Nation remembers ‘Punjab Kesari’ on his birth anniversary, who studied in Pakistan and followed Arya Samaj
New Delhi, Jan 28: President Ram Nath Kovind pays tributes to freedom fighter Punjab Kesari Lala Lajpat Rai on his birth anniversary.
Lala Lajpat Rai was born 28 January 1865 was a freedom fighter. He was son of Urdu and Persian government school teacher Munshi Radha Krishan Agrawal and his wife Gulab Devi Agrawal, in Dhudike (now in Moga district, Punjab). In 1880, Lajpat Rai joined Government College at Lahore to study Law, where he came in contact with patriots and future freedom fighters, such as Lala Hans Raj and Pandit Guru Dutt. While studying at Lahore he was influenced by the Hindu reformist movement of Swami Dayanand Sarasvati, became a member of existing Arya Samaj Lahore (founded 1877) and founder editor of Lahore-based Arya Gazette.
He played a pivotal role in the Indian Independence movement. He was popularly known as Punjab Kesari. He was one-third of the Lal Bal Pal triumvirate. He was also associated with activities of Punjab National Bank and Lakshmi Insurance Company in their early stages in 1894.
In 1928, the British government set up the Commission, headed by Sir John Simon, to report on the political situation in India. The Indian political parties boycotted the Commission, because it did not include a single Indian in its membership, and it met with country-wide protests.
Lajpat Rai was a heavyweight veteran leader of the Indian Nationalist Movement, the Indian independence movement, Hindu reform movements and Arya Samaj, who inspired young men of his generation and kindled the latent spirit of patriotism in their hearts with journalistic writings and lead-by-example activism.
Erected in the early 20th century, a statue of Lajpat Rai at Lahore has later moved the central square in Shimla after the partition of India. In 1959, the Lala Lajpat Rai trust was formed on the eve of his Centenary Birth Celebration by a group of Punjabi philanthropists. He departed this world on 17 November 1928