Madan Lal
Dhingra, one of the heroic young revolutionaries
who sacrificed their lives at the altar of India’s
freedom, was born in about 1887 in the Amritsar
district of the Punjab. He belonged to a highly
respectable family. His father was a reputed medical
practitioner and his brother a barrister. ‘Dhingra’
is a sub-caste of the Kshatriyas who are very
numerous in the Punjab. The family had a long
tradition of service and loyalty to the British
Raj in India. Madan Lal passed his B.A examination
from the Punjab University and sailed for England
in 1906 for pursuing higher studies and joined
a course in Engineering.
Madan Lal was highly emotional young man and was
greatly attracted by the heroic deeds of Kshudiram
Bose and Kanailal. In England he came in contact
with Vinayak Savarkar who seems to have given
him his first lessons in terrorism. It is said
that Savarkar drove a nail into his hand one day
until it began to bleed, but he did not move his
hand and instead gave a smile. This impressed
Savarkar with his sense of dedication and determination.
Madan Lal also formed close contacts with Shyamji
Krishna Verma, Har Dayal, Gian Chand and Kore
Gakar, who were all associated with the ‘India
House’.
Madan Lal was present at a meeting which was addressed
by Lala Lajpat Rai during his stay in London.
He was also associated with the Indian Home Rule
Society and the Abhinava Bharat Society. True
to his terrorist creed, Madan Lal was on the look
out for an opportunity when he could shoot an
important Englishman. His mind dwelt, during this
period, on the British atrocities in India. He
spelt out his terroristic creed in these words:
“I attempted to shed English blood intentionally
and of purpose as an humble protest against the
inhuman transportation and hanging of Indian youths”.
It appears that his revolutionary tendencies and
terrorist faith came to be known to his parents
back in India. His brother wrote to Sir Curzon
Wylie, who was an Adviser to the Secretary of
the State for India.
Madan Lal greatly resented this move on part
of his brother and wrote back protesting against
his brother’s attitude. He thought that
it
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was absurd for an Anglo-Indian like Wylie to
interfere in the private affairs of an Indian
national.
With the help of Savarkar he bought a revolver
in London and another Belgian pistol from a
private person. He started regular shooting
practice and recorded his practice in his note-book.
To his mind Sir Curzon Wylie represented the
die-hard British ruling community, and he did
not forget the approach made by his brother
to this official for dissuading him from nationalist
activities. His mind was now made up, and on
1 July 1909, he shot Sir Curzon Wylie and Cowas
Lalcaca at the annual meeting of the Indian
National Association in the Jehangir House of
the Imperial Institute.
Madan Lal’s finest hour was his trial in
the Sessions Court at the Old Bailey. He made
no attempt to conceal his responsibility for
shooting Sir Wylie and addressed the judge in
the following words when the death-sentence
was passed: “Thank you, my Lord, for my
country, I thank you. I am proud to have the
honor of laying down my humble life for my country.
Poor in wealth and intellect, a son like myself
has nothing else to offer to the mother but
his own blood, and so, I have sacrificed the
same on her altar”.
Seldom in the annals of the world’s revolutionaries,
do we come across a young man who gave away
his life for his country in the flower of his
manhood and died smilingly for the cause. Madan
Lal had inner spiritual strength and his ideal
of service to the motherland was deeply rooted
in his religious faith. His whole concept of
sacrifice for the sake of the nation came out
in sharp relief, when during the period of his
trial he summed up the great ideal of his life:
“The only lession required in India at
present is to learn how to die and the only
way to teach it is by dying ourselves. Therefore,
I die and glory is my martyrdom”.
Such was the will and testament of this brave
Indian who belonged to the line of the most
distinguished martyrs who cheerfully laid down
their lives for the sake of Mother India. Madan
Lal was hanged on 17 August 1909, and thus continued
a glorious tradition of young Indians who kissed
the scaffold with the name of Bharat Mata on
their lips.
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