Lala Lajpat Rai

Lala Lajpat Rai

Part of: Prelims and Mains GS-I: India’s Freedom movement

In news: Lala Lajpat Rai’s birth anniversary is celebrated on 28th January every year.

• A stalwart of the freedom struggle, Lala Lajpat Rai ranks among India’s most outstanding leaders
• Born on 28th January 1865 at a small village of Dhudike in district Ferozepur, Punjab, he was a contemporary of great stalwarts including Mahatma Gandhi
• Popularly known as ‘Punjab Kesari’ or ‘The Lion of Punjab’
• Supported the Non-cooperation movement at the Nagpur session of the Congress in 1920 and protested against the Rowlatt Act and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre that followed.
• In 1928, he moved a resolution in the assembly refusing cooperation with the Simon Commission since the Commission had no Indian members.
• Also an Extremist, and along with Bipin Chandra Pal and Bal Gangadhar Tilak, he formed the Lal-Bal-Pal trio of extremist leaders.

Led

• Presiding over the first session of the All India Trade Union Congress in 1920, advocated for organized labour as the antidote of capitalism and imperialism.
• Co-founded the Punjab National Bank in 1894
• Was the Founder-Editor of the Arya Gazette
• Founded several institutions and organizations such as Hisar Bar Council, Hisar Arya Samaj, Hisar Congress, National DAV Managing Committee.

Death

• After sustaining severe injuries during a baton charge by police when he led a peaceful protest march against the all-British Simon Commission, a commission constituted by the United Kingdom for Indian constitutional reform.

Notable Quotes

• Defeat and failure are sometimes necessary steps of victory.
• The attempt to fulfill the objective by peaceful means with full devotion and honesty is called non-violence.
• If I had the power to influence Indian journals, I would have the following headlines printed in bold letters on the first page: Milk for the Infants, Food for the Adults, and Education for All.
• What we aim at is not the merging or the absorption of the one into the other, but the integration of all into one whole, without in any way injuring or lessening each group individually

News Source: PIB