Bal Gangadhar Tilak
By Illa Vij

IN 1907, at a Congress Session, Bal Gangadhar Tilak roared "Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it. Bal Gangadhar Tilak, who struggled and sacrificed for his country, was also a great scholar, thinker and philosopher. Tilak was born on July 23, 1856, in Ratnagiri, a coastal town in Maharashtra. His father was a school teacher and later rose to the position of Inspector of schools. Since his childhood, Tilak was a perfectionist and was brought up in a traditional atmosphere. At the age of 16 years, he was married to Tapi. Tilak lost his parents at an early age.

After completing his schooling, Tilak joined Deccan College in Pune. As a college student, he enjoyed participating in discussions and debates, and devoted ample time to physical exercises. He graduated in 1877. Two years later he became a bachelor of law and began practising with his friend, Agarkar. Tilak strongly felt that it was illiteracy that was keeping Indians bound in the shackles of the British. The need of the hour was to impart proper education to the people. He established New English School in 1880. The Deccan Education Society was founded in 1885. Tilak had supporters like James Fergusson, Agarkar and Mahadev Govind Ranade. Tilak himself did not want a government job, he taught mathematics at New English School.

To reach out to the masses, Tilak launched two journals — ‘Kesari’ in Marathi and ‘Maharatta’ in English in 1881. Since he could not keep the printing machine in his rented house, he and his supporters carted it to the New English School building. Here it was assembled and overnight the first issue was printed. Copies of the Kesari were distributed door-to-door. The masses read Tilak’s views on British policies, his ideas on nationalism and the need to attain freedom — Swaraj. Very soon Tilak was addressed as ‘Lokamanya’, which means the respected one. Tilak also wanted to bring in a social change in the country. Social evils like child marriage and disrespect shown to widows and women in general disturbed him. He advocated widow remarriage and felt that women must be educated.

Tilak became an important member of the Indian National Congress. His move to stir the nation to revolt against the British rule, obviously disturbed Britishers. Tilak was proud of his country’s heritage and wrote about its culture, which had attracted the West. The fact that Indians wanted to abandon their own culture and ape the West disturbed him. He wrote the book, Orion, which includes the antiquity of the Aryan civilisation. He encouraged the celebration of festivals, for he felt that they could ‘awaken’ the people and bring them together. Tilak also started the Shivaji Festival to celebrate the birthday of the brave warrior. All along, Tilak wanted the people to imbibe the feeling of patriotism, and fight for Swaraj.

In 1896, famine struck Maharashtra. The taxes enforced on people made the situation even worse. Starvation and suffering did not touch the hearts of the British. Through the passages written in the two journals, Tilak tried to educate and awaken the peasants. They were motivated to fight for justice. The following year, plague hit the area. In hundreds villagers fled from their homes. A British official, Rand, was appointed to provide relief to the people. Instead, Rand and his soldiers created more havoc by destroying property and harassing people, especially the women folk. On June 22, 1897, Rand organised a celebration in honour of the Queen. This angered the masses and they shot down Rand along with Lieutenant Ayerst.

On July 27, Tilak was arrested on charges of sedition. He was accused of writing poems and articles and giving speeches that stirred a revolt. He was sentenced to 18 months of imprisonment. In prison, Tilak was made to undergo intense physical strain but in his free time, he read books that comforted him. He was freed on September 6, 1898. His release brought great joy to the people. In 1905, the partition of Bengal, the division on the basis of Hindu-Muslim population, disturbed everybody. Tilak wanted to take strong steps to revolt against the government, but in the Congress people like Pherozeshah Mehta and Gokhale wanted to hold a lawful agitation. They did not want to adopt an extremist approach.

Tilak rejected their moderate approach and launched a new party called the Nationalist Party, in 1906. Along with supporters like Lala Lajpat Rai, Tilak started swadeshi campaigns, collected funds to develop the Indian industry and arranged bonfires of foreign cloth.

The British could sense the unrest Tilak was causing. He was sentenced to six years of transportation. On September 14, 1908, he left the shores of Bombay. When he reached Mandalay, he was confined in a cell away from the other prison quarters. He read most of the time and also wrote his thoughts in the form of a book titled Gita Rahasya. On July 7, 1912, he got the news of his wife’s death, which broke him down. Yet, he continued to write. His term ended in 1914 and he sailed back to his motherland. On returning, he again began working towards the attainment of Swaraj. He convinced the illiterate by saying, "I should be in my country what an Englishman is in England". The Home Rule campaign spread all over the country. When Britain was involved in World War I, the Congress and other leaders extended help to the British Government, with the hope that it would develop a positive attitude towards Indians. But they did not get the rights they wanted.

With all kinds of pressures, diabetes and old age, Tilak’s health began to fail. He suffered from bouts of fever. On August 1, 1920, the nation lost his leader who had shown such grit and courage.