Lala Lajpat Rai
Lajpat Rai, a prominent Indian nationalist, first came to the United States during World War I, fearing prosecution for his anti-British activism in India.
In the US, Rai was particularly alarmed by the prejudice that existed against Indian immigrants and wanted to empower the community to defend themselves and to educate others about their struggles. To do so, Rai began educating young Indians on the principles of home rule: the growing movement to bring awareness to India’s right to self-rule. From late 1914 to mid-1915, he embarked on a speaking tour across the nation on the plight of Indians, attributing his people’s struggles to the British's longstanding history of colonialism and unchecked exploitation. In October 1917, he founded the India Home Rule League in New York alongside a new monthly publication, Young India. His work garnered the support of four US senators, including Joseph McCormick of Illinois, who pledged his support to Rai for “rendering a valuable service in acquainting the people of America with the grave problems which confronted the people of India.”
As Rai spent more time in the United States while in political exile, he became better acquainted with its unique systems of race and power. Intrigued by the nascent Black Civil Rights Movement in the early 20th century, Rai became friends and intellectual comrades with W. E. B. Du Bois. Rai’s writings from this period often stress the similarities between Blackness in an American context and the Indian caste system, and draw transnational connections between the colonial economic foundations of both nations. In his 1916 travelogue, The United States of America: A Hindu’s Impressions and a Study, Rai details the colonial underpinnings of the United States and emphasizes the parallels between Black and Indian movements for full and equal rights.
[LETTER FROM DU BOIS TO RAI - TK]
Alongside Du Bois, Rai had famously declared at a New York City event, “the problem of the Hindu and of the Negro and cognate problems are not local, but world problems.” He continued on, skewering the United States for its supposedly democratic founding principles but its long list of historical wrongs: including but not limited to the institution of slavery, the genocide of Native Americans, and imperialism in South America and the Phillipines. By 1918, Rai had become thoroughly disillusioned with the hypocrisy of American liberalism and decided to return to India. In a final speech, he criticized the country’s contradicting notions of exceptionalism and racism, declaring to a white audience, “God has not given you a charter, because you are white people, to go and exploit the people of Asia and Africa.”
Young India
Young India was Lajpat Rai’s publication from around the same period as the Free Hindusthan. Rather than purely sharing information regarding the movement, Rai intended to actively garner sympathy from the American people for the Indian home-rule cause. The publication looked at very specific injustices suffered by Indians, from the problem of dangerously low salt consumption per individual to the high tariffs destroying industries. Rai often used an economic lens to better explain the struggles of Indians, and also did not shy away from addressing gender inequalities. Due to his close relationship with W. E. B. Du Bois, Rai often took excerpts from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s journal and published them in Young India.
[YOUNG INDIA COVER - TK]
Rai’s publication helped to reshape the dialogue surrounding British colonialism in the United States. Prior to Young India’s creation, the majority of information Americans received about India came from British propaganda. Due to his deep understanding of American doctrines, principles, and values, Rai was able to garner sympathy for the Indian cause. Rai also bridged the gap between Indian nationalism and American progressivism, equating their importance and forging important relations with figures from the Black Civil Rights Movement, labor organizers, and women's suffrage leaders.