LALA LAJPAT RAI: LAST NAILS IN THE COFFIN OF BRITISH RULE

Nov. 23, 2019

The death anniversary of Lala Lajpat Rai, the firebrand Indian nationalist leader affectionately called ‘Punjab Kesari’ was recently observed.

About:

Born at Dhudike near Ludhiana in Punjab in 1865, Rai studied law at the Government College, Lahore, and had a legal practice in that city.
Early in life, he became a follower of Dayanand Saraswati, the founder of the Arya Samaj, and went on to become one of the society’s leaders.
In 1885, Rai established the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic School in Lahore and remained a committed educationist throughout his life.
In 1881, he joined the Indian National Congress. Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal (called Lal-Bal-Pal) fervently advocated the use of Swadeshi goods and mass agitation in the aftermath of the controversial Partition of Bengal in 1905 by Lord Curzon.
In 1913, Rai set out for a lecture tour to Japan, England, and the United States. During his travels, he met many diaspora communities and founded the Indian Home Rule League of America in New York City in 1917.
Upon his return, Rai was elected President of the Indian National Congress during its Special Session in Kolkata in 1920, which saw the launch of Mahatma Gandhi’s Non-cooperation Movement. He was subsequently imprisoned from 1921 and 1923.
In 1928, Rai opposed the Simon Commission, a British-appointed group of lawmakers arrived in India to study the implementation of the Government of India Act, 1919 (the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms). The group of 7 did not consist of a single Indian member, a fact that was heavily resented by the Congress.
He was severely lathi-charged during a protest against Simon Commission in Lahore on October 30, 1928. It was after this that Rai famously said, “The blows struck at me today will be the last nails in the coffin of British rule in India.” He died a few days later on November 17.
He also wrote extensively in English and Urdu. His important works include: ‘The Arya Samaj’, ‘Young India’, ‘England’s Debt to India’, ‘Evolution of Japan’, ‘India’s Will to Freedom’, ‘Message of the Bhagwad Gita’, ‘Political Future of India’, ‘Problem of National Education in India’, ‘The Depressed Glasses’, and the travelogue ‘United States of America’.