INTRODUCTIONBal Gangadhar Tilak (29th Couplet) Described by British as

"The Father of Indian Unrest " Tilak was born on 23.07.1856.

His slogan, "Swaraj (Self Rule) is my birthright", inspired

millions of Indians. His book "Geetarahasya"a classic treatise on

Geeta in Marathi was written by him, in prison at

Mandalay.Great journalist- editor, an authority on Vedas,

Sanskrit Scholar, mathematician and a natural leader of India.

Died 01.08.1920 "Swaraj is our birthright," thundered Tilak, the

Lion of India.He founded schools andpublished newspapers, all

for his motherland. He rotted in a distant jail at Manda lay, in

Burma. he wore himself out till his last breath, to awaken his

countrymen.

When Tilak was ten his father was transferred to Pune from

Ratnagiri. This brought sea change in Tilak’s life. He joined

the Anglo-Vernacular School in Pune and got education from

some of the well known teachers. Soon after coming to Pune

Tilak lost his mother and by the time he was sixteen he lost

his father too. While Tilak was studying in Matriculation he

was married to a 10-year-old girl called Satyabhama. After

passing the Matriculation Examination Tilak joined the

Deccan College. In 1877, Bal Gangadhar Tilak got his B.A.

degree with a first class in mathematics. He continued his

studies and got the LL.B. degree too.

He led a simple life, and offered himself, body

and soul, to the service of his country. Tilak had

no property. His clothes were very simple. A

dhoti, a shirt, a shawl on the shoulder and a red

'Pagadi' (a marathi cap) on his head. In many

ways he was the architect of India’s Freedom

Struggle. His ideas and efforts were carried on

by equally worthy next generation of leaders

Gandhiji, Patel, Nehru and others.

Achievements: Considered as Father of Indian

National Movement; Founded “Deccan Education Society” to

impart quality education to India's youth; was a member of

the Municipal Council of Pune, Bombay Legislature, and an

elected 'Fellow' of the Bombay University; formed Home Rule

League in 1916 to attain the goal of Swaraj.

Bal Gangadhar Tilak is considered as Father of Indian

National Movement. Bal Gangadhar Tilak was a multifaceted

personality. He was a social reformer, freedom fighter, national

leader, and a scholar of Indian history, sanskrit, hinduism,

mathematics and astronomy. Bal Gangadhar Tilak was

popularly called as Lokmanya (Beloved of the people). During

freedom struggle, his slogan “Swaraj is my birthright and I

shall have it” inspired millions of Indians.

After graduation, Tilak began teaching mathematics in a private school in Pune and later became a journalist. He became a strong critic of the Western education system, feeling it demeaning to Indian students and disrespectful to India's heritage. He came to the conclusion that good citizens can be moulded only through good education. He believed that every Indian had to be taught about Indian culture and national ideals. Along with his classmate Agarkar and great social reformer VishnushastryChiplunkar, Bal Gangadhar Tilak founded “Deccan Education Society” to impart quality education to India's youth

The very next year after the Deccan Education

Society was founded, Tilak started two weeklies,

'Kesari' and 'Mahratta'. 'Kesari' was Marathi weekly

while 'Mahratta' was English weekly. Soon both the

newspapers became very popular. In his newspapers,

Tilak highlighted the plight of Indians. He gave a

vivid picture of the people's sufferings and of actual

happenings. Tilak called upon every Indian to fight

for his right. Bal Gangadhar Tilak used fiery

language to arouse the sleeping Indians.

In 1894, Tilak transformed household

worshipping of Ganesha into sarvajanik

ganeshotsav and he also made Shiva

Jayaunti(birth anniversary celebrations of

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj) as a social

festival. It is touted to be an effective

demonstration of festival procession.

Political Career

Tilak'' joined the Indian National Congress in 1890. He opposed its moderate

attitude, especially towards the fight for self government. He was one of the

most eminent radicals at the time.

In 1891 Tilak opposed the Age of Consent bill. The act raised the age at

which a girl could get married from 10 to 12. The Congress and other

liberals supported it, but lokmanya Tilak was set against it, terming it an

interference with Hinduism. A plague epidemic spread from Mumbai to

Pune in late 1896, and by January 1897, it reached epidemic proportions.

In order to suppress the epidemic and prevent its spread, it was decided to

take drastic action, accordingly a Special Plague Committee, with

jurisdiction over Pune city, its suburbs and Pune cantonment was

appointed under the Chairmanship of W. C. Rand, I. C. S, Assistant

Collector of Pune by way of a government order dated 8 March 1897.Tilak

took up the people's cause by publishing inflammatory articles in his paper

Kesari, quoting the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita to say that no

blame could be attached to anyone who killed an oppressor without any

thought of reward. Following this, on 22 June, Rand and another British

officer Lt. Ayerst were shot and killed by the Chapekar brothers and their

other associates. Tilak was charged with incitement to murder and

sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment.

HIS Arrest

On 30 April 1908 two Bengali youths, Prafulla Chaki and

Khudiram Bose, threw a bomb on a carriage at Muzzafarpur in

order to kill the Chief Presidency Magistrate Douglas Kingsford

of Calcutta fame, but erroneously killed some women travelling

in it. While Chaki committed suicide when caught, Bose was tried

and hanged. Tilak in his paper Kesari defended the

revolutionaries and called for immediate Swaraj or Self-rule. The

Government swiftly arrested him for sedition. He asked a young

Muhammad Ali Jinnah to represent him. But the British judge

convicted him and he was imprisoned from 1908 to 1914 in the

Mandalay Prison, Burma.[While imprisoned, he continued to

read and write, further developing his ideas on the Indian

Nationalist movement. While in the prison he wrote the famous

"Gita Rahasya". Lots of copies of which were sold and the money

was donated for the freedom fighting.

Life after prison

When he emerged from prison, he was revered as a martyr and a

national hero and adopted a new slogan, "Swaraj (Self-Rule) is my

birth right and I shall have it."Tilak had mellowed after his release in

June 1914, more because of the diabetes and hardship in Mandalay

prison. When World war I started in August, Tilak, cabled the King-

Emperor in Britain of his support and turned his oratory to find new

recruits for war efforts. He welcomed The Indian Councils Act,

popularly known as Minto-Morley Reforms which had been passed

by British parliament in May 1909 terming it as ‘a marked increase

of confidence between the Rulers and the Ruled’. Acts of violence

actually retarded than hastened the pace of political reforms, he felt.

He was eager for reconciliation with Congress and had abandoned his

demand for direct action and settled for agitations ‘strictly by

constitutional means’ - a line advocated by his rival Gopal Krishna

Gokhale. Tilak saw the spark in Gandhi and tried his best to convince

Gandhi to leave the idea of "Total Ahinsa" and try to get "Swarajya"

by all means. Gandhi though looked upon him as his guru, did not

change his mind.