Sub Division, Jagraon


LALA LAJPAT RAI

Jagraon is a historic city of Lala Lajpat Rai, who fought for the independence of our country was a resident of this city. Rai was born on January 28, 1865 in village Dhudike, in present day Moga district of Punjab,India. He was the eldest son of Munshi Radha Kishan Azad and Gulab Devi, Aggarwal Banias. His father had a chequered relationship with Hinduism - having converted to Islam and then reverted back to Hinduism, which had a lasting effect on Rai's attitude towards religions other than Hinduism. He spent much of his youth in Jagraon, district Ludhiana, Punjab. His house still stands tall in Jagraon and houses a Library and museum.

Lala Lajpat Rai (28 January 1865 - 17 November 1928) was an Indian author and politician who is chiefly remembered as a leader in the Indian fight for independence from the British Raj. He was popularly known as Punjab Kesari (Punjabi:The Lion of Punjab) or Sher-e-Punjab (Urdu:The Lion of Punjab) meaning the same and was part of the Lal Bal Pal trio. Those of us who had the privilege to live and see the struggle during the last quarter of the nine-teenth and the first quarter of twentieth century know the role of this trinity of Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal in the freedom movement and the reforms they introduced during this period. Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal, we must say were lenders not merely of their respective provinces, but indeed of the whole of India. There was the common cause of freeing India from the foreign rule. Lalaji was a great patriot, who sacrificed all his fortune for the sake of freeing India from the foreign yoke. Nothing was dearer to him than the freedom of mother - land.

However his patriotism was not a narrow creed. He loved his country because he loved humanity. He was a nationalist of outstanding personal character, of a singularly self - sacrificing disposition, and fearless in expression of his views. On more than one occasion he was imprisoned without trial and in 1907 deported to Mandalay without provocation of any kind. From 1913 to 1920 he was forced to live in exile in America for demanding Swaraj. But all of these ordeals and sufferings did not deter him to leave the cause of freedom unachieved. At last, he even laid down his life bravely for the sake of freeing India. Such was burning patriotism of Lalaji. He sustained serious injuries by the police when leading a non-violent protest against the Simon Commission and died less than three weeks later. His death anniversary (November 17) is one of several days celebrated as Martyrs' Day in India.

The Lala Lajpat Rai Trust was formed in 1959 on the eve of his Centenary Birth Celebration, to promote education. The trust was founded by a group of Punjabi philanthropists (including R.P Gupta and B.M Grover) who have settled and prospered in the Indian State of Maharashtra. A state university was created in memory of Lala Lajpat Rai at Hisar, a prominent city in Haryana, where Lala Ji also practised and was married. The university is named as Lala Lajpat Rai University of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, Hisar and has started functioning from 1 December, 2010. The university has started celebrating 28 January as an Annual Memorial Day from 2012 as per wishes of its founder Vice-chancellor, Dr Hardeep Kumar. A statue of Lajpat Rai stands at the central square in Shimla, India (having been originally erected in Lahore and moved to Shimla in 1948). Lajpat Nagar and Lajpat Nagar Central Market in New Delhi, Lajpat Rai Market in Chandani Chowk, Delhi; Lala Lajpat Rai Hall of Residence at Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) in Kanpur and Kharagpur; as well as the Lala Lajpat Rai Institute of Engineering and Technology(LLRIET), Moga, are named in his honor. Also many institutes, Schools and Library in his hometown of Jagraon, district Ludhiana are named after him. The bus terminus in Jagraon, Punjab, India is named after Lala Lajpat Rai. Lala Lajpat Rai Hospital, Kanpur is also named in his honor. Lala Lajpat Rai Institute of Management is also one of the famous B-schools in Mumbai.



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