Essay Biography Lala Lajpat Rai

Lala Lajpat Rai Biography

Lala Lajpat Rai: Lala Lajpat Rai was an Indian politician who is chiefly remembered as an excellent leader within the Indian fight for freedom from British Raj. He was popularly known as Punjab Kesari.

Lala Lajpat Rai was born on January 28, 1865 in village Dhudike, within the present day Moga district of Punjab. He was the eldest son of Munshi Radha Kishan Azad and Gulab Devi. His father was an Aggarwal Bania by caste. His mother inculcated strong moral values in him.

Lala Lajpat Rai joined the govt College at Lahore in 1880 to review Law. While in college, he came in touch with patriots and future freedom fighters like Lala Hans Raj and Pandit Guru Dutt. The three became fast friends and joined the Arya Samaj founded by Swami Dayanand Saraswati. He passed his Vakalat Examination in Second Division from the Government College in 1885.

Lalaji was pleased with the traditional values and rich heritage of India. The session of the Indian National Congress at Allahabad in December 1888 marked the start of his political career. At the next session of Congress at Mumbai in 1889, he spoke in support of Tilak’s amendment. Bipin Chandra Pal and Gokhale too supported Tilak. Though his name was linked with Tilak and Pal because the leaders of the extremists, he always made efforts to reconcile the differing elements

The year 1905 was important for the emergence of a new leadership in the Indian National Congress of ‘Lal-Bal-Pal’, as they were popularly known. The partition of Bengal in 1905 aroused their robust nationalism. The repressive measures of the government against the growing nationalist movement inspired them to infuse national pride and self-respect among people. Lalaji emerged because the undisputed leader of this new spirit.

Biography Lala Lajpat Rai 

He left for Britain in April 1914 for this purpose. At this time, the First World War broke out and he was unable to return to India. He went to the USA to galvanise support for India. He founded the Indian Home League Society of America and wrote a book called, Young India. The book severely indicted British rule in India and was banned in Britain and India even before it was published. He was ready to return to India in 1920 after the top of war .

Lalaji presided over the primary session of the All India union Congress in 1920. He also visited Geneva to attend the Eighth International Labour Conference in 1926 as a representative of Indian labour. He had a chance to observe the labour movement within the USA and England where he was required to prolong his stay for political reasons.

Lala Lajpat Rai: Quotes

Every blow on our bodies this afternoon is like a

nail driven into the coffin of British imperialism

He wasn’t only an honest orator but also a prolific and versatile writer. His journal, Arya Gazette, concentrated mainly on the subjects related to the Arya Samaj. Bande Mataram and other people , filled with fiery essays mirrored the unrest and zeal in him to free his country from the clutches of the foreign rule. He founded the Servants of the People Society, which worked for the freedom movement as well as for the social reform movement in the country.

In 1928, British Government decided to send the Simon Commission to India to debate constitutional reforms. The Commission had no Indian members. This greatly angered Indians. In 1929, when the Commission came to India, there were protests all over India. Lala Lajpat Rai himself led one such procession against the Simon Commission. While the procession was peaceful, British Government brutally lathicharged the procession. Lala Lajpat Rai received severe head injuries and died on November 17, 1928.