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KEDAR NATH
SAIGAL
(Freedom Fighter)
Kedar
Nath Saigal, Managing Agent of the Mohini Films Ltd., Lahore,
came under the spell of national politics during the days of
the Punjab agrarian unrest in 1907. When Ajit Singh and Sufi
Amba Prasad set up the Bharat Mata Society, he joined it and
soon became an active political worker. He took a leading part
in the first campaign launched in the Punjab for non-payment
of taxes. To promote the cause of Indian nationalism he
founded two nationalist papers known as Khabarda and Urdu
Akhbar. The Punjab Government considered his writings in these
papers objectionable and his security deposits were forfeited.
In 1911 he was arrested under the Arms Act and detained for a
year. In 1915 he was re-arrested in connection with the first
Lahore Conspiracy Case but was released after a year’s
trial.
Immediately
after this he was re-arrested under the defense of India Act
and interned in District Multan for a period of four and a
half years. In 1920 he secured his release but instead of
taking rest he plunged into the non-cooperation movement in
1921. At that time he happened to be General Secretary of the
Congress Committee, Lahore. He was hanged up and sentenced to
6 months’ imprisonment in 1922. After his release he was
re-arrested and sent to jail in
1923.
In
the ranks of the Indian National Congress he occupied a
position of prominence. He was member of the All-India
Congress Committee till 1935. He was a co-founder of the
Naujwan Bharat Sabha, which acquired great name and fame under
the leadership of Bhagat Singh. When the first meeting of this
Sabha was held in the Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar, in 1928,
Saigal was elected its President. He was also the Kirti Kisan
Party in the Punjab, both set up in 1928. He took a leading
part in organizing the boycott of the Simon Commission and was
involved in a riot case in connection therewith. In 1928 he
was arrested in the Saunder’s Murder Case and imprisoned for 3
years. During the period of his incarceration he was taken to
Meerut for interrogation in connection with the Meerut
Conspiracy Case. He remained there as an under-trial prisoner
for period of 4 years and was then sentenced to a term of 4
years’ rigorous imprisonment. On his appeal the Allahabad High
Court spared him the additional term and he was released in
1933. From 1933 to 1936 he functioned as General Secretary of
the Punjab Provincial Congress Committee.
Source: chakdephate.com
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