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About Lalaji : |
Lala
Lajpat Rai, popularly known as "Punjab
Kesari", was born on January 28, 1865 in Jagraon
tehsil of the Ludhiana district, Punjab, in a Hindu
Aggarwal family. His mother, Gulab Devi, came from
a Sikh family. Lajpat Rai's family was far from affluent |
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Lajpat Rai's interest
in politics was aroused by his father who in his early
life was a great admirer of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan but
whom he condemned later for his anti-Congress tirade.
Lajpat Rai too had shared his father's admiration
for Sir Syed Ahmed Khan but from 1888 began to criticize
in his writings the anti-Congress activities of Sir
Syed. Lajpat Rai's father was well-versed in Urdu
and Persian, had great respect for Islam, fasted and
prayed like a Muslim, but did not embrace Islam largely
due to his wife's attachment to the Hindu and Sikh
faiths. The Arya Samaj movement, a vital force in
the Punjab in the later 19th and early 20th century,
had a tremendous appeal for Lajpat Rai (he had met
Swami Dayanand at fourteen), who came under its influence
from his student days. It was his attachment to the
Arya Samaj which led his father also to veer round
to Hinduism.
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Lajpat Rai's political activity
began from 1885 when he joined the Congress session
at Allahabad. In the early part of his political career,
his interest was confined to social and educational
reforms, but his views on politics changed radically
as a result of the hasty and ill-conceived measures
thrust on the country by Lord Curzon. He organised
big meetings in the Punjab, traveled widely, raised
funds for the national cause and exposed the poverty
of the people and its causes. He brought out in his
writings and speeches lurid comparisons between the
economic conditions in India and those in the Western
countries, and attacked the economic exploitation
by the British as oppressive Read
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