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 President of the Calcutta Congress session. In his presidential address he said—
“…… General O’Dyer with his black deed killed thousands of innocent people in Jalianwala Bagh. It has deeply hurt the people of the country. Never had such unhuman act taken place in entire history of British rule. General O’Dyer has smeared the face of British empire with his black act which will never be washed clean. He adopted a policy to create misunderstanding between town and village people. He created situation for the imposition of Martial Law. Before relinquishing his office that man unlawfully secured for himself a forced letter of praise.”
On the Montague Reforms he commented—
‘When Montague Reforms were announced in 1918, the people were gladdened and great hopes were raised. Today that has turned into a great despair…’
In the session, Gandhiji’s ‘Non-cooperation Movement’ proposal was passed by overwhelming majority.