Lala Lajpat Rai
Lala Lajpat Rai was born on 28th January, 1865 in the village Dhudike in the Moga District of Punjab. His Father was Munshi Radha Kishan Azad and mother was Gulab Devi. After the schooling Lajpat Rai joined the Government College at Lahore in the year 1880 to study the law. While at the college he met with some great patriots like Lala Hans Raj and Pundit Guru Dutt. Later on all three friends joined the movement called Arya Samaj. In the year 1885 he passed the examination and started the practice in Hissar a district of Haryana (then Punjab). Lala Lajpat Rai slowly began to take interest in the social and political activities. He was also elected to the municipality of Hissar as a member and as a secretary.
He shifted his base to Lahore in the year 1892. Meanwhile he joined the Congress party and his vibrant and vociferous disagreement to the moderate views saw him grouping with Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal and the trio stood to the division of the congress party.
He took part in an agitation to mark the protest against the partition of Bengal. He metamorphosed the masses through his oratory skills and united the whole nation under the banner campaign of Swadeshi. He was promptly arrested and sent to Mandalay Jail. He staged very successful protests against the British Raj against the Jallianwala Massacre and non cooperation movement of Gandhiji. But got dissatisfied, when Gandhiji called back the agitation. He was the political mentor of the youth like Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad. The young revolutionaries were greatly impressed and influenced by him. In the year 1920 he presided over the sessions of the All India Trade Union Congress. He represented India in various international conferences pertaining to the labor.
In the student life itself Lalaji came under the strong influence of Swami Dayanand Saraswati and his Arya Samaj and worked tirelessly and continuously for the development and progress of the Samaj. He relentlessly worked for establishment of D.A.V. Colleges under the Arya Samaj movement. He worked for the community in the entire area of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh and established very cordial relations between the Sikhs and the Hindus. He worked for the progress of the Hindi.
In the year 1928 Simon Commission came to India and to lodge the protest against the British atrocities demonstrations were staged all over the country, in such a demonstration Lalaji was seriously injured in a police lathi charge. On November 17, 1928 he finally succumbed to the brutal injuries.
