Page 114 - Swatantrata to Atmanirbharta : Lokmanya Tilak’s legacy

administration of the country to the Indians of all castes and
religions.
In one of the articles in 1905, he warned the upper caste
people in Hindu society against continued neglect of the
“untouchable” castes and asked, “How long can the proponents
of Hindu religion turn a blind eye to this?”. He urged upper caste
Hindus to protect this inseparable part of Hindu society. He
said, “the upper castes should not only empathise with them but also
help them directly.”

In 1918, he participated in the conference for the ‘Abolition
of Untouchability in Mumbai’; where he pointed out that the
Dharma shastras- the scriptures of the Hindus do not support the
notion of treating any class of human beings as untouchables.
According to him this notion was sinful beyond doubt. The
Bhagvad Gita looks upon all as equals and for anyone to assume
superiority and look down upon his brothers as untouchables
was nothing less than breaking the commandment of God.
“Untouchability must go” he said. He compared it to the
treatment of African Americans by the white Americans and
remarked that all such wrongdoings must be rectified.
“Swaraj will not last forever without the spread of education”
he warned. Therefore, education for all was his goal. He created
awareness about education amongst the lower classes.
Tilak wrote in Kesari, “It cannot be said that a particular
country has economically speaking improved so long as the
conditions of the toiling majority in the country have improved.”
So, he supported Indian industries. He became treasurer of the
“Paisa Fund” to finance local industries and village enterprises.
He was a proponent of self-reliance or “Atma nirbharta”.

VII. RELEVANCE OF LOKMANYA TILAK’S
STRATEGY TODAY

As we observe 100th death anniversary of Lokmanya Tilak,
we realise that his strategy for achieving ‘swaraj’ is relevant even
today for achieving ‘suraj’ in India. Now that we have achieved
swaraj, to achieve suraj, we should follow the guidelines given
by him during his struggle for independence. He judged the
weaknesses of Indian society very well. There is a divide because
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