Page 112 - Swatantrata to Atmanirbharta : Lokmanya Tilak’s legacy

course of action. The early leadership of the Congress was
mainly focused on the “Three P’s - Prayer, Petition and Protest”.
Lokmanya Tilak along with two other leaders- Lala Lajpat Rai
and Bipin Chandra Pal- popularly known as the Lal – Bal - Pal
Trio, started a new phase of the Indian National Congress. This
phase focused on mass mobilisation.
II. MASS LEADER

“Lokmanya” means the man accepted by people or the
beloved leader of the people. Bal Gangadhar Tilak can be
hailed as the first “mass leader” of the Indian Independence
Movement. He was truly the “leader of the masses”. Tilak’s two
arrests first in 1897 and later in 1908 resulting in six years of
rigorous imprisonment in Mandalay witnessed the first ever
political strike by the working class. Textile workers from
Mumbai, Hindus of all castes and even Muslims struck work
for six days, one day for every year of the sentence. Tilak was a
great scholar, a man of immense intellect, a great orator, but at
the same time he had a connection with the masses. His politics
were not for the elitist class. He always advocated for the cause
of workers and farmers. He addressed the meetings of trade
unions in Mumbai. He wrote articles about the plight of the
farmers. For him “Swaraj” or Home Rule meant the rule of and
for the common people.
III. SOCIAL INTEGRATION

Lokmanya Tilak realised the fact that the social and cultural
differences based on the caste system and religion make the
nation weak. In 1896 he initiated the Sarvajanik Ganesh Utsav
in Mumbai. Masses of people came out to worship idols of
Lord Ganesh. This was an attempt at social integration through
religious festivals where people of all caste and creed came
together to celebrate. This served the political purpose of mass
mobilisation. Tilak’s campaign against the British rule was
based on reclaiming Indian culture and heritage. It was an
attempt at cultural self-assertion of the Indian people. Through
this he wanted to shed the yoke of foreign rule- the British rule.

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