|
.
LALA
DUNI CHAND
(Freedom
Fighter)
Born
in 1873, Lal Duni Chand passed his B.A. examination from the
Forman Christian College, Lahore. After that he joined the
Oriental College, Lahore where from he passed the Honors
examination in Persian language and literature in 1894.
Afterwards, he acquired professional training by passing the
Licentiate-in-Law examination. He practiced at the bar until
1921 when in response to Mahatma Gandhi’s call for
no-cooperation he suspended his practice and sought
imprisonment. In 1922 he was sentenced to 6 months’
imprisonment under the Criminal Law Amendment
Act.
After
his release from jail, he successfully fought election to the
Punjab Legislative Council as a member of the Swarajist Party
founded by Moti Lal Nehru and C.R. Dass. While in the council,
he tried his level best to make a success of the
obstructionist Swarajist
program.
When
civil Disobedience started in 1930, he once again suspended
his practice of law and courted
arrest.
He
occupied a prominent position in the Punjab Provincial
Congress Committee and as such was elected member of the
All-India Congress Committee in 1920. This membership he
retained continuously throughout his long political career.
During the days of the Civil Disobedience movement the
Congress organization was declared unlawful and Lala Duni
Chand being a member of the Congress Working Committee was
sentenced to 6 months’ imprisonment. In recognition of his
services to the national cause, he was invited to serve on the
Punjab Jail Enquiry Committee in 1929 and later in 1935 was
elected Acting President of the Punjab Provincial Congress
Committee during the period of absence of the permanent
President, Dr. Satyapal.
With
the passage of years, the lure of freedom struggle proved so
strong that he decided to give up his lucrative practice at
the bar altogether to be able to give maximum time to national
work. When the Civil Disobedience movement began, he was
arrested and
confined.
He
was an Arya Samajist by faith and played an active part in its
activities from 1899 onwards. He had deep interest in
education and was Manager of the Anglo-Sanskrit, High School,
Ambala from 1906 to 1921. He was also member of the Managing
Committee of the D.A.V. College, Lahore for several
years.
Source: chakdephate.com
Back
to freedom fighter of Punjab index
|
