Lala Lajpat Rai
A commemorative postage stamp on the Birth Centenary of ‘Punjab Kesari‘ Lala Lajpat Rai, an Indian freedom fighter, social reformer and nationalist, part of Lal Bal Pal triumvirate :
Issued by India
Issued on Jan 28, 1965
Issued for : The P. & T. Department is proud to issue a commemorative stamp on the 28th January 1965, the birth centenary of Lala Lajpat Rai, valiant fighter for freedom, social reformer and humanitarian.
Type : Block of 4 Stamps, Mint Condition
Colour : Dark Brown
Denomination : 0.15
Overall size : 3.91 X 2.90 cms.
Printing size : 3.63 X 2.62 cms.
Perforation : 13
Paper : Printed on unwater marked paper
Number printed : 2 million
Set : 35 stamps per issue sheet
Printing process : Photogravure
Printed at : India Security Press
Name : Lala Lajpat Rai
Born on Jan 28, 1865 at Dhudike, Moga, Punjab, India
Died on Nov 17, 1928 at Lahore, Punjab, British India [now at Pakistan]
About :
- Lala Lajpat Rai occupies a preeminent position in the ranks of valiant fighters for India‘s independence. He was born on the 28th January 1865 in a small village called Dhudike in the Ferozepur District of the Punjab. After a distinguished academic career he qualified as a lawyer and started practising in Hissar in 1883. He soon became the foremost lawyer in the district.
- His spirit rebelled against the foreign rule in India and he devoted himself throughout his life to the struggle for freedom. He joined the Indian National Congress in 1888 and was sent to England by the Congress in 1905, to canvass British public opinion in favour of responsible government for Indians. On his return to India he continued his political agitation which resulted in his exile for a period of six months to Burma.
- These repressive measures did not break him but steeled his determination to fight for the freedom of his countrymen. He visited England again in 1914 as a member of the Congress delegation and later spent a few years in the United States of America where he carried on propaganda in favour of responsible government for India.
- His turbulent spirit could not submit itself to the disciplines of a single party and during his life-time he was to associate himself with different political parties. However the ruling passion of his life was the political emancipation of his people. He was a man of utter sincerity and courageous determination. His spirit revolted against injustice in any shape or farm and he was always in the forefront in voicing his protest. In 1928 the Simon Commission visited India in connection with some proposals for political reform. Lala Lajpat Rai led the agitation against the Commission in the Punjab. It was while he was leading a procession in Lahore to protest against the Commission’s visit to India that he was felled by blows from a police baton on 30th October 1928. He succumbed to his injuries on the 17th November 1928.
