[Original caption on front, shown here] "The blow that was hurled at us this afternoon was a nail in the coffin of the British Empire. Nobody who has seen it is ever likely to forget it. It has sunk deep into our own soul. We have to revenge ourselves of this cowardliness not by violently attacking them, but by gaining our freedom." Lala Rajpat Rai 30 October 1928. Died 17 November 1928. [end]
Lala Lajpat Rai (1865–1928) was a major North Indian nationalist leader, writer, and social reformer associated with the Arya Samaj movement. Often called “Punjab Kesari” (Lion of Punjab), he was one of the famous “Lal–Bal–Pal” triumvirate within the Indian National Congress’ more assertive (“extremist”) wing in the early 1900s. He became a martyr figure after being beaten during a protest against the all‑British Simon Commission in Lahore in October 1928 and died soon after from his injuries. His death became a rallying point for the independence movement and is frequently linked in popular memory to the radicalization of younger activists in late-1920s Punjab.
The French were fond of publishing postcards that attracted attention to British imperialism.