Legend of India:

Part 8

Lala Lajpat Rai

(1865-1928) was an Indian author and politician who is chiefly remembered as a leader in the Indian fight for freedom from the British Raj. He was popularly known as Punjab Kesari (The Caesar of Punjab). He was also the founder of Punjab National Bank and Lakshmi Insurance Company.

As the need for partition and independence took an important turn for the possible,Lala Lajpat Rai’s involvement became imperative to theIndian Independence Movement. His actions in anti-imperialist movements led to numerous arrests. He became an important member of theArya Samaj. This political group was full of British-educated Indians who believed that Hinduism had a specific and direct impact on what it meant to be an Indian. The group also took the ideas of a merged western and eastern world and promoted the view that the subcontinent had benefited from its coagulation. The involvement of the Arya Samaj in constitutional reform supported the freedom movements which took hold of the Indian population. Lala Lajpat Rai led political rallies which taught how the history of the subcontinent had always been heading to the philosophical idea that it would become an independent nation.

(Lajpat Rai presided over the first session of the All India Trade Union Congress in 1920. In 1923, he became a member of the Imperial Legislative Assembly. He also went to Geneva to attend the eighth International Labour Conference in 1926 as a representative of Indian labour. He had an opportunity to watch the labour movement in the USA and England where he was required to prolong his stay for political reasons.)

In addition to espousing his philosophical principles, Lajpat Rai engaged heavily in direct action and protest against British rule. (He led the Punjab protests against the Amritsar Massacre (1919), the Non-Cooperation Movement (1919 - 1922), and the "Simon go back" demonstrations against the Simon Commission (1928)). He was repeatedly arrested.He disagreed, however, with Mohandas Gandhi's suspension of the movement due to the Chauri Chaura incident.(He formed the Congress Independence Party, which was particularly pro-Hindu in voice and policy)SS.

He was not only a good orator but also a prolific and versatile writer. His journal Arya Gazette concentrated mainly on subjects related to the Arya Samaj. Bande Mataram and People, contained his inspiring speeches to end oppression by the foreign rulers. He founded the Servants of the People Society, which worked for the freedom movement as well as for social reform in the country. He also wrote an autobiography in English titled The Story of My Life.