News:Prime Minister has paid tributes to freedom struggle Lala Lajpat Rai on his birth anniversary.
Facts:
About Lala Lajpat Rai:
- Lala Lajpat Rai was born at Dhudike near Ludhiana in Punjab in 1865.He studied law at the Government College,Lahore.
- He was a follower of Dayanand Saraswati, the founder of the Arya Samaj.
- In 1881,he joined the Indian National Congress at the age of 16.
Contribution of Lala Lajpat Rai:
- Dayanand Anglo-Vedic School:He founded the school in 1885 in Lahore and remained a committed educationist throughout his life.
- Hindu Relief Movement:He founded Hindu Relief movement in 1897 to provide help to the famine -stricken people and thus preventing them falling into the clutches of the missionaries.
- Swadeshi movement:Lala Lajpat Rai, Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal (called Lal-Bal-Pal) advocated the use of Swadeshi goods and mass agitation in the aftermath of the controversial Partition of Bengal in 1905 by Lord Curzon.
- Indian Home Rule League of America:He founded Indian Home Rule League of America in New York City in 1917.
- Indian National Congress:In 1920,he was elected President of the Indian National Congress during its Special Session in Kolkata which saw the launch of Mahatma Gandhi’s Non-cooperation Movement.
- Simon Commission:In 1928,he opposed the Simon Commission,a British-appointed group of lawmakers arrived in India to study the implementation of the Government of India Act, 1919 (the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms).
Important works of Lala Lajpat Rai:He wrote extensively in English and Urdu.His important works include
- ‘The Arya Samaj’
- ‘Young India’
- ‘England’s Debt to India’
- ‘Evolution of Japan’
- ‘India’s Will to Freedom’
- ‘Message of the Bhagavad Gita’
- ‘Political Future of India’
- ‘Problem of National Education in India’
- ‘The Depressed Glasses’ and
- The travelogue ‘United States of America’.