Lala Har Dayal Mathur (14 October 1884 – 4 March 1939) was an Indian nationalist revolutionary and freedom fighter.

Dayal Mathur completed his bachelor’s degree from Delhi’s St. Stephen’s College and got his Master’s in English Literature from the Government College of Lahore.

On his 84th death anniversary, here are some interesting facts about the founder of Ghadar Party:

He received a State Scholarship from the Indian government so he could finish his education. He went to Oxford, England, to study. He engaged in the Indian independence struggle while living in England and met revolutionaries like C.F. Andrews, S.K. Verma, and Bhai Permanand. 

He resigned from his scholarship after raising awareness of Colonial mistreatment of Indians. After returning to India, he entered politics in Lahore.

He had a simple life for many years, sleeping on the floor and simply eating cooked grains and potatoes.

He declined a position in the Indian Civil Service and turned down two Oxford scholarships in order to join the nationalist movement.

Lala Har Dayal had the good fortune to be endowed with a photographic memory and a talent for languages. He revised Bande Mataram and Talwar, the diary of Madam Cama.

He relocated to the US in 1911, when he was interested in industrial unionism. With Fritz Wolffheim, he had also held the position of secretary for the Industrial Workers of the World branch in San Francisco.

He founded the Ghadar Party in the year 1913

He died in Philadelphia on March 4, 1939. On the evening of his death, he delivered a lecture as usual where he had said "I am in peace with all"

The India Department of Posts released a commemorative stamp in his honour as part of the "India's Fight for Independence" series in 1987.

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