History News Desk !!! Arjun Lal Sethi (English: Arjun Lal Sethi, born- 9 September, 1880, Jaipur; died- 23 December, 1941) was one of the freedom fighters of India. When the procession of Governor-General Lord Harding was passing through Chandni Chowk in Delhi, a bomb was thrown on it. This plan of throwing the bomb was made by Arjun Lal Sethi. Therefore, Sethi was arrested. He could not be punished due to lack of evidence against him, yet Sethi was kept in jail without trial. When political prisoners were pardoned in 1920, Arjun Lal Sethi was also released. After coming out of jail, his workplace became Ajmer.
Introduction
Arjun Lal Sethi was born on 9 September 1880 in a Jain family in Jaipur. In 1902, he passed his BA examination from Allahabad. After this, he was appointed as a teacher of Thakur Devi Singh of Chomu. In 1960, he established Vardhman Vidyalaya in Jaipur to impart political education to the people. Apparently it was a religious school, but in reality revolutionaries were trained here. Revolutionaries not only from Rajasthan but also from other parts of the country came to this school for training. Gradually, Arjun Lal Sethi’s school became the hub of revolutionary activities in Rajasthan.[1]
Revolutionary activities
Money was needed to run the revolutionary movement. So Arjun Lal Sethi planned to murder a rich Mahant of Mughalsarai and get his money. Sethi sent 4 students to Banaras under the leadership of Vishnudutt, a teacher of Vardhman School. This group murdered the Mahant and his servant on March 20, 1913, but unfortunately they could not get anything. All the revolutionaries who participated in the murder were arrested and one of them, a student Moti Chand, was hanged and Vishnudutt was sentenced to life imprisonment. Arjun Lal Sethi could not be arrested due to lack of evidence.
arrest
On 23 December, when the procession of Lord Harding, the Governor-General of India, passed through Chandni Chowk in Delhi, a bomb was thrown on it. It is generally believed that the famous revolutionary Ras Bihari Bose was the one who threw the bomb, but in reality, Thakur Zorawar Singh Barhat, a revolutionary from Rajasthan, wearing a burqa, threw the bomb from the Marwari Library in Chandni Chowk. Among the people who were arrested in connection with the Harding bomb case, were prominent revolutionaries from Rajasthan, Balmukund, Motichand and Vishnudutt. While giving his testimony, the informer in this case, Amirchand, revealed that the conspiracy was planned by Arjun Lal Sethi. Hence, Sethi was arrested.
Punishment
Arjun Lal Sethi could not be punished as no evidence was found against him, however Sethi was kept in jail without trial. Later on 5 August 1914, he was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment by the order of the Maharaja of Jaipur. The government feared that Arjun Lal Sethi’s presence in Jaipur jail could endanger the peace and order of Jaipur, so Sethi was sent to Vellore (Madras) jail.
Release
In Vellore, Arjun Lal Sethi went on a 70-day hunger strike against the mistreatment of political prisoners. When political prisoners were pardoned in 1920, Sethi was released.
Relations with revolutionaries
After coming out of jail, Arjun Lal Sethi’s workplace became Ajmer. Famous revolutionary Chandrashekhar Azad and his party members used to come to him for guidance. He gave shelter to Shaukat Usmani, accused in the Meerut Conspiracy Case, and Ashfaq Ullah Khan, absconding accused in the Kakori Case, in his house.
Death
Arjun Lal Sethi left the Congress due to the conspiracy of Gandhian Congressmen. His financial condition was not good. To earn his livelihood, he started teaching Arabic and Persian to Muslim children at the Dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer and he died here on 23 December 1941. The people of the Dargah buried him thinking he was a Muslim. Arjun Lal Sethi is one of the foremost heroes who awakened the political consciousness of Rajasthan.
