Aspect of Jainology Part 1 Lala Harjas Rai

Author(s): Sagarmal Jain
Publisher: Parshwanath Shodhpith Varanasi

Page 31

18
G. R. Sethi
Parsuaded by him, I had visited the new school, which had by now a dozen odd students and two or three teachers helping Master Sunder Singh ji. The school was housed in a few rooms of the dilapidated building of the erstwhile Christian Missionary School near Guru Bazar. Lala Harjas Rai Jain was already looking after the financial side of the school.
When its strength increased after a few years, it shifted to a more commodious building near my office in Katra Sher Singh. It was then known as "Mātā Pită School" and I put my own children in this school. Our contacts with the founder developed further and I was a frequent visitor to the school. This was perhaps in the late twenties or early thirties. As its stranngth grew further, it was shifted to a building in the Civil Lines. By now a Trust had been created with Lala Harjas Rai Tain as its secretary. It had patriots like Dr. Saif-ud-Din Kitchlew. the well-known Martial Law hero and some others as its member, I was also invited to join either the Trust or the Managing Committee, which was functioning with Shri Harjas Rai Jain as its Honorary Secretary. The more I saw of him, greater was my admiration for the zeal with which he performed his duties giving time and money both to build up a wonderful institution, which has now its own spacious buildings and is the only co-educational institution in this city teaching up to Higher Secondary classes. It is my privilege to be the Chairman of its Governing Council
The more I saw him and his working, the greater was my admiration for his integrity, both in public and private life. He was almost unsparing, when he saw something wrong done by his closest friends, he was always brutally frank and unbending on matters of principle. Because of his remarkable honesty, addiction to truth and free and frank expression on matters of public interest, he may have annoyed some people, but he did not sacrifice principles for expediency.
I cannot say anything else, except that I treat him as my model for a cleaner public life, a rare quality these days, a commodity so scarce.
I am glad that his sons are also trying to follow in his footsteps,