It was in such, political background that Lalaji returned to India.In May, 1920 a Congress meeting was held in Benaras in which Mahatma Gandhi presented his ‘Non-cooperation Movement’ idea. He promised to present the details of the movement in Calcutta session scheduled to be held in September, 1920. Lala Lajpat Rai was elected as the […]
In the month of July, 1915 Lalaji went to Japan. He always wished to see Japan, the most developed country among Asian nations, the envy of white men even. Japan could be an inspiration for other Asian countries. And Lalaji wanted to know the secret of its success. He was dazzled at the scientific progress
Lalaji wanted to tour other countries of Europe as well but he had to give up the idea because the clouds of war were gathering in the European skies.He came back to India.The annual Congress session of 1914 was to be held at Madras. Several leaders had proposed Lalaji’s name for the party presidentship. But
British Empire then was what proverbially is known as where the sun never set. It was practically spread all over the globe. The British claimed that it ruled its colonies with uniform policy and subjects of one colony could migrate to any other colony without any discrimination. But the practical facts were not so. The
The police had indeed made elaborate arrangements for the safety of the procession of the Lord and the Lady Harding through the Chandni Chowk bazaar of Delhi. The procession entered bazaar with great pomp and show at regal scale.The police and the army personnel were lined up on both sides of the road. The women
In the year 1911, capital of India shifted from Calcutta to New Delhi after the famous Delhi Darbar of the King of England where all the Kings, Rajas, Ranas, Queens and Nawabs of India paid obeisance to the white Emperor George V. Then Delhi was a part of Punjab.The people were angry at the way
Utterly frustrated with the faction squabbling of Congress, Lala Lajpat Rai decided to go abroad to get away from it all. He could espouse the cause of India in foreign lands to bring pressure on the British government.On 23rd August, 1908 he sailed for London from Bombay accompanied by a young worker. He stayed in
The crack that had appeared in the Congress in 1905 had widened during the period Lalaji languished in Mandlay jail. The hardliners and the softliners in the party had hardened their stands. The hardline group was led by Tilak, Vipin Chandra Pal, Lalaji and Arvind Ghosh. It stood for throwing a direct challenge to the
Amid the state of unrest, the Punjab administration introduced Punjab Canal Settlement Bill and Land Transfer Bylaw in the year 1907 which greatly harmed the interests of the farmers. It was totally unjustified. The farmers were already in very bad economic state and sad. The farmers of Rawalpindi and Layalpur were agitated. In the wheat
In 1905, the Congress decided to take advantage of the British Parliamentary elections that were going to be held in the early half of the year. It was to send a delegation to England to take up the issue of the ‘Self Rule’ for India with the parliamentary candidates to make it an election issue.Mr.
The Congress party had come into existence only in 1885, just one year before he fought the municipal elections.In 1888, a prominent Congress leader, Ali Mohammad Bhimji visited Punjab as the representative of the party to feel the political waters of that area. The letters to Sir Sayyed Ahmad had made Lala Lajpat Rai a
In the beginning, Sir Sayyed Ahmad was a nationalist leader. Among the muslims and the educated people of other faiths he commanded a great respect. His popularity was immense.He was an authority on Islam and propagated liberal and tolerant kind of the religion. There was no place for narrow communalism in his Islam. He thought
Lajpat Rai knew the importance of the education. All the blind faiths in the Indian society were the direct results of ignorance bred by centuries of illiteracy. So, the education was the key and the most potent weapon against the social evils born out of ignorance. Hence, for every reformist the spread of education was
Lajpat Rai had started pleading cases right after he did his pleadership course in 1882. He worked in and around Jagraon.As a pleader he was making about Rs. 200/- a month which was not bad in the prevailing conditions around. His father was not earning even that much money after putting in so many years
During this period of studying for various courses, his allegiance to the reformist ‘Arya Samaj’ movement continued. He was too deeply committed to its ideals. During his Lahore education period he drew closer to Arya Samaj. He even considered the founder of it, Swami Dayananda Saraswati as his spiritual father.Many other reformist movements were also