Bal Gangadhar Tilak
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Subject: History
Context:
Tilak’s death anniversary is observed on August 1
Concept:
- Born on July 23, 1856, Tilak was a mathematician, philosopher, scholar and social reformer.
- To impart quality education to the country’s youth, he founded the Deccan Education Society in 1884.
- He also started two weeklies, Kesari (in Marathi) and Mahratta (in English), through which he criticised British policies of that time.
- Tilak joined the Congress in 1890, but due to ideological differences, he and his supporters were known as extremist leaders within the party.
- British arrested him on the charges of sedition in 1906 and a court sentenced him to six years of imprisonment in Mandalay (Burma)
- He was popularly known as Lokmanya. The famous slogan, “Swaraj is my birth right and I shall have it”, was coined by him.
- Tilak with Annie Besant, Joseph Baptista, and Muhammad Ali Jinnah founded the All India Home Rule League in 1916.
- In the same year, he concluded the Lucknow Pact with Jinnah, which provided for Hindu-Muslim unity in the nationalist struggle.
- When BalGangadharTilak was imprisoned during the freedom struggle, he wrote a book titled ‘Gita-Rahasya’.
- The events like the Ganapati festival and ShivajJayanti were used by Tilak to build a national spirit beyond the circle of the educated elite in opposition to colonial rule.