37) Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak; The Father of the Indian National Movement Also called “The founder of militant Nationalism in India” (23.07.1856 – 01.08.1920)

370 Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak;

The Father of the Indian National Movement

Also called “The founder of militant Nationalism in India”

(23.07.1856 – 01.08.1920)

He was born on 23^rd July 1856 in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, India in a Chitpavan Brahmin family. At the age of 10, he joined the Anglo-Vernacular school in Pune. He was a brilliant scholar who was one of the first generation of Indians to receive a modern college education. He had a B.A. degree with a first class in Mathematics, from Deccan College, Pune, and later secured an LL.B. degree.

 

His newspapers and his Nationalist Agenda:

 He taught Mathematics at Fergusson College in Pune and, thereafter, became a journalist. A vociferous critic of Western education, which he considered was non-representative of Indian culture, heritage and ideals, he along with his friends G.G.Agarkar, M.D.Namjoshi and V.S. Chiplunkar founded the “Deccan Education Society” to impart good education to Indian students based on Indian heritage/cultural values. This Society also had a hidden Agenda – to prepare the Indian youth for Nationalistic ideals. He followed this up with publishing two weekly newspapers, along with his friends, “Kesari” (in Marathi) and “Maharatta”- pronounced as “Marattha” (in English) both of which highlighted the plight and sufferings of Indians under British rule. 
Posted on 07.02.2015:

 A bust of Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak stands in the library of the Deccan Education Society, later the Fergusson College. During the recent Pune Heritage Festival organised by Janwani in February 2015, I spoke to the Librarian who informed me that they have several editions of the newspapers published by Tilak & his friends in the College library.

 A bust of Gopal Ganesh Agarkar stands in the library of the Deccan Education Society, later the Fergusson College.

 A portrait of Vishnushastri Krishnashastri Chiplunkar adorns the walls of the Fergusson College library among several other illustrious persons who later contributed to the College's outstanding position in Indian history.

The Emblem of the Deccan Education Society, which one College student helping us on the tour of the College mentioned is still the emblem of the College.
Back to the earlier post:

Tilak was intolerant towards injustice of any kind and did not mince words while exhorting his countrymen to stand up for their rights and pointing out British atrocities.  He was described by the British commentators as the “father of unrest in India” and his newspapers were called “the tools of this unrest”.  (Maharatta continued to be published till 1950s and “Kesari” continued its objective reporting and crusade against injustice from Pune, and is published even today). 

Fearless reporting of British atrocities in his papers:

One of the first injustices reported by Tilak-Agarkar was the expose’ on the British conspiracy to declare Shivaji  IV, the young prince of Kolhapur as mentally unstable , so as to take over his dominions by default. The young King died in Ahmednagar prison in 1883 due to the inhuman treatment meted out to him. The entire episode from the beginning was reported in both the newspapers and both Tilak and Agarkar went to Dongri prison for 101 days. As one not to be cowed down, Agarkar wrote a book “Dongri Karagruhatil 101 Diwas” (101 days in Dongri prison). 

Tilak, also, used Kesari to organize people of Pune and Mumbai during the outbreak of plague in epidemic form in 1897.

Tilak was known by the title “Lokmanya” (literal meaning – Accepted by the people – i.e. as their leader and trail blazer).

In 1897, he was charged with writing inflammatory articles against the British Government and violating laws as well as disturbing the peace. A particularly prominent incident took place, when he published inflammatory articles in “Kesari” quoting the Bhagwad Gita (Lord Krishna’s discourse to Arjun, the Pandav Prince in the field of battle at Kurukshetra before the start of the great Indian epic war the “Mahabharat”) mentioning that if anyone killed an oppressor without any thought of reward, no blame is attached to such a person/act. This led to the Chapekar Brothers and their associates killing an Asstt. Collector of Pune and his associate, during the time of the plague epidemic of Mumbai and Pune. 

Tilak was charged with incitement to murder   and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for a second time for a period of 18 months. 

Tilak was hailed as a martyr and a National hero. 

“Swaraj is my Birth-right and I shall have it”:

Soon after his release in 1898, he famously said, “Swaraj is my birth-right and I shall have it”, (Self-Rule is my birth-right and I shall have it), a call that inspired millions of Indians to fight for their Independence.

He launched the Swadeshi movement (indigenous) and spread his message through his newspapers to every corner of Maharashtra. A big “Swadeshi” (indigenous) market was opened in front of his house.

Member of the Indian National Congress and holding of important public offices/posts:

Tilak joined the Indian National Congress in 1890.  He was a member of the Municipal Council of Pune, Bombay (present day- Mumbai) Legislature and an elected fellow of the Bombay University. Tilak led the extremists faction in the Congress while the moderate faction was led by Gopal Krishna Gokhale, which led to a split in the Congress in 1907 during the annual session of the Congress Party held at Surat – one group called the “Jahal matavadi” (extremist faction) led by Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai and Bipin Chandra Pal (called the Lal-Bal-Pal triumvirate) and the other group being called the “Maval matawadi (the moderate faction).

Imprisoned for a third time in Mandalay, Burma for his fiery writings:

In April 1908, when two Bengali youth threw a bomb on a carriage at Muzaffarpur to kill the Chief Presidency Magistrate and the bomb instead killed some women travelling in it , Tilak wrote in the Kesari defending the two youth and called for immediate Swaraj or Self-Rule. He was charged with sedition and arrested by the British India Government and it was Mohammad Ali Jinnah a formidable advocate who led Tilak’s defence team .  Jinnah argued that Tilak was fighting for home rule, but the trial court still sentenced Tilak to 6 years rigorous imprisonment in Mandalay prison (Burma).

When the jury gave the verdict against him he said “In spite of the verdict of the Jury, I maintain that I am innocent. There are higher powers that rule the destiny of men and nations and it may be the will of providence that the cause may prosper more by my suffering than by my remaining free”.  

These words are engraved on the wall of the court-room where he was tried in the Bombay (present day Mumbai High Court) as a memorial to him.

At Mandalay prison, he continued to read and write and wrote his book “Gita-Rahasya” (Lord Krishna’s discourse to Arjun, the great Pandav warrior-prince, before the Mahabharat war, is unravelled here) in 1911 while in Mandalay prison. It is said that one day the British officials came and took away all his written material, but his memory was so strong, that he wrote the book all over again (his book has completed 100 years of publication in June 2011). 

He was released from prison in June 1914. 

On release from prison:

Tilak tried to reunite the two factions of the split Congress party, by abandoning his call for direct action and settled for agitations “strictly by constitutional means” as advocated by the moderate faction, but without success.  

Even Mahatma Gandhi looked upon him as a “Guru” (teacher), but always stood for getting self-rule through peaceful means. He , accordingly, decided to go it alone without the Congress Party and formed a separate Organization called the “All India  Home Rule League”  in 1916-18 with Joseph Baptista, Annie Besant, G.S. Kharpade and Muhammad Ali Jinnah, whose goal was “Swaraj” (self-rule) a concept that he was the strongest advocate for. 

He travelled widely, educating and organizing people for the ideals which his party stood for. He was one of the first and strongest advocates of “Swaraj” (self Rule).

Nationalist and a social Reformer:

He was a Nationalist and a great social reformer. He opposed the “Age of Consent Bill “ which raised the age at which a girl could get married from 10 to 12, terming it as an interference with Hindu religion and culture, and stood for banning of child marriages altogether. He, also, stood for widow remarriage. He was instrumental in transforming the household worshipping during the Ganapati or Ganesh Festival into a“Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav” (Publicly organized Ganesh Festival) and celebration of “Shivaji Jayanti” (birth anniversary celebrations of Chhatrapati Shivaji) as a social festival, all over Maharashtra, which are celebrated as such, even today.

He wanted a genuine Federal system for Independent India where every religion and race was an equal partner. 

He was the first Congress leader to suggest that Hindi written in the Devanagri script should be accepted as the sole national language of India.

Books:

Apart from his newspaper articles   and “Gita Rahasya”, he had several writings to his credit, some of them being “The Arctic Home in the Vedas” (Vedas are Hindu religious texts), “The Hindu philosophy of life, ethics and religion”, “Vedic chronology and Vedanga Jyotisha” (Vedic Chronology and Vedic Astrology), “Letters of Lokmanya Tilak” and” Selected documents of Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak”, among others.

 Death , memorials and legacy :

He passed away, while fighting for his cause on 1^st August 1920. It was only 27 years after he passed away that India became Independent in 1947. 

He left behind him two newspapers which fearlessly advocated the cause of self-rule and millions of Indians who were inspired to carry on his ideals towards attaining “Swaraj” and self-respect for their cultural heritage and cultural values.

The house where he was born in Ratnagiri District (Maharashtra) has been converted into a museum and is a must see whenever one visits Ratnagiri.  I went to Ratnagiri a few months ago and made it a point to visit Tilak’s residence which is a fine example of Konkani architecture. The museum contains a lot of information on his life’s important events and his works.

   The above is a picture taken at Tilak’s residence in Ratnagiri.

The above is a picture-panel of some events from Tilak’s life placed on a wall in the compound of his residence.

A huge portrait of Bal Gangadhar Tilak in Parliament House ,  constantly reminds all Members of the Indian Parliament, the ideals and fearlessly standing up for Indian citizen’s rights and causes which he always stood for, even if he had to go to prison for his beliefs.

 The Reserve Bank of India, to commemorate the 150^th Anniversary of his birth, has brought out a five rupee coin in 2007 for general circulation, which was issued in both cupro-nickel and Ferritic Stainless Steel (FSS). 

The obverse of the coin has the Lion Capital in the centre together with the words “Satyameva Jayate “(Truth always Prevails) which together form the emblem/Coat of Arms of India. The numeral “5” denoting the denomination of the coin is below the emblem. On the left periphery are the words “Bharat” and “Rupiye” in Hindi and on the right periphery are the words “India” and “Rupees” in English.

On the reverse of the coin is a portrait/image of Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak , with the inscription “150^th Birth Anniversary of Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak” in English  on the bottom half of the coin and the  words “Lokmanya Tilak ki 150vin Jayanti “ in Hindi on the top of the coin . The year 2007 is seen in very small engraving on the bottom of the coin. This coin has been minted at Mumbai mint. Notice the “diamond” mint mark, below the year of issue.

Posted on 28.07.2016:

I have yesterday received this Full Sheet of 100 Stamps of the denomination of Re.1/- or 100 Paise each from the epostoffice, New Delhi which was issued under the 11th Definitive series of Stamps: 

The above full sheet of 100 stamps depicting Bal Gangadhar Tilak   has been issued under the 11th Definitive Series by India Security Press, Nasik Road, in the denomination of 100 Paise or Re.1/- each.





Links:

1)Our trip to Ratnagiri including seeing the Thibaw Palace, where the last King of Burma Thibaw was exiled by the British

 2) Currency Coinage of Burma, including the coinage of King Thibaw