Bipin Chandra Pal ( ; 7 November 1858 – 20 May 1932) was an

Indian nationalist Indian nationalism is an instance of civic nationalism. It is inclusive of all of the people of India, despite their diverse ethnic, linguistic and religious backgrounds. Indian nationalism can trace roots to pre-colonial India, but was f ...

, writer, orator, social reformer and

freedom fighter A freedom fighter is a person engaged in a struggle to achieve political freedom, particularly against an established government. The term is typically reserved for those who are actively involved in armed or otherwise violent rebellion. Termi ...

. He was one third of the "

Lal Bal Pal Lal Bal Pal (Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and Bipin Chandra Pal) were a triumvirate of assertive nationalists in British India in the early 20th century, from 1906 to 1918. They advocated the Swadeshi movement involving the boycott of a ...

" triumvirate. He was one of the main architects of the

Swadeshi movement The Swadeshi movement was a self-sufficiency movement that was part of the Indian independence movement and contributed to the development of Indian nationalism. Before the BML Government's decision for the partition of Bengal was made public i ...

. He is known as the Father of Revolutionary Thoughts in India. He also opposed the partition of Bengal by the British colonial government.

Early life and background of Pal

Bipin Chandra Pal was born on 7 November 1858 to a wealthy

Bengali Kayastha Bengali Kayastha is a Bengali Hindu caste that originated from the Bengal region of Indian subcontinent, and is one of the main subgroups of the Kayastha community. The historical caste occupation of Kayasthas throughout India has been that of ...

family in the village of Pail in

Habiganj Habiganj (), is a major town and district headquarters of Habiganj District in the division of Sylhet, Bangladesh. Total population of Habiganj is about 86,000. Railroad * Habiganj Bazar–Shaistaganj–Balla line Shaistaganj-Habiganj rai ...

, then part of the

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...

Sylhet District Sylhet District (), located in north-east Bangladesh, is one of the four districts in Sylhet Division, which contains Sylhet, the regional capital. History Sylhet District was established on 3 January 1782, and until 1878 it was part of Benga ...

. His father was Ramchandra Pal, a

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

scholar, and small landowner. His father subsequently joined the Sylhet bar as a lawyer. He studied and taught at the Church Mission Society College (now the St. Paul's Cathedral Mission College), an affiliated college of the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

. He also studied comparative theology for a year (1899-1900) at New Manchester College, Oxford in England but did not finish the course. His son was

Niranjan Pal Niranjan Pal (17 August 1889 – 9 November 1959) was an Indian playwright, screenwriter, and director in the Indian film industry in the silent and early talkie days. He was a close associate of Himanshu Rai and Franz Osten, with whom he was a ...

, one of the founders of

Bombay Talkies Bombay Talkies was a movie studio founded in 1934. During its period of operation, Bombay Talkies produced 40 movies in Malad, a suburb of the Indian city of Bombay. The studio was established in 1934 by Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani. Afte ...

. One son-in-law was the ICS officer, S. K. Dey, who later became a union minister. His other son-in-law was a freedom fighter

Ullaskar Dutta Ullaskar Dutta (16 April 1885 – 17 May 1965) was an Indian revolutionary associated with Anushilan Samiti and Jugantar of Bengal, and was a close associate of Barindra Ghosh. He was the principal bomb maker of the Jugantar group until Hemc ...

who married Lila Dutta his childhood love. Family of Bipin Chandra Pal- Brother- Kunja Govinda Pal Nephew- Suresh Chandra Pal - Son - Niranjan Pal (founder of Bombay Takies) Grandson- Colin Pal (writer of Shooting Star) film director Great Grandson - Deep Pal (Steadicam camerawork). As revolutionary as he was in politics, Pal was the same in his private life. After his first wife died he married a widow and joined the

Brahmo Samaj Brahmo Samaj ( ) is the societal component of Brahmoism, which began as a monotheistic reformist movement during the Bengal Renaissance. It was one of the most influential religious movements in India and made a significant contribution to ...

Work

Pal is known as the ''Father of Revolutionary Thoughts'' in India. Pal became a major leader of the Indian National Congress. At the Madras session of Indian National Congress held in 1887, Bipin Chandra Pal made a strong plea for repeal of the Arms Act which was discriminatory in nature. Along with

Lala Lajpat Rai Lala Lajpat Rai (28 January 1865 — 17 November 1928) was an Indian revolutionary, politician, and author, popularly known as ''Punjab Kesari (Lion of Punjab).'' He was one of the three members of the Lal Bal Pal trio. He died of severe tra ...

and

Bal Gangadhar Tilak Bal Gangadhar Tilak (; born Keshav Gangadhar Tilak (pronunciation: eʃəʋ ɡəŋɡaːd̪ʱəɾ ʈiɭək; 23 July 1856 – 1 August 1920), endeared as Lokmanya (IAST: ''Lokamānya''), was an Indian nationalist, teacher, and an independence ...

he belonged to the

Lal-Bal-Pal Lal Bal Pal (Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and Bipin Chandra Pal) were a triumvirate of assertive nationalists in British India in the early 20th century, from 1906 to 1918. They advocated the Swadeshi movement involving the boycott of ...

trio that was associated with revolutionary activity. Sri Aurobindo Ghosh and Pal were recognised as the chief exponents of a new national movement revolving around the ideals of

Purna Swaraj The Declaration of Purna Swaraj was a resolution which was passed in 1930 because of the dissatisfaction among the Indian masses regarding the British offer of Dominion status to India. The word Purna Swaraj was derived , or Declaration of ...

Swadeshi The Swadeshi movement was a self-sufficiency movement that was part of the Indian independence movement and contributed to the development of Indian nationalism. Before the BML Government's decision for the partition of Bengal was made public in ...

, boycott and national education. His programme consisted of Swadeshi, boycott and national education. He preached and encouraged the use of Swadeshi and the boycott of foreign goods to eradicate poverty and unemployment. He wanted to remove social evils from the form and arouse the feelings of nationalism through national criticism. He had no faith in mild protests in the form of non-cooperation with the British colonial government. On that one issue, the assertive nationalist leader had nothing in common with

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

. During the last six years of his life, he parted company with the Congress and led a secluded life. Sri Aurobindo referred to him as one of ''mightiest prophets of nationalism''. Bipin Chandra Pal made efforts to remove social and economic ills. He opposed the caste system and advocated widow remarriage. He advocated a 48-hour working week and demanded a hike in the wages of workers. He expressed his disdain for Gandhi's ways, which he criticised for being rooted in "magic" instead of "logic". As a journalist, Pal worked for ''Bengal Public Opinion'', ''The Tribune'' and ''New India'', where he propagated his brand of nationalism. He wrote several articles warning India of the changes happening in China and other geopolitical situations. In one of his writings, describing where the future danger for India would come from, Pal wrote under the title "Our Real Danger". Lal Bal Pal.jpg,

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

, and Bipin Chandra Pal (right) of

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

, the triumvirate were popularly known as

, changed the political discourse of the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

Early life and background of Pal

Work

References

Further reading