Essay on "Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak"

Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak

 

(1) Preface 

(2) Biography 

(3) Union for Freedom 

(4) Epilogue

(1) Introduction Around 1905, the sub-nationalist stream emerged in the public life of the Congress and India. The purpose of the sub-nationalist stream was not to achieve any legal reforms for India, but to achieve complete independence for the country. He was of the opinion that this goal of complete self for the country can be achieved only by adopting the path of mass movement. The sub-nationalist stream was led by Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai, Bipin Chandra Pal and Arvind Ghosh. Tilak was the chief among them.

 

(2) Life-Introduction- Bal Gangadhar Tilak was born on July 23, 1856 at Ratnagiri in Konkan district on the western coast of India. The family in which Tilak was born was noted for its religiosity, scholarship and faith in rituals. Tilak was brought up in this environment. His father was a teacher and a Sanskrit scholar. He had given his son a good knowledge of Sanskrit and Mathematics. In school life, Tilak had shown fearlessness and truth on many occasions. He had inherited an excellent sense of self-respect from his father. He passed the B.A. examination in 1877. His friends thought that due to his keen interest in mathematics, he would study mathematics at the postgraduate level, but he was surprised to see that Tilak preferred to study law. Responding to the curiosity of friends in this context, he said, "I want to devote my life to the work of renaissance in my country and I think that knowledge of law will be more useful for this work than any degree in literature or science. I cannot imagine a life in which I do not have to contend with the British rulers." In this way he had determined his life path in his student life and that was the struggle for the independence of the country.

 

(3) Struggle for independence- Tilak was the first person to be jailed for political work. Before him, going to jail was considered a stigma. He established a proud tradition of going to jail for the freedom of the country and that Tilak was the first person to be prosecuted for treason. For the first time this indictment was carried out in 1897 on the charge of inciting the youth of Maharashtra to murder Commissioner Rand and he was sentenced to 18 months rigorous imprisonment. Condolences were expressed across the country on this.

 

Tilak became the biggest enemy of British rule due to his ageism. Therefore, on the basis of some of his articles published in 'Kesari' in 1908, he was prosecuted and imprisoned. The judges and jurors convicted him and sentenced him to 6 years imprisonment and a fine of 1000 rupees. By this time, Tilak had become so popular that people became distraught at many places in the country after hearing the news of Tilak's imprisonment. After being freed from imprisonment in 1914, Tilak again engaged in the work of the national movement. In the years 1916-18, he participated in the 'Home Kal Movement' along with Mrs. Annie Besant to generate Japati among the people of India. In the year 1916, Tilak had a major role in the Lucknow session of the Congress and the Congress People's Accord. On July 21, 1920, this formidable warrior of the battle of poverty died due to sudden illness in Bombay. There were two lakh persons in his unprecedented funeral procession.

 

(4) Epilogue Psychological fact that action produces more effect than words, on this basis it can be said that if there is any biggest contribution of Tilak to the Indian public, it is his personality and character, firmness of purpose, desire in him. The predominance of power and the strong soul like a thunderbolt in a weak body were everything, and at the root of all this was the unshakable devotion to freedom. For his personality and character, the poet Dinkar has written - "The direction has become bright, having received your virtuous light".