Editing Bal Gangadhar Tilak (section)

== Political career ==
Tilak had a long political career agitating for Indian autonomy from British colonial rule. Before Gandhi, he was the most widely known Indian political leader. Unlike his fellow Maharashtrian contemporary, [[Gopal Krishna Gokhale|Gokhale]], Tilak was considered a radical Nationalist but a Social conservative. He was imprisoned on a number of occasions that included a long stint at Mandalay. At one stage in his political life he was called "the father of Indian unrest" by British author Sir [[Valentine Chirol]].{{sfn|Inamdar|1983|p=20}}

===Indian National Congress===
Tilak joined the [[Indian National Congress]] in 1890.{{sfn|Singh|Dhillon|Shanmugavel|Basu|2011|p=43}} He opposed its moderate attitude, especially towards the fight for self-government. He was one of the most-eminent radicals at the time.{{sfn|Brown|1970|p=34}} In fact, it was the Swadeshi movement of 1905–1907 that resulted in the split within the [[Indian National Congress]] into the Moderates and the Extremists.{{sfn|Guha|2011|p=112}}

During late 1896, a bubonic [[Mumbai plague epidemic|plague]] spread from [[Bombay]] to [[Pune]], and by January 1897, it reached epidemic proportions. The [[British Indian Army]] was brought in to deal with the emergency and strict measures were employed to curb the plague, including the allowance of forced entry into private houses, the examination of the house's occupants, evacuation to hospitals and quarantine camps, removing and destroying personal possessions, and preventing patients from entering or leaving the city. By the end of May, the epidemic was under control. The measures used to curb the [[pandemic]] caused widespread resentment among the Indian public. Tilak took up this issue by publishing inflammatory articles in his paper [[Kesari (Marathi newspaper)|Kesari]] (Kesari was written in [[Marathi language|Marathi]], and "[[Maratha (caste)|Maratha]]" was written in English), 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 1897, Commissioner Rand and another British officer, Lt. Ayerst were shot and killed by the [[Chapekar brothers]] and their other associates. According to [[Barbara Metcalf|Barbara]] and [[Thomas R. Metcalf]], Tilak "almost surely concealed the identities of the perpetrators".{{sfn|Metcalf|Metcalf|2006|p=154}} Tilak was charged with incitement to murder and sentenced to 18 months imprisonment. When he emerged from prison in present-day Mumbai, he was revered as a martyr and a national hero.{{sfn|Popplewell|2018|p=34}} He adopted a new slogan coined by his associate [[Joseph Baptista|Kaka Baptista]]: "[[Swaraj]] (self-rule) is my birthright and I shall have it."<ref>{{cite book|title=The Book I Won't be Writing and Other Essays|page=22|publisher=Orient Blackswan|author=HY Sharada Prasad|isbn=978-8180280023|year=2003}}</ref>

Following the [[Partition of Bengal (1905)|Partition of Bengal]], which was a strategy set out by [[Lord Curzon]] to weaken the nationalist movement, Tilak encouraged the [[Swadeshi movement]] and the Boycott movement.{{sfn|Vohra|1997|p=120}} The movement consisted of the boycott of foreign goods and also the social boycott of any Indian who used foreign goods. The Swadeshi movement consisted of the usage of natively produced goods. Once foreign goods were boycotted, there was a gap which had to be filled by the production of those goods in India itself. Tilak said that the [[Swadeshi movement|Swadeshi]] and Boycott movements are two sides of the same coin.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Lokmanya Tilak, his social and political thoughts|page=49|publisher=Ajanta|year=1994|author=Shanta Sathe}}</ref>

[[File:Lal Bal Pal.jpg|thumb|[[Lala Lajpat Rai]] of [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]], Bal Gangadhar Tilak (middle) of [[Maharashtra]], and [[Bipin Chandra Pal]] of [[Bengal]], the triumvirate were popularly known as [[Lal Bal Pal]], changed the political discourse of the [[Indian independence movement]].]]
Tilak opposed the moderate views of [[Gopal Krishna Gokhale]], and was supported by fellow Indian nationalists [[Bipin Chandra Pal]] in [[Bengal]] and [[Lala Lajpat Rai]] in [[Punjab, India|Punjab]]. They were referred to as the "[[Lal Bal Pal|Lal-Bal-Pal]] [[triumvirate]]". In 1907, the annual session of the Congress Party was held at [[Surat]], Gujarat. Trouble broke out over the selection of the new president of the Congress between the moderate and the radical sections of the party. The party split into the radicals faction, led by Tilak, Pal and Lajpat Rai, and the moderate faction. Nationalists like [[Aurobindo Ghose]], [[V. O. Chidambaram Pillai]] were Tilak supporters.{{sfn|Brown|1970|p=34}}{{sfn|Wolpert|1962|p=67}}

When asked in [[Kolkata|Calcutta]] whether he envisioned a Maratha-type of government for independent India, Tilak answered that the Maratha-dominated governments of 17th and 18th centuries were outmoded in the 20th century, and he wanted a genuine federal system for Free India where everyone was an equal partner.<ref name="Singh2009">{{cite book|author=Mahesh Kumar Singh|title=Encyclopaedia on Tilak|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OD4wAQAAIAAJ|year= 2009|publisher=Anmol Publications|isbn=978-81-261-3778-7|page=3}}</ref> He added that only such a form of government would be able to safeguard India's freedom. He was the first Congress leader to suggest that Hindi written in the [[Devanagari]] script be accepted as the sole [[national language of India]].{{sfn|Chaturvedi|p=144}}

===Sedition Charges===
During his lifetime among other political cases, Tilak had been tried for [[sedition]] charges in three times by British India Government—in 1897,<ref name = bombayhighcourt_1>{{cite web | url=http://bombayhighcourt.nic.in/libweb/historicalcases/cases/First_Tilak_Trial_-_1897.html | title=FIRST TILAK TRIAL – 1897 | publisher=[[Bombay High Court]] | access-date= 29 February 2016 }}</ref> 1909,<ref name = bombayhighcourt_2>{{cite web | url=http://bombayhighcourt.nic.in/libweb/historicalcases/cases/Second_Tilak_Trial_-1909.html | title=SECOND TILAK TRIAL – 1909 | publisher=[[Bombay High Court]] | access-date= 29 February 2016 }}</ref> and 1916.<ref name = bombayhighcourt_3>{{cite web | url=http://bombayhighcourt.nic.in/libweb/historicalcases/cases/Third_Tilak_Case_-_1916.html | title=THIRD TILAK TRIAL – 1916 | publisher=[[Bombay High Court]] | access-date= 29 February 2016 }}</ref> In 1897, Tilak was sentenced to 18 months in prison for preaching disaffection against the Raj. In 1909, he was again charged with sedition and intensifying racial animosity between Indians and the British. The Bombay lawyer [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]] appeared in Tilak's defence but he was sentenced to six years in prison in Burma in a controversial judgement.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2020-08-01|title=On Tilak's hundredth death anniversary, what governments can learn from his two trials|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/bal-gangadhar-tilak-death-anniversary-sedition-6533181/|access-date=2020-08-11|website=The Indian Express|language=en}}</ref> In 1916 when for the third time Tilak was charged for sedition over his lectures on self-rule, [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah|Jinnah]] again was his lawyer and this time led him to acquittal in the case.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2010-03-17|title=Jinnah, Tilak and Indian independence movement|url=http://beta.dawn.com/news/978314/jinnah-tilak-and-indian-independence-movement|access-date=2020-08-11|website=DAWN.COM|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=2010-03-03|title=Where Jinnah defended Tilak|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai/where-jinnah-defended-tilak/story-UV1H6DIIMzzuFx3kTXShgK.html|access-date=2020-08-11|website=Hindustan Times|language=en}}</ref>

===Imprisonment in Mandalay===
{{See also|Alipore bomb case}}
On 30 April 1908, two Bengali youths, [[Prafulla Chaki]] and [[Khudiram Bose]], threw a bomb on a carriage at [[Muzzafarpur]], to kill the Chief Presidency Magistrate Douglas Kingsford of Calcutta fame, but erroneously killed two women traveling in it. Chaki committed suicide when caught, and Bose was hanged. Tilak, in his paper ''Kesari'', defended the revolutionaries and called for immediate Swaraj or self-rule. The Government swiftly charged him with [[sedition]]. At the conclusion of the trial, a special jury convicted him by 7:2 majority. The judge, [[Dinshaw D. Davar]] gave him a six years jail sentence to be served in [[Mandalay|Mandalay, Burma]] and a fine of {{INRConvert|1|k}}.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/remove-portrait-of-judge-who-sentenced-bal-gangadhar-tilak/989585 | title=Remove portrait of judge who sentenced Bal Gangadhar Tilak | newspaper=[[Indian Express]] | date=17 August 2012 | access-date=7 January 2013 |location=Mumbai}}</ref>  On being asked by the judge whether he had anything to say, Tilak said:<blockquote>All that I wish to say is that, in spite of the verdict of the jury, I still maintain that I am innocent. There are higher powers that rule the destinies of men and nations; and I think, it may be the will of Providence that the cause I represent may be benefited more by my suffering than by my pen and tongue.</blockquote>

[[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]] was his lawyer in the case.<ref name=":1" /> Justice Davar's judgement came under stern criticism in press and was seen against impartiality of British justice system. Justice Davar himself previously had appeared for Tilak in his first sedition case in 1897.<ref name=":0" /> In passing sentence, the judge indulged in some scathing strictures against Tilak's conduct. He threw off the judicial restraint which, to some extent, was observable in his charge to the jury. He condemned the articles as "seething with sedition", as preaching violence, speaking of murders with approval. "You hail the advent of the bomb in India as if something had come to India for its good. I say, such journalism is a curse to the country". Tilak was sent to Mandalay from 1908 to 1914.{{sfn|Tilak|1988|p=98}} While imprisoned, he continued to read and write, further developing his ideas on the Indian nationalist movement. While in the prison he wrote the ''[[Shrimadh Bhagvad Gita Rahasya|Gita Rahasya]]''.{{sfn|Davis|2015|p=131}} Many copies of which were sold, and the money was donated for the Indian Independence movement.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/mumbai/other/sukh-karta-dukh-harta/articleshow/16164776.cms|title=Sukh Karta Dukh harta|date=17 September 2011}}</ref>

===Life after Mandalay===
{{More citations needed|date=August 2019}}
[[File:Bal Gangadhar Tilak.jpg|thumb|Bal Gangadhar Tilak]]
Tilak developed [[diabetes]] during his sentence in Mandalay prison. This and the general ordeal of prison life had mellowed him at his release on 16 June 1914. When [[World War I]] started in August of that year, Tilak cabled the King-Emperor [[George V]] 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". It was his conviction that acts of violence actually diminished, rather than hastening, the pace of political reforms. 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 that had long been advocated by his rival Gokhale.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/archives/from-the-archives-may-10-1919-mr-tilak-and-the-indian-situation/article27083577.ece|title=From the Archives (May 10, 1919): Mr. Tilak and the Indian Situation.|date=10 May 2019|work=The Hindu|access-date=12 January 2020|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}</ref>{{Additional citation needed|date=January 2020}} Tilak reunited with his fellow nationalists and rejoined the Indian National Congress during the Lucknow pact 1916. .<ref name="Jayapalan2001">{{cite book|author=N. Jayapalan|title=History of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-Z8OzIyGt0MC&pg=PA78|year=2001|publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist|isbn=978-81-7156-917-5|page=78}}</ref>

Tilak tried to convince [[Mohandas Gandhi]] to leave the idea of Total non-violence ("Total Ahimsa") and try to get self-rule ("Swarajya") by all means.{{citation needed|date=July 2014}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Raj |first=Rishi |title=Histories of the Indian Freedom Struggle |date=10 August 2022 |publisher=Prabhat Prakashan |year=2022 |isbn=9782022081007 |pages=489–490}}</ref> Though Gandhi did not entirely concur with Tilak on the means to achieve self-rule and was steadfast in his advocacy of ''[[satyagraha]]'', he appreciated Tilak's services to the country and his courage of conviction. After Tilak lost a civil suit against [[Valentine Chirol]] and incurred pecuniary loss, Gandhi even called upon Indians to contribute to the Tilak Purse Fund started with the objective of defraying the expenses incurred by Tilak.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/archives/mr-tilaks-service-mr-gandhis-speech/article27406589.ece|title=From the Archives (June 3, 1919): Mr. Tilak's Service. Mr. Gandhi's Speech.|date=3 June 2019|work=The Hindu|access-date=10 August 2019|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

===All India Home Rule League===
{{main|All India Home Rule League}}
Tilak helped found the [[All India Home Rule League]] in 1916–18, with [[G. S. Khaparde]] and [[Annie Besant]]. After years of trying to reunite the moderate and radical factions, he gave up and focused on the Home Rule League, which sought self-rule. Tilak travelled from village to village for support from farmers and locals to join the movement towards self-rule.{{sfn|Tilak|1988|p=98}} Tilak was impressed by the [[Russian Revolution (1917)|Russian Revolution]], and expressed his admiration for [[Vladimir Lenin]].{{sfn|M. V. S. Koteswara Rao|2003|p=82}} The league had 1400 members in April 1916, and by 1917 membership had grown to approximately 32,000. Tilak started his Home Rule League in [[Maharashtra]], [[Central Provinces]], and [[Karnataka]] and Berar region. Besant's League was active in the rest of India.{{sfn|Tarique|2008|p=}}