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Consider the following paragraph: He was seriously injured in police lathi charge in Lahore during demonstrations against Simon Commission for which he subsequently died in November 1928. Later on the British officer, who was responsible for the lathi charge on him, was shot dead by Bhagat Singh and Rajguru. The revolutionary referred to in the above paragraph is
Explanation
The revolutionary described is Lala Lajpat Rai, popularly known as 'Sher-i-Punjab'. In October 1928, while leading a non-violent protest against the all-British Simon Commission in Lahore, he was brutally assaulted during a lathi charge ordered by Superintendent of Police James A. Scott [c1, t2]. Rai suffered grievous head injuries and succumbed to them on November 17, 1928 [t2, t6]. To avenge his death, members of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA), including Bhagat Singh and Rajguru, plotted to kill Scott. However, in a case of mistaken identity on December 17, 1928, they shot and killed John P. Saunders, the Assistant Superintendent of Police [c1, t7]. While Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant was also injured in a lathi charge during Simon Commission protests in Lucknow, it was Rai's death in Lahore that directly triggered the retaliatory assassination by Bhagat Singh and Rajguru [c3, t8].
Sources
- [1] Rajiv Ahir. A Brief History of Modern India (2019 ed.). SPECTRUM. > Chapter 17: Emergence of Swarajists, Socialist Ideas, Revolutionary Activities and Other New Forces > Saunders' Murder (Lahore, December 1928) > p. 350
- [2] Modern India ,Bipin Chandra, History class XII (NCERT 1982 ed.)[Old NCERT] > Chapter 15: Struggle for Swaraj > THE SECOND NON-COOPERATION MOVEMENT > p. 281