boys’ college in 1972. It began offering coeducational four-year bachelors courses in 2010, and 50 women have graduated from Gordon College since.

He said the college is ready to face the formidable challenges of the information age using all possible available resources.

“The journey of the college, from a humble start to the height of excellence, shall continue with full vigour in future,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2017