LALA LAJPAT RAI LIFE STORY : –
Born : – 28 January 1865
Died : – 17 November 1928
Achievements : –
Establishment of Indian Home League Society in America, President of Congress in 1920
Lala Lajpat Rai was one of the main revolutionaries fighting against British rule in India. He was known as Punjab Kesari (Lion of Punjab) and was one of the three prominent leaders of the Congress’s Garam Dal Lal-Bal-Pal (Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal). He also founded Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Laxmi Insurance Company. Lala Lajpat Rai influenced many revolutionaries and one of them was Shaheed Bhagat Singh. In 1928, during the protest against the Simon Commission, he was badly injured in the lathi-charge and went to heaven on 17 November 1928.
Early Life : –
Lala Lajpat Rai was born on 28 January 1865 in Dudhekhe village which is presently located in Moga district of Punjab. He was the eldest son of Munshi Radha Kishan Azad and Gulab Devi. His father was a Baniya caste Aggarwal. His mother had taught him high moral values since childhood.
Lala Lajpat Rai enrolled in a government school in Lahore in 1889 to study law. During college he came in contact with patriots and future freedom fighters like Lala Hansraj and Pandit Gurudutt. The trio became good friends and joined the Arya Samaj founded by Swami Dayanand Saraswati.
Political Life : –
In the year 1885, he passed the second class advocacy examination from a government college and started his advocacy in Hisar. Apart from advocacy, Lalaji collected funds for Dayanand College, participated in Arya Samaj functions and Congress activities. He was elected a member and secretary of Hisar Municipality. He moved to Lahore in 1892.
Lala Lajpat Rai was one of the three prominent Hindu nationalist leaders of the Indian National Congress. He was part of the Lal-Bal-Pal trio. Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal were the other two members of this trio. He formed the Garam Dal in the Indian National Congress to oppose the soft party (formerly led by Gopal Krishna Gokhale). Lalaji participated in the movement against the partition of Bengal. He, along with Surendra Nath Banerjee, Bipin Chandra Pal and Arvind Ghosh, united people in Bengal and other parts of the country for a vigorous campaign for Swadeshi. Lala Lajpat Rai was arrested on 3 May 1907 for causing unrest in Rawalpindi and was released on 11 November 1907 after spending six months in Mandalay jail.
Freedom Struggle Revolutionary : –
The freedom struggle had taken a revolutionary turn, so Lalaji wanted the real situation of India to be propagated in other countries. For this purpose he went to Britain in 1914. At the same time World War I broke out due to which he could not return to India and then went to the United States to get support for India. He founded the Indian Home Leagues of America’s and wrote a book called “Young India’s”. Through the book he made serious allegations about British rule in India and hence it was banned even before it was published in Britain and India. He returned to India only after the end of the World War in 1920.
After returning, Lala Lajpat Rai led protests and non-cooperation movement in Punjab against the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. During this time, he was also arrested several times. He did not agree with Gandhiji’s decision to stop the Non-Cooperation Movement due to the Chauri Chaura incident and he founded the Congress Independence Party.
Opposition to the Simon Commission : –
In 1928, the British government decided to send the Simon Commission to India to discuss constitutional reforms. There was disappointment and anger among all the people as there was no Indian member in the commission. When the commission came to India in 1929, it was opposed all over India. Lala Lajpat Rai himself led a procession against the Simon Commission. Although the procession was peaceful, the British government ruthlessly got the procession charged with sticks.
Death : –
