Question

Which freedom fighter died during the protests against the Simon Commission?
1. Lala Hardayal
2. Madan Lal Dhingra
3. Lala Lajpat Rai
4. Shivaram Rajguru

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 3 : Lala Lajpat Rai

The correct answer is Lala Lajpat Rai.

• Lala Lajpat Rai died on November 17, 1928, after suffering grievous injuries during a lathi charge carried out by the police. When the Simon Commission visited Lahore on October 30, 1928, Lala Lajpat Rai led the protest against the commission in a silent non-violent march, but the police responded with violence.
• They protested the commission as it did not include a single Indian as its member. 

• Simon Commission:
  • Constituted under John Simon, to review the political situation in India & to introduce further reforms & extension of parliamentary democracy.
  • Indian leaders opposed the commission, as there were no Indians in it.
  • At Lahore, Lala Lajpat Rai was severely beaten in a lathi charge during a protest against the commission. He died in 1928.
  • It had 7 members & no Indian was there.

• Lala Har Dayal Singh Mathur was an Indian nationalist revolutionary and freedom fighter. He was a polymath who turned down a career in the Indian Civil Service. 
• Madan Lal Dhingra was an Indian revolutionary, pro-independence activist. While studying in England, he assassinated William Hutt Curzon Wyllie, a British official.
• Lala Lajpat Rai was an Indian independence activist. He played a pivotal role in the Indian Independence movement. He was popularly known as Punjab Kesari. He was one of the three Lal Bal Pal triumvirates.
• Shivaram Hari Rajguru was an Indian revolutionary from Maharashtra, known mainly for his involvement in the assassination of a British Raj police officer. He also fought for the independence of India and on 23 March 1931, he was hanged by the British government along with Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev Thapar.