Page 88 - Swatantrata to Atmanirbharta : Lokmanya Tilak’s legacy

was also a religious side to the attacks. To defeat that side, many
saints and Mahants arose in India. Saints like Dnyaneshwar,
Eknath, Tukaram, Ramdas, Namdev were working in
Maharashtra. Saints like Tulsidas, Ravidas, Shankar Dev, Guru
Nanak were working in the north. They maintained the ability
of Indians to fight against the invaders and awakened faith in
Swadharma. They kept people’s hope alive that the darkness
would end, and the sun would rise again. It is because of the
work of these saints that our nation has been able to recover
from the terrible shadow of Islamic aggression.

The British invasion was far more widespread and pernicious
than the preceding invasions. It was political, religious as well
as cultural. The Rebellion of 1857 was the first major protest
this invasion. Small and large kingdoms and political chiefs
from almost all parts of the country came together and declared
war against the British rule. But unfortunately, an organized
retaliation could not be created by the revolutionaries.
Consequently, the Indians were defeated in this rebellion
despite showing extraordinary bravery. As a result, the British
rule was firmly established in this country. It was a time of
great frustration. The defeatist mentality that we will not be
able to repulse the British was constructed by many thinkers
of the country. Following the political invasion, Christian
missionaries carried out religious propagation with the intention
of uprooting Hinduism and the Indian culture. Leaders like
Swami Vivekananda, Swami Dayanand, Swatantryaveer
Savarkar, who resisted religious aggression in a scholarly and
aggressive manner, showed the Indians the dangers in this
matter. Hinduism is by no means inferior to other religions. The
spread of Christianity was a tool to strengthen the British rule.
There was no reason to be fooled by the Western culture. Hindu
culture is more effectively established than Western culture. It
shows the way to material and spiritual prosperity. These great
men created great confidence in the Indian society. But in the
face of all these attacks, the great task of turning the Indian
masses towards the freedom movement again was first done by
the great revolutionary Vasudev Balwant Phadke, followed by

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