Lokmanya Tilak- the First National Leader

by Gayatri Pagdi

  After his release from prison, Tilak had come across a book, Indian Unrest, written by Valentine Chirol who had called Tilak the “father of Indian unrest” and had alleged that it was due to Tilak’s instigation that some hot-headed youths had taken to acts of terrorism. Tilak decided to file a libel suit against Chirol. For that it was necessary for him to go to England. He also wanted to use the opportunity to meet politically important and influential people in England, plead for India’s cause, and win over their support. Both Besant and Tilak left for England on 14 July 1918.

  Tilak lost the suit against Chirol as was expected but he did make some significant positive associations in England. In 1918, the Labour Party contested the elections to the British Parliament. Tilak donated two thousand rupees to the Labour Party for its election propaganda. It was an act of political foresight. Tilak anticipated the emergence of the Labour Party as an important force in England’s political life. Though the Labour Party did not win as many seats as Tilak had expected it to, Tilak made sustained efforts at establishing close contacts with its leaders.

  When Tilak was in England, the government of India passed the Rowlatt Act to restrict civil liberties. It evoked protest even in England. On 1 May 1919, the Labour Party organised a meeting in Hyde Park to pass a resolution condemning the Rowlatt Act. On 3 May, the Labour Party held another meeting where Tilak made a very effective speech to a mammoth gathering. He went to Cambridge on 5 June 1919 to address the Hindi Majlis, an organisation of Indian students. He said to them, “You will come back to India after acquiring higher education and after developing an acquaintance with thoughts which have grown in the atmosphere of freedom. However, how many of you have thought of dedicating your lives to the service of your motherland?” He also gave a talk to Indian students in Oxford.

  While in England, Tilak, along with Barrister Joseph Baptista, wrote a pamphlet, “Self-Determination”. He distributed thousands of copies of this pamphlet to political parties, political workers, thinkers, journals, periodicals and to libraries. The contents were an emphatic exposition on Tilak’s political ideology. Tilak said, “It is argued that India is not a nation but a congeries of nations, not a country but a continent. These epigrams obscure the truth and delude the ignorant. Castes do not divide a nation any more than what the classes do in England. Creeds do not rend a nation into two. If they did, religious tolerance would be impossible to see. The whole of India is one nation. There is unity in diversity.” The pamphlet made a scathing attack on the argument that England was the political trustee of India. “As a tree cannot grow in shade, so a nation cannot really prosper under an overshadowing trusteeship. Trustees are appointed for minors. India is not an infant nation, nor a primitive people; but the eldest brother in the family of man, noted for her philosophy and for being the home of religions that cover half of mankind.”

  On the Reforms Scheme which suggested granting of responsibility to Indians step by step, Tilak said, “To think of granting autonomy step by step, is a slur on India’s ability to govern herself.” He concluded by saying, “Upon the principles we have discussed, we claim that the British Parliament should enact a complete constitution for India, conceding autonomy within the British Commonwealth, with transitory provisions for bringing the entire constitution into full operation within the time specified by the Congress and the Muslim League.” The concept of autonomy meant that “the Indian peninsula should be divided into a number of provinces on the principles of nationality . . . The form of government should be democratic. The provinces should be grouped to form the united states of India, with democratic central executive and legislative bodies having the powers to deal with the internal affairs of the whole of India. The united states of India should form a unit of the British Commonwealth with status equal to that of any other constituent unit thereof.”

  At the end of the World War, a peace conference was held at Paris under the president-ship of George Clemenco of France. On 11 March 1919, Tilak sent a memorandum to George Clemenco, requesting that India be given a representation on the peace conference and the Indian representative should be elected by the people. The memorandum made the plea for India’s right to self-determination and stated that the Indians had the ability to conduct the affairs of their country in a democratic way. “From the point of view of peace in Asia, and from the point of view of peace in the world, it is absolutely necessary that India should be self-governed internally and be made the bulwark of liberty in the east.”

  Tilak’s evidence before the Joint Parliamentary Committee in England was a significant event in his political life. He presented India’s case convincingly, pointing out the flaws in the Reforms Bill proposed by Montague and said, “In the ensuing 15 years, India must get a complete responsible government.” He suggested immediate grant of provincial autonomy to India, with the administration of the provinces being entrusted to elected representatives of the people. He also pleaded that some departments at the centre should be administered by representatives of the people, leaving the control of the Department of Foreign Relations with the British government so that the interests of the British Empire were properly protected. He was confident that if the people of India were given the right to vote, they would use it in a responsible manner. “The inclusion of the declaration of right to statute is absolutely necessary,” he declared.

  While Tilak was in England the Rowlatt Act and the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre took place. Tilak was deeply upset and met the secretary of state for India, requesting him to put a stop to the inhuman punishments meted out to the people under the martial law promulgated in Punjab, and release all those arrested during the agitation.

  On 6 November 1919, Tilak, along with his colleagues, left for India and reached Bombay on 20 November. In a statement that he issued shortly thereafter he said, “The Reforms Bill has given us very inadequate reforms as far as our political rights are concerned. However, there is no reason to despair. The Labour Party has given us the assurance to move our Home Rule Bill in Parliament. We need not therefore reject the Reforms Bill, even though it is unsatisfactory. We should accept what we have got and strive for getting more. We must not give up our fight, because if we are complacent, we shall lose our chances for securing greater political rights. When I was in England, I was informed about the happenings here. My only regret is that when Gandhi launched the satyagraha against the Rowlatt Act, I was not there to participate in it.”

  Soon after the Congress session in Amritsar in December 1919, Tilak got busy with organising the people and increasing the strength of the Home Rule League. On 30 January 1920, he met members of the Khilafat Movement in Bombay during a felicitation meeting. Tilak, while presiding over the meeting, said, “The khilafat question must be solved by the government in accordance with the wishes of the Muslims. At this juncture we are prepared to help our Muslim brethren. I shall do for the Muslims all that I can.” 19

  On 24 July 1920, Tilak’s 64th birthday was celebrated in Poona, after which he left for Bombay where Mahatma Gandhi met him. On the issue of non-cooperation Tilak said to him, “I approve of the programme of non-co-operation. But I am not sure to what extent people would be with us in the Non-Co-operation Movement. I wish you well. I shall whole-heartedly support you if the people respond to your call.” He also said, “I believe that we should be a step ahead of the people, but not too far ahead. If the leader is a little ahead of the followers, he can take them along with him.” Tilak held Gandhi in high esteem and trusted his capacity to impress people and involve them in the country’s freedom struggle. Tilak, however, had not decided on what role he could play in the Non-Cooperation Movement.

  On 26 July he developed slight temperature. In spite of the fever, he discussed with Diwan Chamanlal Gandhi’s proposed plan for non-cooperation. He said, “The movement for swarajya in India has to be through united effort. We must see that all the soldiers of democracy are ready to fight together.” The next day Tilak had high fever and it developed in
to pneumonia within twenty-four hours. Tilak fell unconscious on 27 July. The best doctors attended to him but he did not respond to the treatment. On 29 July he did regain enough consciousness to say, “I am quite sure that India will not prosper unless she gets swarajya.” His condition worsened after midnight. On 1 August Lokamanya Tilak breathed his last. As Gandhi wrote in his obituary, the lion had breathed his last. Two lakh people witnessed his last journey. Mahatma Gandhi, Lala Lajpat Rai, Shaukat Ali and others shouldered the bier by turns. The man who had not only truly understood but had lived the karmayog as explained in the Geeta had left on his final journey. Lokmanya, the man of the people, was no more.

  There are different opinions about when exactly the title of Lokmanya was bestowed upon Tilak. Tilak’s admirer, Bhausaheb Bhopatkar, claimed that it was he who first used the adjective for Tilak in his publication Bhala. But others claim that the title was given to Tilak by Mahadev Pandurang Oak Shastri who was the Sanskrit teacher in New English School. According to them, in 1905, on the day of Dassera, Tilak was invited to the school and visited the Sanskrit class. Shastri had composed a special poem dedicated to Tilak in which he had used the adjective of Lokmanya for him. But in 1900, adjectives like Rajmanya (Acknowledged by Royalty) and Lokmanya (Admired by the people) were used for Tilak in one of the articles by Tilak’s friend, Paranjpe, in his newspaper Kal. Yet another claim has been made by a close associate of Tilak who had worked with him right from the beginning. He was a publisher called Balwant Ganash Dabholkar who claimed that he had used the adjective to describe Tilak in a book dedicated to him. There are several claims; none of them can be proved to be the most correct. However, all of them used it to describe Tilak aptly, making it abundantly clear that the feelings of admiration and respect for Tilak were unequivocal.

  It is difficult to encapsulate a life so large in a single chapter but it has been simply an overview. The following chapters will look independently at various facets of what made Tilak the man of the people of all hues.

  Chapter Two

  TEACHERS AND STUDENTS

  The visionary who impressed upon his countrymen that “material, spiritual and religious development of undeveloped nations can be achieved only through education” apparently started off his own contact with education by tearing books apart busily and spreading the loose pages about with gay abandon. N. R. Phatak, in his book Lokmanya, recounts this amusing beginning of an auspiciously brilliant academic and scholastic career. The books, apparently, belonged to his father’s students.

  From the age of three, Tilak started learning a Sanskrit shlok a day. He was bribed a pai per shlok which ensured that by the time he was five, he had already learnt a lot by heart! To be able to recognise letters, he was given the game of Ganjifa; making the task seem like play worked nicely. In 1861, Tilak entered school. By the time he had his thread ceremony, he was already adept at numbers, simple and slightly complex calculations, many mantras except for the Gayatri, and most of the Amarkosh that the students then had to know.

  In 1866, Tilak went to Poona with his parents and completed three grades in two years. In 1869, when he went to the high school, he discovered that he had already finished studying most of the syllabus in the previous years. An oft-quoted example of his brightness in school was the three ways in which he managed to write the word “sant” in Marathi as against the two of every other student. The teacher did not like it and Tilak was taken to the headmaster who did not find anything wrong with it but decided to punish him for what the teacher took to be some sort of arrogance and insubordination. The teacher had found a questioning student a challenge to his authority. Tilak dropped out of the school and tried out another. He returned to the earlier school after the headmaster was transferred.

  His independence remained unchanged. Once, in the high school when the teacher taught poetry, the Naishadh Kavya, in class Tilak did not copy it down. On being asked why he didn’t bother to, Tilak answered that it would help him more if he translated it by himself. He seemed to have been good at it because by the time he was fourteen his father was stunned to see how wonderful his command over Sanskrit and English was and how well he wrote poetry in Sanskrit. This study laid a strong foundation for the scholar who later wrote works of monumental research and brilliance.

  Tilak passed the matriculation examination in 1872 and joined the Deccan College for higher studies in 1873. After the first term, he became a resident student. As a student Tilak always went to the root of the subject and studied it, reading a number of other books as reference. His aim was to understand a subject, not merely score marks. When he had to study the lessons on the reign of Queen Mary and Elizabeth, Tilak set aside the textbook and instead referred to many other books and wrote out a new chapter on the subject entirely on his own. His work often served as reference to other students. He never cared for scholarships and at times his uncle, with whom he lived, expressed disappointment at his bright nephew not being able to have a prestigious scholarship to his name. And yet, later in college Tilak was a junior scholar and was the recipient of monthly scholarships of ten rupees in 1874 and 1875.

  Tilak was fairly close to his professor of mathematics, Kerunana Chhatre. Tilak was a teacher’s dream and Chhatre himself was considered a mahapandit of the subject. Even as a school student, Tilak often went to Chhatre to solve some of his doubts and queries over which he had disagreements with his school teachers. Later, as a college student who raised the most complex doubts and forced a teacher to think really deep, Tilak became Chhatre’s favourite student. Tilak’s command over mathematics and Sanskrit became a topic of discussion in the Deccan College. Professor Chhatre was proud of his student’s striking originality of thought. Tilak studied for one term at Elphinstone College, Mumbai, in 1875 but did not feel comfortable in the Mumbai college. He returned to Poona for the second term.

  Chhatre encouraged Tilak in his studies and at times even gave astronomy lessons to him and his friends at night. This was said to have helped Tilak while writing The Orion. But Tilak was not as fortunate with some other teachers who resented his questioning nature. As homage to his guru, Tilak completed some of Chhatre’s unfinished work after his death. Chhatre was a master of mathematics and astronomy and his brilliance often saw his European professor colleagues intimidated by his knowledge. All of this contributed to a fiercely patriotic Tilak’s affection for his guru. However, there was another professor who also made an impact on Tilak. He was Professor William Wordsworth, an Englishman and the grandson of the famous poet of the same name. Professor Shoot was also another man who influenced Tilak. The former taught him English literature and the latter taught him history and political economy, which helped him to appreciate English ideas. Tilak, in spite of his Hindu conservatism, was much influenced by Western thought on politics and metaphysics. He was particularly fond of Hegel, Kant, Spencer, Mill, Bentham, Voltaire, and Rousseau. As he expressed in the Geeta Rahasya, “To a certain extent my line of argument runs parallel to the line of thinking followed by Green in his book on Ethics.”

  Tilak studied late at night. He started on his studies after everyone else went to bed and worked through the night. He was outspoken, earning himself the nickname “Blunt”. Fond of debates and heated discussions, he was also known as the “Devil”. And because he was an all-rounder in his studies, some called him “All-round” or simply, “Round”. He passed his BA in 1876 securing a first class and turned his attention to law for two years. He joined the law college for a professional degree.

  It was during his college days that Tilak came in contact with Agarkar with whom he was to share a complex relationship later.

  Tilak had been aware of the corrupting and stultifying effect of British-inspired education on the Indian mind. The education, he believed, was based on the racist assumption of western cultural superiority over eastern races. Both Tilak and Agarkar began to think of ways in which they could establish private schools on the model of missionary institutions. Mahadev Govi
nd Ranade, a very respected educationist, also felt that the country would not be emancipated unless it had, like America, its national press and national education. Tilak and Agarkar approached Vishnushastri Chiplunkar who welcomed the idea and agreed to join them in their venture. Chiplunkar resigned from the job of a teacher in a government school at Chiplun and opened a school in Poona in January 1880. This school, the New English School, was to make history in the cultural and political life of Poona. Tilak joined on the first day as promised. Agarkar came in after his MA examination in January 1881. Soon like-minded men like Mahadev Ballal Namjoshi joined them.

  All of them worked without remuneration for the first year. It was a school driven by the passion of its founders and teachers. The teachers were mentors and father figures to the students. For the students who were not very quick to pick up, Tilak started special preparatory classes, which would enable them to catch up with the others. The classes also later provided employment to the ex-students. Tilak was always accessible to the students who could always go to him to get their doubts resolved. In 1882, when the Education Commission under the chairmanship of Sir William Hunter visited the then Bombay Presidency, the workers of the New English School made such an impression on the commission and the prominent men of the Bombay University that they encouraged them to start a college to impart higher education to Indians. In 1884, the group was able to establish the Deccan Education Society (DES) and in 1885 they founded the Fergusson College which was to become one of India’s foremost institutions of higher learning. Tilak mostly taught Sanskrit and mathematics in this college.

  As a professor of mathematics, Tilak had a strange habit. He solved the problems orally. He never ever worked them on the blackboard which meant that only those who had a special interest in mathematics could match his speed. To break this habit, the students would go to him with the most complex problems but to their stupefaction he would find the solutions in moments, of course orally. Those who weren’t too quick had a tough time keeping pace with his explanation of binominal theorem, separation of series etc.