Lokamanya Tilak (Marathi)

The 1857 War of Independence ended in disaster. The British succeeded in putting down the uprising and the people of India accepted British rule a fact of life. While on the one hand, the erstwhile Hindi and Muslim rulers, feudal landowners, the peasantry and the working classes were crushed by the imperialistic British administration, on the other, a large section of the intelligentsia was so awed by the transformation wrought by the railways and the posts and telegraphs that they began to consider the alien rule as a blessing. It was at this critical juncture that Lokmanya Tilak dedicated himself to the cause of the nation with the avowed object of throwing off the British yoke. Swaraj is my birth right and I shall have it, this was the inspiring message Tilak gave to his countrymen. He stirred the people to fight injustice and foreign rule. He directed them towards the four-fold programme of Swaraj, Swadeshi, boycott of foreign goods and national education. Long years of imprisonment did not dampen his enthusiasm and the fire of patriotism kindled by him began to burn more and more fiercely. His denigrators labelled him as the leader of the lowly classes, whereas the British called him the Father of Indian unrest. In the end however, the brickbats became bouquets and he was hailed as the uncrowned king of India.