Background

The Indian society was at its cultural, social and political nadir when Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati was born in 1824. He grew up in an environment of political subjugation, where he witnessed extreme casteism, superstition, religious dogma and social oppression of women and marginalized sections of society.

He openly stood up against all the social evils such as discrimination on grounds of caste, creed, sex, economic status and social bigotry, male chauvinism and religious dominance of higher castes over the backward castes and classes. He fought for the rights of women and opened “Kanya Vidyalayas” to empower and enlighten them. Unfortunately, the task of social resurgence was too vast to be completed during his lifetime and when Maharishi attained Samadhi in 1883, the Indian society was only partially reformed, with the onus of completing this unfinished task falling on his followers.

Taking a stock of the ground realities of Indian society and the nature of the task undertaken by Maharishi, his followers decided to commemorate his life and works not by building lifeless statues, but by opening temples of learning - schools and colleges where all the values advocated by Maharishi will be inculcated in the children so that they could carry forward his message and work ceaselessly throughout their life to carry out the reforms suggested by him.

In 1885 the first DAV School was established at Lahore which was subsequently upgraded to become the first DAV College. In 1886 the DAV College Trust and Management Society was established and got registered. The DAV Society visualized that the DAV Schools shall produce men and women of sterling national character and social commitment. The commendable objectives of the DAV attracted several committed individuals and groups to serve the society by striving to collect petty donations and gather humble resources to set up DAV Schools to reach Maharishi’s message of enlightenment to all the Indians. Thus the crusade against ignorance, illiteracy, injustice and inequality was revived and it gained further momentum with the opening of each DAV School.

DAV College Managing Committee, the executive body of the DAV College Trust & Management Society, streamlined the school curriculum and administrative processes and gave the social movement a splendid vision and precise direction. Towards the end of nineteenth century and in the first half of twentieth century the DAV College Trust & Management Society established a number of schools. These schools were broadly categorized as directly controlled and managed schools. Some more schools came into the DAV fold as they got subsequently affiliated to DAV College Trust & Management Society.

The DAV institutions soon gained respect and reputation in the society and began to be recognized for their high academic standards and value-based education. The faculty comprised towering personalities such as Mahatma Hansraj, Principal Gyan Chand, Lala Sain Das and Pandit Meher Chand, who selflessly dedicated their lives to the reengineering of the Indian society through modern education and Vedic values. Sh. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Sh. Inder Kumar Gujral and Dr. Man Mohan Singh are DAV Alumni is a testimony to these facts.

Thus started the movement, which right from the beginning was led by missionaries, visionaries, nationalistic and other like-minded savants virtually became the linch-pins of DAV umbrella. As the times rolled on, there emerged new needs, new challenges and new decisions in tandem with the changing scenario. The DAV Movement continued to surge ahead with might and main under the dynamic and motivating captaincy of Sh. Mehr Chand, Lala Balraj, Justice Mehar Chand Mahajan, Dr.G.L.Dutta, Lala Suraj Bhan, Prof Ved Vyas, Sh. Darbari Lal and Sh. T.R. Tuli. It was their missionary consciousness that fostered the growth of many more institutions across the country. Fortunately enough, the DAV movement is presently being led from the front by Sh. G.P.Chopra (Padamshree) who has the vision, charisma and the dignity to lead DAV to newer heights.

ARYA SAMAJ

The Arya Samaj is a progressive faith and a way of life. It was founded by Swami Dayanand Saraswati. The great saint, Maharishi Dayananad Saraswati was born in 1824 in village Tankara in Gujarat.

He was a great thinker and social reformer. In 19th century, he saw the Indian society in the grip of age-old customs, superstitions and beliefs. He propounded the slogan 'Back to the Vedas’ to help people get rid of the false beliefs and adopt an objective, rational and progressive way of life. He openly stood up against all the social evils such as discrimination on grounds of caste, creed, sex, economic status and social bigotry, male chauvinism and religious dominance of higher castes over the backward castes and classes.

By propagating Vedic knowledge he ushered in a social renaissance in the Indian society. He strongly advocated the eradication of ignorance and illiteracy through education of persons belonging to all castes, high or low. He encouraged education of women and promoted widow-remarriage. Rarely in history has one single person come to be so totally identified with social and moral revival of the nation as Swami Dayanand Saraswati.

Thus Arya Samaj aims at making man a good human being and achieving the two-fold development i.e. the spiritual upliftment and the social upliftment.