CPI-affiliate All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) today remembered its founder-president Lala Lajpat Rai, a leading freedom fighter, on his 155th birth anniversary and said the current movement to defend the Constitution was a salute to him.
Popularly called Sher-e-Punjab and Punjab Kesari, Lala Lajpat Rai was brutally lathi-charged while leading a demonstration on 30 October 1928 against the Simon Commission in Lahore and attained martyrdom a few days later on 17 November 1928 due to severe injuries he received in this attack.
“The present movement to defend the soul and core values of the Constitution of the Republic of India by the common Indian people is a great salute to him, a legendary figure of the freedom movement,” said AITUC General Secretary Amarjeet Kaur.
She said, “AITUC remembers him, our founding President, with respect and pledges to carry forward his mission to achieve a society free of hatred and discrimination of any kind, respect to all faiths, beliefs, cultures, languages, and for justice and equality of opportunity to all citizens of our country.”
Born on 28th January 1865, Lala Lajpat Rai founded the first national-level trade union centre, the AITUC in its founding conference which was held on 31 October 1920 in Mumbai.
“He inspired several generations. His contributions in winning the Indian independence from the British Rule and his immense contribution to the working-class movement will continue to inspire the coming generations,” AITUC said.