In the year 1911, capital of India shifted from Calcutta to New Delhi after the famous Delhi Darbar of the King of England where all the Kings, Rajas, Ranas, Queens and Nawabs of India paid obeisance to the white Emperor George V. Then Delhi was a part of Punjab.
The people were angry at the way the British rulers spent money on the Durbar celebrations, a festival of extravaganza, parties, balls, dinners and shows of every conceivable kind. It greatly annoyed the freedom fighters and was bound to show in the rise of militancy against the rulers.
The shifting to the centre of the authority was beneficial to the students of west and north-western regions. New educational institutions came up fast nearer their homes. In Delhi Mission and Hindu college came up.
The social reformers and the organisations working for the freedom of the country shifted their bases to Delhi as it had become the hub of political activities.
The interest of several Arya Samaj leaders and its workers had also shifted to freedom politics. Bhai Parmanand was one of such leaders. He had formed his own outfit named Hindu Sabha and attracted bands of militant minded youth to its cadres. Lala Lajpat Rai had close links with Bhaiji from his Lahore days. Later the two had maintained their links through correspondence.
The police and C.I.D. watch in Delhi had become very intense as it was the seat of the government. The police was always on the look out for trouble making outfits like that of Bhai Parmanand. The informers had provided information on the activities of Bhai Parmanand. The police raid on his residence had become a matter of time. It could crack down any moment.
It happened. The police found a couple of letters written to him by Lala Lajpat Rai among other things. Bhai Parmanand and other friends of Lalaji worried that the police would link Lalaji to Bhai Parmanand and his revolutionary activities. Lala Lajpat Rai was abroad then. The police raid on Lalaji’s residence was also feared to implicate him. Bhai Parmanand and some other friends had access to his residence. In a hasty action they burnt down many books, documents, letters and notes plus manuscripts to prevent them from falling into the police hands. Many of the documents had sentimental and historic value.
The destruction of his valuable papers pained Lalaji although the friends had done it in good faith. He infact felt very angry. He lamented, “Friends! We tell others to face the British with courage and bravery. But we ourselves behave in such a cowardly manner that even at the sight of police we act like frightened rats and burn down our own valuable documents! Shame! What a pity!!”
Bhai Parmanand reasoned, “Lalaji, we thought that those papers could throw you in deep trouble. The police could have arrested you and jailed you.”
“So what? I am no coward and not afraid to go to jail. I have already been to jail without doing any wrong.”
“But…Lalaji, you don’t know how ruthless the police has become! Things have changed now. The situation is different. And I must tell you that Ras Bihari Bose is upto something big…in respect of the Viceroy, Lord Harding. The police has definite clues and information. The situation is extremely dangerous. Anything can happen.”
Lala Lajpat Rai sighed, “If one Lajpat Rai or one Ras Bihari is put in prison by the police it does not mean the end of the road for the freedom struggle. It is a long war, my dear friends. It will claim many like us. We can’t run around for safety frightened out of wits. If we want victory we must learn to face to police repression.”
“Lalaji, all the acquaintances of Ras Bihari Bose are being rounded up and tortured to extract the information on his plan.”
“If police goes on acting in such high handed manner the result will be creation of more and more militants.”
Bhai Parmanand whispered, “Alright, we may have over-reacted. We had to be careful nevertheless because a close friend revealed to us that Ras Bihari Bose will spring some big surprise when Lord Harding passes through Chandni Chowk in procession. So, that bazaar of Delhi is under heavy police guard and vigil.”
“Ras Bihari Bose is a daredevil. Whatever he has planned to do will be carried out. No stopping him. We can just wait and see what happens”, Lala Lajpat Rai muttered.
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