Lokmanya Tilak

by A K Bhagwat

  Work in the Bombay Legislative Council

  Before we come to one of the most stormy periods in Tilak’s life which was to come soon, it is necessary to refer briefly to his work in the Bombay Legislative Council. The influence of Ranade and of the liberal school had made Tilak an adept in the art of manipulating facts and figures and he had contributed a long essay on “Decentralisation of Finance” in the quarterly journal of the Sarva-janik Sabha. Within the limits of the narrow powers enjoyed by the Provincial Councils Tilak did whatever he could do and showed himself to be an able legislator. The function of members of the legislature was strictly limited to mere criticism and in his speech on the budget the Hon. Mr. Tilak in 1896 lodged a complaint that no adequate time was given for the members to study the budget in detail. “A non-official member has to work under a further disadvantage of not having before him all the papers required to understand the details of the budget estimates.”

  Going into the details of the budget, Tilak complained that the increase in revenue was obtained by taking recourse to methods which were not consistent with the principles laid down by the government and he characteristically referred to the demoralising effect of the new policy: “We have the testimony of Mr. Stuart Elphinstone that when the Deccan Districts were conquered from the Peshwa, drunkenness was unknown in the Maratha country. This was due to the discouragement of the sale of spirituous liquor and as the revenue from that source was insignificant, the same statesman advised that the government would do well to prohibit it altogether. Seventy-five years of British rule have, however, completely altered this state of things and it can never be too late to begin to check the growth of this evil.” He suggested therefore the closing of a few liquor shops and conferring certain forest privileges upon the people every year.

  His next complaint was that though all departments such as land, forest, excise were made to yield as much as possible, even to the inconvenience of the people, yet out of the revenue so realised only a small portion had been devoted to the material improvement of the provinces. Various measures and works of public utility were either poorly or not at all provided for in the provincial budget. He demanded, therefore, more grants for education - industrial, technical or liberal - for village sanitation, for roads, canals, etc. His general complaint was that the increase in the expenditure on the various departments whether necessary or otherwise did not directly cause any material improvement of the people.

  Tilak was elected to the Legislative Council for a second time in 1897 but one who was not satisfied even on the Congress platform could not be expected to be happy with the work in the Council chamber. Very soon two great disasters in the form of a great famine followed by an even greater plague visited Maharashtra. In these twin disasters, when people ran helter-skelter, leaving the dead and the dying to their own fate, Tilak stood firm and by his personal courage set a noble example of selfless service. Out of evil cometh good and out of the twin evils of the famine and pestilence emerged a well-knit body of selfless workers in the cause of public service, headed by Tilak. In this sense, these disasters came at a time when the need of constructive action was felt. The Congress movement appeared now to have come to a dead end. There was a monotonous regularity about its annual sessions, its flamboyant speeches, its spate of omnibus resolutions, which made Tilak, quoting from a Vedic hymn, compare it aptly to frogs, appearing in the rainy season. The Congress stalemate, if it had continued, would have led to degeneration. The Ganapati and the Shivaji festivals, being sentimental, would have dwindled into insignificance or would have degenerated into warrens of orthodoxy or places of puerile entertainment. What was needed was a baptism of selfless sacrifice and suffering for a cause.

  Famines have always been a regular feature of India’s economy. From 1873 to 1878, there were famines of varying degrees of intensity in different provinces of India and this experience of famines had made government formulate a famine code, after considering the question of famine relief on scientific lines. The famine of 1896-97 was “the most intense and severe famine” ever known under the British rule. “By the spring of 1897, over four millions were receiving relief and mortality was extremely heavy.

  Famine

  The difference between the famine of 1876 and that of 1896 according to Tilak was that the government was now duty bound to help the ryot under the terms of the Famine Relief Code. The Kesari, therefore, tried to give a summary of the Code for the benefit of its readers and also gave a prominent place to the complaints of the sufferers. It, also tried to point out the shortcomings and mistakes of the code. Government machinery was, as always, slow-moving and the bungling of officials frittered away whatever little relief the people were entitled to receive. The Kesari, therefore, sounded timely notes of warning against the lower officials’ habit of riding rough-shod over the popular interests and urged the people to put up a determined stand against the high-handedness of the government. Tilak tried his best to dissuade people from riots or looting the rich. The way he pointed out was “to go to the government and make applications to the Collector urging him to give them remission in land revenue, to provide them with work and to grant them ‘tagai loans.’ The machinery of the newly captured Sarvajanik Sabha was used effectively by him to ventilate the legitimate grievances of the people, to represent to the government genuine cases of tax remission and suspension of knd revenue in famine-stricken areas. The Sabha was thus carrying on the policy of Ranade and was doing the same type of constructive work that it had done twenty years ago. Tilak thus sought to make the peasantry conscious of their own rights and also brought home to them the need of fighting for them.

  Weavers’ Guild

  Another of Tilak’s important constructive activities for the direct amelioration of the condition of the backward classes was the help he gave to the weavers of the Sholapur District. There were a number of weaver families here, who during the famine were given manual labour of rubble breaking. The daily wages that they got in return were inadequate to support them and Tilak pointed out that it was cruel and inhuman to make craftsmen do such work. The famine code had stipulated that such craftsmen should be provided with capital, yarn, looms and other accessories to carry on their craft. Tilak suggested to the government to give effect to these provisions to which vague replies were given and the bureaucracy showed the usual recalcitrance to move. Tilak thereupon sought the co-operation of the rich merchants of Sholapur and with their help he arranged to supply yarn to the weavers on a co-operative basis and also took guarantees for the sale of the cloth produced by the weavers. This resulted in the establishment of a Weavers’ Guild which is still in existence.2 “Owing to this guild, the weavers’ families could get enough work during the famine and even afterwards. As they carried on their activities on lines chalked out by Tilak they improved their condition to such an extent that the famine of 1900 had no terrors for them. These people, therefore, left their petty labour jobs and became independent and prosperous craftsmen. The Lokmanya’s name, therefore, became a cherished one particularly in this class.” It was estimated that the work brought relief to more than one thousand families comprising a total of about four to five thousand persons.

  To return to the work of the Sarvajanik Sabha among the peasantry. The workers of the Sabha, went to the villages and tried to explain to the people the famine code and also brought home to them that it was the duty of the government to relieve their distress and therefore it was perfectly within their rights to demand remission and that government had no right to confiscate the cattle of the farmer. “Remember,” wrote Tilak on the 15th December 1896, “that this government is based on law and not aggression. If you have to fight you must also fight legally. Then alone we shall get our rights.” He referred to the message sent by the Queen and said that it was the desire of Her Majesty that no one should suffer in her kingdom. The bureaucracy, he reminded the people, would try to recover the land revenue from them by filing suits,
or by threats or even by shooting them. “But let the people remember that if they should be determined to fight for their rights even at the risk of being shot at, it is the duty of leaders to help them fight. It is possible that even while fighting legally the tables may be turned against us but people must be ready for this. If they are not, then, according to the English maxim, instead of bread they will get a stone. Charity of philanthropic people, however laudable, will do little. It is to the government that the people should look to.” Even though Tilak was trying to keep strictly within the limits of the law this language of his was fiery and it must have done much to make the people bold and defiant. Intellectual ideas and abstract principles of freedom, justice or equality have little or no appeal to the masses. They learn through actual suffering and instinctively recognise a leader. As Tilak’s agitation now centred around a vital economic issue it touched them at once. Within the limits of the law, Tilak did his best to make them self-reliant and his inspiring lead in effect went much beyond the moderate demands of requests and petitions. It is remembered, however, that his work was not merely negative but he showed great constructive ability in making use of the government machinery to give success to the peasantry He was unsparing in his efforts. It was a common sight, according to the testimony of contemporaries, to see him going from shop to shop in the grain market of Poona, requesting shop-keepers not to sell grain at too high a price to the poor people. No wonder that the government should not like this work of the Sarvajanik Sabha and would look upon its work as a gross interference. The Anglo-Indian papers had already raised the cry of sedition and had accused Tilak that he was in reality trying to start a no-rent campaign on the models of the Irish no-tax campaign. A meeting, addressed by Professor Sathe, one of the workers of the Sabha, was held under heavy police vigilance and this was described by Tilak in the Kesari as “a meeting held within the firing range of the police.”3

  Going into the causes of the famine, Tilak saw that it was because Indian trade was monopolised by Britain, that the pressure on land had increased and agriculture was made unproductive. The officials also were too highly paid. “It is true that lack of rain causes famine but it is also true that the people of India have not the strength to fight the evil. The poverty of India is wholly due to the present rule. India is being bled till only the skeleton remains... all the vitality of the people is being sapped and we are left in an emaciated state of slavery.” Tilak sent two petitions to the government urging immediate relief to the people in the famine-stricken areas. All this agitation was resented by the government and it refused to recognise the Sarvajanik Sabha as a representative body, when one of its workers in Dharwar went a little out of the way and distributed handbills in which he made the statement that it was the order of the Commissioner to give remission to peasants. The government wanted the Sabha to disown the worker which the Sabha refused to do. As a result the government refused to recognise the Sabha. In an article, “Poona Sarvajanik Sabha and the government”,4 Tilak condemns the action of the government and calls it a misuse of authority. Institutions like the Sabha, according to him, become an eyesore to the government because they come in the way of their autocratic rule. Finally he dismisses this refusal of the government to recognise the Sabha’s representative character as childish and says that so long as the Sabha was fighting legally it was the duty of the government to answer it legally. If, however, the government thinks that by trying to bypass the Sabha it will diminish its importance that would be a mistake. He quotes from a Sanskrit verse which says: “If the Creator (Brahma) was angry with the swan, he could drive the swan away from the lotus pool; but he cannot take away the natural power that the swan possesses of separating water from milk.” In the same way the main work of the Sabha of ventilating the grievances of the people will never be taken away even if the government refuses to give it due recognition.

  The workers of the Sabha carried on their work of explaining the terms of the Famine Code to the people and representing genuine cases of remission or suspension of land revenue to the government. By December 1896 the Sabha and its workers had fallen foul of the government to such an extent that cases were filed against three of them. Tilak returned in haste from the Calcutta Congress and declared in a meeting: “The present rule is a rule of the law. If Professor Sathe is prosecuted for explaining to the people the meaning of government law, there is all the more reason why I should be prosecuted because I do the same thing on a much wider scale.”

  In these cases, Professors Paranjpe, Sathe and Shri Apte were acquitted and thus Tilak’s bold stand and the fearless championship of the people’s right by the Sarvajanik Sabha were vindicated. How powerfully Tilak had captured the public mind is clearly seen from an incident during 1896 narrated by Ramchandra Narayan Mandlik.5 “The huge meetings of nearly ten thousand people each will never be forgotten by people of Pen. Before the commencement of the case of Professor Paranjpe, thousands of people gathered around the tent of Mr. Brooke, the Collector. They started shouting slogans and cried ‘Victory to Tilak’. The police failed to restrain the people or to scare them away. Brooke, therefore, requested Tilak to go out and speak to the people and see if they could be pacified. Tilak succeeded in doing this. The case was over in five minutes. Professor Paranjpe was released and the other cases were postponed. Brooke then invited Tilak for a special interview. I remember Brooke to have said in this meeting: ‘I have never seen either in India or in England such a crowd of illiterate farmers gathered at a case of this nature. I was reminded of the Seven Bishops’ case when I saw this crowd. This crowd is a testimony of your popularity’.”

  The Plague Havoc

  As Tilak foresaw, the government now looked for an opportunity to gag him but it did not come before the catastrophe of the plague that came in the footsteps of the famine.6 There may have been plagues before but the one of 1897 was of an unprecedented nature and caused great havoc.7 In trying to stay its ravages various methods were adopted by the government. The causes of the disease were unknown but it was generally believed to be contagious. Every effort was, therefore, made to segregate the victims. Houses were searched. At Poona, British troops were employed as search parties. In Bombay this work was entrusted to a committee consisting of an engineer, a doctor, a municipal commissioner and an army officer. In Poona, Mr. Rand, an officer of the rank of an Assistant Collector, was placed solely in charge of the plague operations. These extraordinary measures caused panic among the people and there was popular resentment. In an informative article in the Kesari on 16th February 1897, Tilak speaks in favour of segregating the patient but also alludes to the superstitious folly of the people who regard the hospitals as chambers of death. He urges the government, therefore, to do the work of segregation and house-searching with the willing consent of the people and also advises separate arrangements for upper class persons and ladies in the plague hospitals. Commenting upon the preventive measures ordered by the government, Tilak commends the foresight of the Governor and dismisses all the charges made by the people as mere prejudice. “It is important that the government must know where the disease is located. For this there must be a house to house search after every two or three days. Men must be appointed for this work. There are rumours that these men will oppress the people but they are wholly baseless and false. The searches are made so that patients should not be hidden in the house as at present. Force will be used only if attempts are made to hide the patient, otherwise there are strict orders of the Governor not to molest the people in any way. There is a strict rule that no male servant will touch a woman and for this a lady doctor will be appointed. The Governor himself has given instructions to the workers not to enter in any part of the house and pollute the Gods or hurt the religious sentiments of the people.” The same article goes on to condemn the cowardice of those who are leaving the towns and advises them to remain where they are and help the plague committee.8

  Tilak did not spare himself
and did his best to help the plague committee. It was mainly as a result of the lead taken by him that a plague hospital for Hindus was built in Poona. He stayed in the town during the worst days of the epidemics and condemned the “educated leaders” who ran away as soon as the epidemic became severe. On the 9th March, two military officers were appointed to the committee to help Rand and then the real trouble started. The tone of Tilak’s articles in the Kesari too changed and he refers to the “Havoc caused in Poona”. Even to this day there are old people who tell harrowing accounts of the plague days — accounts of how whole families succumbed to the epidemic, how extremely difficult it was to get men to carry the dead bodies for cremation, of how, to escape detection and the subsequent horrors, corpses were hidden in a thousand and one ways. In the article in the Kesari of the 16th March 1897, it is important to remember that Tilak only expresses mild resentment at the employment of the soldiers. “We do not understand why these soldiers have been brought. There was no reference to them in the Governor’s speech. In Bombay they have not been employed. We believe that this idea must have originated from some subordinate official....” And still he is liberal enough to pay a compliment to the soldiers: “Though the soldiers have come it is gratifying to note that they are behaving in an orderly manner.” Referring to the complaints made against the soldiers that they had polluted the deities by entering the houses, Tilak is more disposed to blame the ‘native gentlemen’ who accompany them; for it is natural, according to him, that the soldiers do not understand the customs of the Hindus but it is the native gentlemen who should guide them. He goes a step further and says that these search parties were unnecessary. “Had the government only passed an order that anyone who does not report a patient would be punished all this trouble would have been averted.” Letters from citizens of Poona complaining against the indiscretion of the soldiers were printed in the Kesari and they make it quite clear that the people were exasperated beyond expression by the plague administration. In a memorandum written to the committee, prominent citizens of Poona made several serious complaints about the misbehaviour of the soldiers.