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Lajpat Rai was born on
28th Jan, 1865 at a village named Dhudike in Ferozepur District of
Punjab. His father,Munshi Radha Krishan Azad was a great scholar of
Persian and Urdu. Lalaji's mother, Shrimati Gulab Devi, a strict
religious lady, inculcated in her children strong morals values.
Lalaji was brought up in a family background that allowed freedom of
having different faiths and beliefs. Since childhood he had a desire
to serve his country and its people, and therefore took a pledge to
free it from foreign rule.
In 1884 his father was
transferred to Rohtak and Lala Lajpat Rai came along. He became the
secretary of Arya Samaj in Rohtak. In 1886 he passed his Law exams
and he started his practice in Rohtak but moved to Hissar where some
of his friends were also practicing Law. Lalaji's early legal
practice at Hissar was very successful. His life of six years in
Hissar became the apprenticeship for public service. He was elected
to the Hissar municipality as a member and later as secretary.
Besides practicing, Lalaji collected funds for the Daya Nand
College, attended Arya Samaj functions. After the death of Swami
Dayananda, Lalaji with his associates toiled to develop the
Anglo-Vedic College. He came in contact with all the important Arya
Samajis there.
In Hissar Lalaji started
attending the meetings of the Congress Party and became an active
worker in the Hissar-Rohtak region. When the Lieutenant Governor
visited Hissar, Lalaji pleaded that the Welcome Address to be
presented to him should be in Urdu. To satisfy the British officer a
speech had already been prepared in English. Lalaji's suggestion
made everyone nervous. But without a trace of fear, he presented the
Address in Urdu and there by invited the wrath of the British.
Lala Lajpat Rai shifted to Lahore in 1892. Lalaji provided immense
service toward the famine relief efforts during the famines of 1897
and 1899. He mobilized D A V college students and went to Bikaner
and other areas of Rajasthan to rescue destitute children and bring
them to Lahore. He believed that "a nation that does not protect its
own orphan children cannot command respect at the hands of other
people." When people fleeing the famine reached Lahore, they spent
their first night at Lalaji's house. In 1898, Lalaji curtailed his
legal practice and vowed to devote all his energy for the nation.
The Kangra district of Panjab suffered destruction in the earthquake
of 1905. Lalaji was there once again, organizing relief for
extricating people from the debris.
His activities were
multifarious. He was an ardent social reformer. He founded the
Indian home Rule League of America in October 1917, in New York and,
a year later, he also set up, with himself as Director, the "Indian
Information Bureau" in New York to serve as a Publicity Organization
for India. Lala Lajpat Rai returned to India on Feb.20, 1920 as a
great hero.
He plunged into Gandhi's non-cooperation movement, which in Panjab,
under Lajpat Rai's leadership spread like wildfire in the province,
and he soon came to be known as "The Lion of Panjab" or "Panjab
Kesri". He traveled far and wide in India and his eloquence brought
hundreds to the Congress fold. Lalaji injected new life in his
countrymen. His writings and speeches were both hard hitting and
effective. They swayed those they aimed to reach. He was a crusader,
who knew no fear and championed every worthy cause with all the
passion of his soul.
His love for service was insatiable. He founded educational
institutions. He befriended the suppressed classes. In the political
field he was indispensable. Lala Lajpat Rai's supreme sacrifice came
when he led a procession in Lahore on Oct.30, 1928 to boycott the
Simon Commission. The procession was sought to be broken up by the
police and Lajpat Rai received lathi blows. While Lalaji tried his
level best to keep the demonstration peaceful, the police targeted
him and wounded him on his chest. The people were enraged at this
insult and held a meeting the same evening. Lalaji, though in
intense pain, gave a speech and declared "...every blow aimed at me
is a nail in the coffin of British Imperialism....".
He recovered from the
wounds left by the British but he remained emotionally scarred at
the brutality of the "civilized" British. Why had he been
specifically targeted by the British? Why had they lathi- charged
against a peaceful gathering. These thoughts racked his spirit till
the very end. Lalaji died on November 17, 1928 of heart failure.
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