Remembering Bal Gangadhar Tilak on his 100th death anniversary

Remembering Bal Gangadhar Tilak on his 100th death anniversary 

• Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak was a scholar, mathematician, philosopher, and ardent nationalist. 
• He founded and served as the president of the Indian Home Rule League. 
• He was the founder-editor of Mahratta (English) and Kesari (Marathi).

Who was Bal Gangadhar Tilak?

• Bal Gangadhar Tilak, an Indian nationalist, teacher, social reformer, lawyer, and independence activist, passed away on 1 August 1920. 
• He was horrified by the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and his health started declining and he passed away soon after.

Early life:

• He was born on July 22, 1856, to a Sanskrit Scholar in Ratnagiri, Keshav Gangadhar Tilak later shifted to Pune. 
• A teacher and journalist by profession, he initiated his political life as a social reformer and freedom activist. 
• He was one of the first few leaders to advocate for 'swaraj' or self-rule. 
• He published two newspapers -Kesari (Marathi) and Mahratta (English) -that actively circulated the cause of national freedom. 
• His slogan 'Swaraj is my birthright, and I shall have it' inspired millions of youths.

Conferred with the title of 'Lokmanya'

• He was also conferred with the title of 'Lokmanya' and is often regarded as the first leader of the Indian Independence movement.
• Dubbed the 'father of Indian unrest' by the British, he was one of the first and strongest advocates of Swaraj. 
• After his death, Gandhi paid tribute to him by calling him ' The Maker of Modern India', while Jawaharlal Nehru described him as 'The father of the Indian Revolution'.