Bal Gangadhar Tilak

Bal Gangadhar Tilak was one of the first leaders of Indian independence movement .He was an ardent supporter of the concept of Swaraj and has he popularly said that Swaraj is my birth right and I shall take it .He is known by varied names and titles , Mahatma Gandhi regarded him as the Maker Of Modern India while the British government called him as the Father of Indian Unrest.

He was close to many like Lala Lajpat Rai, Bipin Chandra Pal and together they were called the Lal – Bal – Pal 

Early life

His birth name was Keshav Gangadhar Tilak and was born on 23 July 1856. He was born in a Marathi Family in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra. His village was at Chikhali.He was married to Tapibai when he was sixteen and in 1871.

Education

He completed his graduation in Mathematics from Deccan College Pune in the year 1877, Further went on to pursue M.A. but left in between and joined law from Government Law College.

Career

Post-graduation Tilak started teaching mathematics in a school at Pune. Further due to differences in opinion he became a journalist and started participating in public affairs. He founded the New English School for Secondary Education in 1880 with the help of Gopal Ganesh Agarkar and Vishnushastri Chiplunkar.

Educational institutions 

• Founded the New English School for Secondary Education for improving the education of Goal of youth 
• Fergusson college was set up in 1885 for post-graduation studies where Tilak taught mathematics.
• The success of the New English school Led to the setting up of other schools like Deccan Education Society.

Political Career

In the year 1890 he joined the Indian Nation Congress and was an ardent follower of Self-government. He had the moderate attitude of discussion and deliberation. Further due differences in the Surat session there was a split in the moderates and the radicals.

Due to his political stints he was charged with sedition thrice and also imprisoned in Mandalay. He writes about the Alipore bomb conspiracy in his paper Kesari and defended them and hence was charged for sedition. Later on, trial he was given six years of jail sentence and a fine of Rs.100

From 1908 to 1914 he was in jail where he wrote Gita Rahasya.

Post Mandalay 

After coming to politics from Mandalay he wished to join the Indian National Congress back. He realised that the radical methods only lead to slowing down the pace of the independence struggle though he didn’t believe in complete or Total Nonviolence. He also founded the home rule league with Annie Beasant.

Books 

Tilak writings inspired the youth of India to become a part of the freedom struggle. Some of his important works are as follows-:

• The Arctic Home in Vedas
• The Orion
• Gita Rahasya

Contributions to the society 

Social contributions

• His weekly Kesari in Marathi language and the Mahratta in English were inspiring.
• It awakened the public, masses about the ills of the British raj and promoted and encouraged them to join the struggle.
• He started the Ganesh utsav on a massive scale to promote the ideology of unity and togetherness in the masses but it alienated the Muslims. Festivals like Shivaji Jayanti and Ganesh utsav were used to build the national spirit.
• He founded the Shivaji fund committee.
• The festivals further acted as a bone of contention between the Hindu and Muslims.

Ideology 

Religious views 

• He also tried to unite the masses for a mass struggle and used the Anti-British propaganda and pro Hindutva narrative.
• He took inspiration from Ramayana and Bhagavad Gita to justify his actions.
• The use of holy scriptures to fight the British raj was his idea.

Political views

• Due to his use of religion in politics he alienated many Muslims as the concept of Hindutva and Hinduism was something that Muslim masses couldn’t relate to and hence cause a division of Hindu / Muslim in the country.

Issues related to women

• He was against liberal views that were coming up in Pune Women rights. As a result, he opposed the formation of the first native girl school.
• He was against intercaste marriage specifically when upper caste women married lower caste men.
• He opposed the age of consent bill which was made to increase the age of women from ten to twelve year – marriage age.
• He was against untouchability but he didn’t sign the petition for the same. 
• He believed that women are supporters of the male and should be Homemakers.
• He didn’t believe in giving Modern education to women.

Thus, one can say he didn’t have a liberal view when it comes to gender relations.

Conclusion

Tilak was a prominent radical leader who wanted Swaraj for the country. His contributions towards the education System and setting up various education institutions was instrumental in improving the education quality in the country. His setup of the Home rule league to get the Dominion status for the country in the year 1916.His writings in Kesari and Mahratta inspired the young minds to participate in the freedom movement. Though his views were not progressive on issues related to Women like their empowerment and marriage, he was truly the most accepted leader by the people – LOKMANYA.