Lala Lajpat Rai occupies a pre-eminent 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 Punjab. After a distinguished academic career he qualified as a lawyer and started practicing 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 in 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 United States of America where he carried on propaganda in favour of responsible government in India. His turbulent spirit could not submit itself to the discipline of a single party and during his lifetime 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 form and he was always in the forefront in voicing the 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 Punjab. It was while he was leading a procession in Lahore to protest against the Commissions visit to India that he was felled by blows from a police baton on the 30th October 1928. He succumbed to his injuries o the 17th November 1928.

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.

Source : Information Folder issued by Indian Posts & Telegraph Department, Government of India