PM pays tribute to Bal Gangadhar Tilak on 100th death anniversary
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 1 paid tributes to one of the icons of India’s freedom struggle Bal Gangadhar Tilak on his 100th death anniversary and saying his intellect, courage and idea of swaraj continue to inspire people. Mr. Modi shared a brief video of one of his Mann ki Baat programmes in which he had referred to Tilak’s efforts to unite people against the British rule.
India bows to Lokmanya Tilak on his 100th punya tithi (death anniversary). His intellect, courage, sense of justice and idea of Swaraj (self-rule) continue to inspire, Mr. Modi tweeted.
The Prime Minister recalled how Tilak evoked self-confidence among people and gave the slogan Swaraj is our birthright and I shall have it.
On Saturday, Home Minister Amit Shah said, Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak was the one who made India’s freedom struggle truly Indian. The progress into the future cannot be made without pride in the past and that Tilak always advocated this. Those who have studied history of the Congress will know it. If any one made India’s Independence struggle Indian, it was Tilak. Tilak suffused India’s freedom struggle with Indian thought, Indian history, Indian pride and its varied languages. He gave the clarion call that Swaraj is my birthright and I will take it. This was no ordinary sentence. This brought a paradigm shift to the freedom struggle. It turned the movement launched by the Congress into a people’s movement. One hand, Tilak led the freedom struggle and on the other, he agitated against cow slaughter. He fought for women’s rights, published the Kesari newspaper and even turned Shiv Jayanti and Ganpati festivals into a public movement. If anyone took the values of Shivaji Maharaj to the people, it was Tilak. If anyone read the thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi, Veer Savarkar and Madan Mohan Malviya, they would realise the massive influence Tilak had on them. The youth read about Tilak and his work. Tilak is as relevant today as he was 100 years ago. I want to tell the youth to study Tilak and a lot of your problems will be solved. It will teach you how to take your glorious legacy to the future. The webinar had associated Tilak’s thoughts with the government’s Atmanirbhar Bharat program. It was Tilak’s advocacy for local languages in the Congress that made everyone speak in their mother tongue during its meetings. Today, PM Modi has brought in Sanskrit and local languages into government’s education policy. Tilak as a crusader against untouchability and in 1918, he had shown great courage in saying that he would not accept a God who endorsed untouchability.
ICCR President Vinay Sahasrabudhe, who made the introductory remarks said, today, when we talk about Atmanirbhar Bharat, the legacy of Tilak has been carried forward. Reviving the spirit of economic nationalism for indigenously manufactured goods and striving for social integration through culture are the features of Tilak’s strategy and they continue to be relevant even today as we observe his 100th death anniversary on August 1.
Amit Shah was addressing the inaugural session of a webinar organised by Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) on Tilak’s 100th death anniversary.
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