Great Indian Leaders
Lala Lajpat Rai in a white turban, with a moustache, facing the camera
Photo: Agence Rol. Agence photographique (commanditaire) / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain); cropped

Lala Lajpat Rai

Dhudike, Punjab, India28 January 1865

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About
Lala Lajpat Rai was a Punjab-based nationalist leader of the Indian National Congress, which elected him President at its Calcutta special session in 1920. He led a protest march against the Simon Commission in Lahore in 1928 and was injured in a police lathi charge. He died on 17 November 1928.
Gallery
Lala Lajpat Rai in a white turban, with a moustache, facing the camera
Lala Lajpat Rai in 1921, photographed by Agence Rol. · Agence Rol. Agence photographique (commanditaire) / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Early life

Lala Lajpat Rai was born on 28 January 1865 at Dhudike, a village in the Ferozepur district of Punjab. The Indian National Congress tribute describes him as coming from a Punjabi Hindu family and as the son of Munshi Radha Krishan, a government school teacher, and Gulab Devi.

He studied law at Government College, Lahore, and in 1886 began practising law at Hisar, where he helped to found a branch of the Indian National Congress.

Presidency of the Indian National Congress

Lajpat Rai returned to India in February 1920, after the war years he spent abroad. He was elected President of the Indian National Congress at its special session in Calcutta in September 1920.

Protest against the Simon Commission

The Simon Commission reached Lahore on 30 October 1928. Lajpat Rai led a non-violent protest march against the commission. Police Superintendent James A. Scott ordered a lathi (baton) charge on the protesters, and the Congress tribute says Scott also personally assaulted Lajpat Rai.

The Congress tribute says he did not fully recover from his injuries and died on 17 November 1928 at Lahore. A study guide, Anantam IAS, gives the cause of death as cardiac arrest.

Positions held
PeriodPositionOrganisationRegion
—President, Indian National CongressIndian National Congress—
Awards & achievements
  • 1920President of the Indian National Congress
    Elected President of the Indian National Congress at the Calcutta special session in 1920.
  • 1928Led protest march against the Simon Commission
    Led a non-violent protest march in Lahore when the Simon Commission visited on 30 October 1928.
Sources