Lajpat Rai

Lajpat Rai (born January 28, 1865, Dhudike, Punjab, India—died November 17, 1928, Lahore [now in Pakistan]) was an Indian writer and politician, outspoken in his advocacy of a militant anti-British nationalism in the Indian National Congress (Congress Party), and one of the “Lal Bal Pal” trio, along with Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal. The trio, along with some other Congress leaders at the helm of India’s nationalist movement, was known as the “extremists.” Unlike the “moderates” of the earlier phase of nationalism, who believed in working toward constitutional reforms with the guidance of the British government, the extremists demanded an end to British rule and wanted swaraj (self-governance) for India, which they believed could be achieved through swadeshi (a make-in-India movement to increase self-reliance), the boycott of foreign goods, and national education, among other means. Rai’s leadership and courageous protests against the British government earned him the name “Punjab Kesari” (“Lion of Punjab”). The term “Lala” in his name is an honorific.

Social reforms and nationalism

After studying law at the Government College in Lahore, Rai practiced that profession at Hissar and Lahore, where he helped to establish the nationalistic Dayananda Anglo-Vedic School and became a follower of Dayananda Sarasvati, the founder of the Hindu society Arya Samaj (“Society of Aryans”). Rai supported the Arya Samaj’s efforts at social reform and worked for the abolition of untouchability, an unfair practice of treating Dalits, or historically marginalized castes, as “untouchable” (the practice has since been declared illegal in India). Rai worked for famine relief, setting up orphanages during the 1897 famine, which affected many Indian states, and he was an educator. He founded the National College in Lahore. After joining the Congress Party and taking part in political agitation in the Punjab, Rai was deported to Mandalay, Burma (now Myanmar), without trial, in May 1907. In November, however, he was allowed to return when the viceroy, Lord Minto, decided that there was insufficient evidence to hold him for subversion. Rai’s supporters attempted to secure his election to the presidency of the party session at Surat in December 1907, but elements favoring cooperation with the British refused to accept him, and the party split over the issues. He was eventually elected president of the Calcutta Special Session of the Congress in 1920.

During World War I, Rai lived in the United States, where he founded the Indian Home Rule League of America in New York City in 1917. He returned to India in early 1920, and later that year he led a special session of the Congress Party that launched Mahatma Gandhi’s noncooperation movement. Having been imprisoned from 1921 to 1923, Rai was elected to the legislative assembly on his release. In 1928 he introduced the legislative assembly resolution for a boycott of the British Simon Commission on constitutional reform. Rai was attacked by police officers during a peaceful demonstration against the commission in Lahore on October 30, 1928. He succumbed to his injuries on November 17. Speaking about the police assault, Rai is known to have predicted, “Every blow aimed at me is a nail in the coffin of British imperialism.”

Literary contributions

Rai contributed to a number of newspapers and magazines and wrote books as well. His most important work is The Story of My Deportation (1908), which narrates his experiences surrounding his deportation to Mandalay without trial by the British authorities in 1907. The book also contains his account of the causes of unrest in Punjab province (now divided between Pakistan and India) during the partition of Bengal. His book Arya Samaj (1915) discusses the Arya Samaj movement, which aimed to reform Hindu society by promoting such values as social equality and education. Rai outlined the principles of the movement, its historical context, and its impact on Indian society. He was also the author of The United States of America: A Hindu’s Impression (1916), England’s Debt to India: A Historical Narrative of Britain’s Fiscal Policy in India (1917), and Unhappy India (1928), among other works.