Pal, Bipin Chandra (1858-1932)

Indian nationalist and freedom fighter. He entered politics in 1877 and his association with the great reformist Brahma Samâj leader, Keshub Chunder Sen (1838-84), drew him into this movement in 1880. He was also greatly influenced by Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1856-1920), Lala Lajpat Rai (with whom he formed the famous Congress trio ‘Lal, Pal, and Bal’), and the religious writer and leader Aurobindo Ghose. In 1902 he launched a weekly journal, Young India, through which he championed the cause of Indian freedom.

Though born into an orthodox Zamindar family in Sylhet (in Bangladesh), he opposed traditional orthodoxy and religious practices. He campaigned for the boycott of British goods and also advocated a policy of passive resistance and noncooperation. He spent the years between 1908 and 1911 in the UK, where he worked for India's freedom and published the newspaper Swaraj. In the later stages of the freedom movement, he withdrew from political life, although he continued to write on national matters.