Keshav alias Bal Gangadhar Tilak, was an Indian nationalist, teacher, an independence activist and an iconic leader . He was the first leader of the Indian Independence Movement. No wonder he was also conferred with the title of “Lokmanya”. The popular community Ganapati Festival and Shivaji Jayanti which are celebrated every year with lots of enthusiasm all over Maharashtra in a big way, were started by him to unite people.
It may be recalled that Lokmanya Tilak was one of the first and strongest advocates of ‘Swaraj’ and a strong radical in Indian consciousness. Even today in our history books, he is known for his famous quote “Swarajya is my birthright and I shall have it !” This clearly indicates how much he was dedicated to his goal towards India’s impendence. But, before that, Inspired by Vishnushastri Chiplunkar, he co-founded the New English school for secondary education in 1880 with a few of his college friends, including Gopal Ganesh Agarkar, Mahadev Ballal Namjoshi and Vishnushastri Chiplunkar.
His was to improve the quality of education for India’s youth. The success of the school led them to set up the Deccan Education Society in 1884 to create a new system of education that taught young Indians nationalist ideas through an emphasis on Indian culture. The Society established the Fergusson College in 1885 for post-secondary studies. Tilak taught mathematics at Fergusson College. In 1890, Tilak left the Deccan Education Society for more openly political work. He began a mass movement towards independence by an emphasis on a religious and cultural revival.
Before Gandhi, he was the most widely known Indian political leader. To reach out to people and spread the independence movement Tilak started a weekly ‘Kesari ‘ in Marathi and another in English in 1880–81 with Gopal Ganesh Agarkar as the first editor. And the rest is a history. We have also seen a biopic made in Marathi five years ago with the title ‘Lokmanya – Ek Yugpurush’, which was a perfect tribute to this great freedom fighter of India.
In short the contribution of Lokmanya Tilak in India’s struggle for independence was enormous and can never be forgotten. Today, we remember him on his 100th Death anniversary.