LAHORE: Aitchison College’s former dean Major Geoffrey Douglas Langlands, who also taught Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan during his days at the educational institute, passed away at the age of 101 on Wednesday.
According to a statement released by the semi-private boys school, “Aitchison College mourns the passing of Major Geoffrey Douglas Langlands MBE, CMG, HI, SPk who left us quietly on Wednesday, January 2, 2019, at 10:15 a.m. after a brief illness”.
“Born on October 21, 1917, and affectionately known to all as ‘The Major’, we acknowledge the life of a soldier, teacher, gentleman, story-teller, mountaineer and humanitarian whose life was devoted in service to others and especially his adopted country Pakistan,” the statement added.
Carey Schofield, who took over as Principal of the Langlands School and College in Chitral after him, said he will be very sadly missed. “He loved the country and it was his decision to stay on after 1947.”
Major Langlands had come to the subcontinent with the British army and decided to stay in Punjab, taking up a career as an educationalist. He ran the Langlands School and College in Chitral for 24 years and took up residence at the Aitchison College in Lahore in 2013.
The most striking part of his life was his decade-long stay from April 1979 to September 1989 in North Waziristan. Langlands took up the position of principal after the then newly established Cadet College Razmak’s first principal left.
He was a mentor to many notable names in Pakistan, including the current premier, businessman Haroun Rashid, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Member Provincial Assembly (MPA) Aleem Khan, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and others.
PM KHAN AGGRIEVED OVER DEMISE OF HIS TEACHER
Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed sorrow and grief over the demise of his teacher at Aitchison College, Lahore.
In a tweet, the prime minister said that he was saddened to learn of the passing of his teacher.
“Apart from being our teacher, he instilled the love for our northern areas and trekking in me – before the Karakoram Highway (KKH) was built,” he said.
Saddened to learn of the passing of my teacher. Apart from being our teacher, he instilled the love for trekking and our northern areas in me – before the KKH was built. (I was 12 years old in the school picture) pic.twitter.com/cgH4glWIDR
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) January 2, 2019