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Pak’s Aitchison College names classroom after former Punjab CM Harcharan Singh Brar
Lahore’s prestigious Aitchison College on Wednesday dedicated classroom number 108 to Brar, with former Pakistan finance minister Syed Babar Ali, Brar’s schoolmate and lifelong friend, joining the ceremony online
Published on: Jun 12, 2026, 05:42:13 IST
By HT Correspondent, Lahore
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More than seven decades after they first met as schoolboys in Lahore, former Pakistan finance minister Syed Babar Ali has paid a lasting tribute to his friend Harcharan Singh Brar, ensuring that the former Punjab chief minister’s memory lives on at their alma mater.
Babli Brar, daughter of former Punjab chief minister Harcharan Singh Brar, unveils a plaque outside the Aitchison College classroom dedicated in his honour. (PTI)
Lahore’s prestigious Aitchison College on Wednesday dedicated classroom number 108 to Brar, with his daughter Babli Brar unveiling the plaque and Ali, Brar’s schoolmate and lifelong friend, joining the ceremony online.
Apart from Babli Brar, the event was attended by the principal and senior staff of the college as well as office-bearers of the Aitchison College Old Boys Association.
“A plaque has been placed outside classroom 108 of the Senior School and a photograph of Harcharan Singh Brar wearing the college blazer has been hung inside the classroom,” Dr Tarunjit Singh Butalia, honorary envoy at Aitchison College, told PTI on Thursday.
Ali, a noted industrialist and philanthropist, wrote the inscription on the plaque unveiled by Brar’s daughter. The 99-year-old also donated Pakistan rupees (PKR) 4 million in April this year for the restoration of the classroom.
Harcharan Singh Brar studied at Aitchison College from 1937 to 1943. (HT)
The plaque describes Brar as an outstanding student who joined Aitchison College in 1937 and graduated after completing his Senior Cambridge in 1941 and the Higher School Certificate of Cambridge University in 1943.
“This classroom is dedicated to the loving memory of my friend Harcharan Singh Brar (1922-2009) of Srai Nanga, district Ferozepur,” reads the plaque that Ali wrote.
“He was an outstanding student, school prefect and was awarded the Rivaz Gold Medal. He did exceptionally well at games. He earned colours in riding, tennis and cricket, which gave him the Full Blazer, a coveted achievement,” it read further.
“I have had the privilege of enjoying his friendship ever since we were classmates in 1937. Harcharan Singh Brar remained my best friend till he passed away in 2009,” Ali said.
Brar and his family regularly visited him in Lahore through the years, the industrialist, who was a student of Aitchison College from 1934 to 43, said.
Describing the dedication as a tribute to a friendship spanning more than seven decades, Butalia said, “Their friendship transcended the trauma of Partition, their professions and patriotism. It is a source of inspiration for young Pakistanis and Indians who will be the leaders of South Asia of tomorrow.”
After graduating from Aitchison, Brar joined Government College, Lahore, in 1944 and later earned a BA degree from Panjab University. Following Partition, he joined the Congress party in India and went on to hold several public offices. He also served as governor of two states before becoming Punjab chief minister in 1995.
Founded in 1886, Aitchison College traces its origins to the Wards School established in Ambala in 1868. Originally set up to provide education to the royals and chief families of undivided Punjab, it later evolved into one of Pakistan’s most prominent boarding and day schools.