Lala Lajpat Rai was an Indian independence activist and Politician. He was popularly known as “Punjab Kesari”.
EARLY LIFE
He was born on 28 January 1865, in Ludhiana district, Punjab, British India. His father Radha Krishna was an Urdu teacher. In 1870, His father transferred to Rewari, where, he did his Intermediate schooling in Government Higher Secondary School, Rewari. In 1880, he joined Government College at Lahore to study law, where he met with patriots and future freedom fighters, such as Lala Hans Raj and Pandit Guru Dutt. In 1884, His father transferred to Rohtak. In 1886, he cleared his law examination, and moved to Rohtak, and started practicing law in Rohtak and then in Hisar. After that, he founded a branch of the Indian National Congress in Hisar and reformist Arya Samaj with Babu Churamani. In 1888, He went to Allahabad to attend the session of INC. After joining the Congress, he participated in the political agitation in Punjab.
In 1907, He was arrested by the British Government in Lahore and sent to Burma.
In 1914, He visited the United States, it was his short trip, but he couldn’t return until 1919. After World War 1 got over. In 1920, after returning from the USA, he took part in Non- Cooperation Movement.
SIMON COMMISSION
In 1928, when Simon Commission came to Lahore, He led a Non Violence protest against it on 30 October, during the protest he got injured due to a Lathi charge ordered by the superintendent of police James A Scott. He did not fully recover from his injuries and died on 17 November 1928 in Lahore, Punjab, British India.
He wrote some important writing like The Story of My Deportation in 1908, Arya Samaj in 1915, The United States of America: A Hindu’s Impression in 1916, England’s Debt to India: A Historical Narrative of Britain’s Fiscal Policy in India in 1917, and Unhappy India in 1928.