Editing Gopal Krishna Gokhale (section)

==Indian National Congress, Tilak and the Split at Surat==
[[File:Gopal Krishna Gokhale.jpg|thumb|Portrait]]
Gokhale became a member of the [[Indian National Congress]] in [[1889]], as a protégé of [[social reformer]] [[Mahadev Govind Ranade]]. Along with other contemporary leaders like [[Bal Gangadhar Tilak]], [[Dadabhai Naoroji]], [[Bipin Chandra Pal]], [[Lala Lajpat Rai]] and [[Annie Besant]], Gokhale fought for decades to obtain greater political representation and power over public affairs for common Indians. He was moderate in his views and attitudes, and sought to petition the British authorities by cultivating a process of dialogue and discussion which would yield greater British respect for Indian rights.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":6" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":7" /> Gokhale had visited Ireland<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":7" /> and had arranged for an Irish nationalist, [[Alfred Webb]], to serve as President of the Indian National Congress in 1894. The following year, Gokhale became the Congress's joint secretary along with Tilak. In many ways, Tilak and Gokhale's early careers paralleled –both attended [[Elphinstone College]], both became mathematics professors and both were important members of the [[Deccan Education Society]]. However, differences in their views concerning how best to improve the lives of Indians became increasingly apparent.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":7" /><ref>{{cite book|author=Masselos, Jim |page=95|title=Indian Nationalism: An History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MPxMx01UFEcC|year=1991|publisher=Sterling Publishers|isbn=978-81-207-1405-2}}</ref>

Both Gokhale and Tilak were the front-ranking political leaders in the early 20th century. However, they differed a lot in their ideologies. Gokhale was viewed as a well-meaning man of moderate disposition, while Tilak was a radical who would not resist using force for the attainment of freedom.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":7" /> Gokhale believed that the right course for India to get self-government was to adopt constitutional means and cooperate with the British Government. On the contrary, Tilak's messages were protest, boycott and agitation.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":7" />

The fight between the moderates and extremists came out openly at Surat in 1907, which adversely affected political developments in the country. Both sides were fighting to capture the Congress organisation due to ideological differences. Tilak wanted to put Lala Lajpat Rai in the presidential chair, but Gokhale's candidate was Rash Behari Ghosh. The tussle begun and there was no hope for compromise. Tilak was not allowed to move an amendment to the resolution in support of the new president-elect. At this the pandal was strewn with broken chairs and shoes were flung by [[Sri Aurobindo|Aurobindo Ghosh]] and his friends. Sticks and umbrellas were thrown on the platform. There was a physical scuffle. When people came running to attack Tilak on the dais, Gokhale went and stood next to Tilak to protect him. The session ended and the Congress split.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":7" /> The eyewitness account was written by the Manchester Guardian's reporter Nevison.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":7" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060806/spectrum/book1.htm|title=A Gentle Colossus|last=Datta|first=V.N.|date=6 August 2006|work=Tribune India.com|access-date=17 June 2018|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303224704/http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060806/spectrum/book1.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

In January 1908, Tilak was arrested on charge of sedition and sentenced to six years imprisonment and dispatched to Mandalay. This left the whole political field open for the moderates. When Tilak was arrested, Gokhale was in England. [[John_Morley|Lord Morley]], the Secretary of State for India, was opposed to Tilak's arrest. However, the [[Gilbert_Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound,_4th_Earl_of_Minto|Viceroy Lord Minto]] did not listen to him and considered Tilak's activities as seditious and his arrest necessary for the maintenance of law and order.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":7" /><ref name=":3" />

Gokhale's one major difference with Tilak centred around one of his pet issues, the Age of Consent Bill introduced by the British Imperial Government, in 1891–92. Gokhale and his fellow liberal reformers, wishing to purge what they saw as superstitions and abuses in their native [[Hinduism]], supported the Consent Bill to curb child marriage abuses. Though the Bill was not extreme, only raising the age of consent from ten to twelve, Tilak took issue with it; he did not object to the idea of moving towards the elimination of child marriage, but rather to the idea of British interference with Hindu tradition. For Tilak, such reform movements were not to be sought under imperial rule when they would be enforced by the British, but rather after independence was achieved, when Indians would enforce it on themselves. The bill however became law in the [[Bombay Presidency]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":7" /><ref name=":4">Brown, D. Mackenzie (1961) ''Indian Political Thought from Ranade to Bhave'', Los Angeles: University of California Press, p. 77.</ref> The two leaders also vied for the control of the [[Poona Sarvajanik Sabha]] and the founding of the Deccan Sabha by Gokhale in 1896 was the consequence of Tilak coming out ahead.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":7" /><ref name=":5">{{cite book|last1=Bandyopadhyay|first1=Sekhar|title=From Plassey to Partition and After|publisher=Orient Blackswan Private Limited|isbn=978-81-250-5723-9|page=248|year=2015}}</ref>

Gokhale was deeply concerned with the future of Congress after the split in Surat. He thought it necessary to unite the rival groups, and in this connection he sought the advice of Annie Besant. Gokhale died on 19 February 1915. On his deathbed, he reportedly expressed to his friend [[S. S. Setlur]] a wish to see the Congress united.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":7" /><ref name=":3" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Jog |first1=N. G. |title=Builders of Modern India: Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak |date=1962 |publisher=Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India |url=https://ia903104.us.archive.org/23/items/lokmanyabalganga00jogn/lokmanyabalganga00jogn.pdf |access-date=3 June 2024}}</ref>{{rp|166-67}} Despite their differences, Gokhale and Tilak had great respect for each other's patriotism, intelligence, work and sacrifice. Following Gokhale's death, Tilak wrote an editorial in Kesari paying glowing tributes to Gokhale.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":7" />