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. G.K. Gokhale suggested to Lala Lajpat Rai to go to England with the delegation. Lalaji liked the suggestion.
Indian Association of Punjab enthusiastically supported the move and collected a fund of Rs. Three thousands to take care of the travel expenses of Lajpat Rai. Entire Punjab was excited about its leader’s visit to England.
Lala Lajpat Rai, on his own made all preparations at the personal level. On the due date he took leave of his friends and the relatives.
Meanwhile, Gopal Krishan Gokhale informed Lalaji that he must proceed in the month of July instead of June. Due to some reason the British elections had been postponed to the later half of the year. But it was too late for Lalaji because his departure arrangements had gone too far to be reprogrammed. The bookings had been made and already paid for.
So, he had to set sail.
Lala Lajpat Rai set his foot on London soil on 10th June, 1905. He stayed in a hotel where a famed revolutionary Shyam Krishan Verma came to see him. Mr. Verma took him to India House which was formally declared open in his presence. He delivered a speech in a British Labour meeting. Mr. Henry Cotton objected to some remarks made by Lalaji in his speech. Mr. Badenberg defended Lalaji. Mr. Badenberg was the president of ‘India Committee’ a publicity outfit of the Congress party in England. The outfit also published a monthly named ‘India’.
In the month of July, Lala Lajpat Rai toured various other cities of England and Scotland where he addressed several meetings. In his speeches he severely criticized the British colonial rule in India and the exploitation of Indian masses.
In September, he left for U.S.A. for a month. In October he returned to find Gopal Krishan Gokhale in England. They met and addressed several meetings jointly at various places.
On 31st October, 1905 both left for India.
They had come back in a very agitated mood because on 17th October, 1905 the Viceroy of India had announced the decision of the colonial rulers to divide Bengal in two parts on communal lines. Bengal had become a rallying point for all the militant forces and revolutionaries who aimed at the armed revolution against the British. The division was to weaken those forces by driving in communal wedge. The British move had angered the country.
The ship carrying Lalaji and Gokhale reached India in the later half of November.
Back home, Lala Lajpat Rai addressed a mammoth gathering at Lahore on the occasion of the annual function of Arya Samaj. His anger at the division of Bengal found expression in the words, “I see blood raining down from the skies of the nation of India. We can no more tolerate the subjugation and the exploitation of our land by the foreign rulers.”
The bifurcation of Bengal was worked out by the Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon. The freedom of the press and the right to the education was also curtailed.
The youth of Bengal were exploding in anger. The rest of the country was seething in anguish. A nationwide protest movement was building up throughout the country. 16th October, 1905 was observed as the day of mourning throughout the country. The protest movement was being orchestrated by Vipin Chandra Pal, Ashwini Kumar Dutt and Arvind Ghosh. Vipin Chandra Pal and Surendra Nath Bannerji went through the villages and towns of Bengal asking people to boycott British goods. The boycott call echoed throughout the country.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak roared from Maharashtra, “Swaraj is my birthright.” Boycott rallies, protest marches and agitations rocked the entire country.
In retaliation the government adopted more repressive measures. The protest wave against the division of Bengal swept through Punjab as well. Lala Lajpat Rai fuelled the anger of the people through his fiery speeches and writings.
In Bengal, the agitation turned violent. Revolutionary Khudi Ram Bose blasted several British officials to death as a punishment for their atrocities let loose on the people. Khudi Ram Bose was arrested and hanged to death. It aggravated the situation. The youth anger reached the flash point. Bombings and firings became an everyday scene. The police resorted to indiscriminate arrests. Even peaceful people like Arvind Ghosh, Virendra Ghosh and Bhupendra Nath Dutt were arrested on the trumped up charges of having links with the extremist elements. For the lack of evidence Arvind Ghosh was later released. Others were handed out long jail terms and exiled to the notorious Andaman jail.
Arvind Ghosh was so unhappy at this development that he renounced the normal life and went to the French colony Pondicherry to live there as an ascetic.
Frustration of the people was gradually taking shape into hatred against the alien rulers.
In 1906, Congress annual convention was to be held in Calcutta, the hardliners wanted to make Bal Gangadhar Tilak the president of the party. But the softliners were against it. They suggested the name of Dada Bhai Naoroji who could be acceptable to the hardliners as well. Thus, the Calcutta convention was presided over by Naoroji. From Punjab 139 delegates attended the convention including Lalaji. The hardliners organised several meetings in his honour.
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