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Table of Contents For Prelims:Indian Home Rule Movement, Lucknow Pact For Mains:The role of Tilak in the Indian freedom struggle and the importance of Tilak’s ideas in the present times |
Why in discussion?
On August 1, 2020, a webinar was organized by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations-ICCR to commemorate the 100th death anniversary of Lokmanya Tilak.
key points
- Background:
- Lokmanya Tilak was born on July 23, 1856 in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra.
- He was a lawyer by profession, he is also known as Lokmanya Tilak.
- During the Indian freedom struggle, he gave the slogan ‘Swaraj is my birthright and I will take it’ .
- He died on 1 August 1920.
- His contribution in the Indian freedom struggle:
- Lokmanya Tilak is one of the earliest and most vocal proponents of complete independence or Swarajya (self-government).
- Along with Lala Lajpat Rai and Bipin Chandra Pal, he was part of the Lal-Bal-Pal trio (hot party / militant party).
- Tilak has been called the ‘father of Indian unrest ‘ in the book ‘Indian Unrest’ written by an English journalist Valentine Chirol .
- LTT, in 1890 the Indian National Congress include (Indian National Congress-INC) said.
- He propagated the Swadeshi movement and encouraged the people to boycott foreign goods .
- Tilak in Belgaum In April 1916 the All India Home Rule League established (All India Home Rule League).
- Its area of work was Maharashtra (except Bombay), Central Provinces, Karnataka and Berar.
- The Lucknow Pact (Lucknow Pact, 1916) was signed by Tilak and the All India Muslim League as a representation of the Indian National Congress for Hindu-Muslim unity in the nationalist struggle .
- He published Kesari in Marathi language and Maratha newspapers in English language and wrote books on Vedas called ‘Geeta Rahasya’ and ‘Arctic Home’ .
Indian Council of Cultural Relations:
- The Indian Council for Cultural Relations-ICCR is an autonomous organization of the Government of India , which looks after the activities related to cultural exchange of cultural relations (cultural diplomacy) outside India with other countries and their residents. .
- It was founded in the year 1950 by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad , the first Education Minister of independent India .
- ICCR has been entrusted with the responsibility of organizing International Yoga Day (21 June) by Indian Missions / Posts from the year 2015 .
- Social Contribution:
- Tilak was the founder (1884) of the Deccan Education Society , its founding members also included Gopal Ganesh Agarkar and others.
- Popularized Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Maharashtra .
- It was proposed to celebrate Shiva Jayanti on the birth anniversary of Emperor Chhatrapati Shivaji .
- The people of Hinduism stressed the use of Hindu scriptures to fight atrocities .
The relevance of Tilak’s ideas in the present day:
- Tilak’s stance towards Swadeshi products and Swadeshi movement can help in furthering the concept of ‘self-reliant India’ of today’s India . Thus, the revival of economic nationalism can incorporate the ideology of Tilak.
- At local congress meetings Tilak advocated speaking to members in their mother tongue. Recently the Government of India has also emphasized the adoption of Sanskrit and vernacular languages through the ‘New National Education Policy’ (2020) .
- Tilak was a staunch opponent of untouchability , which is why he launched a big movement to unite a society divided on the basis of caste and sects. In present times too, there is a need to adopt such behavior so that Indian society can be united.
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