TILAK, GANDHI, AND THE INC
Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Mohandas Gandhi were two prominent Indian leaders that were highly fundamental in helping India gain independence from the British Raj in the mid 1900's. Despite their common goal for independence, these men had exceedingly contrasting political styles and forms of resistance. Tilak focused on militant tactics to oppose the British while Gandhi advocated peaceful, but active, civil disobedience. Although Gandhi and Tilak had very different methods for attaining independence there was one device that they both had in common and which helped both make tremendous progress in their efforts to free India, and that was the Indian National Congress. At some point in their lives, each of these men had a very strong influence in the INC and had the opportunity to use the Congress to help strengthen their campaigns for independence. Though Gandhi and Tilak both had different experiences with and effects on the INC, gaining independence was undoubtedly made possible through their work in this committee.
When founded in Poona (Pune) on December 28, 1885, the Indian National Congress was merely a small group of highly educated and influential Hindu men who hoped only to gain more Indian representation in the British government. By the time Bal Gangadhar Tilak was elected its joint secretary in 1895, it was quite obvious that this goal was not going to satisfy the members of the Congress, like Tilak, who wanted independence. After Tilak and his supporters dominated the session of 1906 with the idea of swaraj, or self-government, it was clear that the tension between the two sides was rising. As a result, the following year the INC split into two groups: the extreme nationalists and the moderates. Tilak was not satisfied however, and continued to pressure the moderates to support the idea of swaraj. Despite his many efforts, it was not until the end of World War I that the British lost all support and cooperation from the Congress. All the British offered the Indians at the end of the war was a limited number of franchises, which hardly pleased the Indians. Tilak may have lived to see the change of heart from many members of the INC, but it was not until four months after his death in 1920 that the INC declared swaraj and independence as its official common goal.
With Tilak’s death on August 1st 1920, Gandhi became the new leader of the Congress. The day that Tilak died marked the beginning of Gandhi’s first satyagraha campaign of non-compliance with the British. Gandhi led Indian National Congress in new movements that were peaceful yet non-compliant with the British government. Gandhi altered the Congress in another major way by moving away from only elite Hindu members and demanding true democratic membership. In four months time Gandhi had managed to transform the objective of the entire INC from increasing Indian representation in British government to seeking total self-rule and independence from the British, what Tilak had been working to achieve for the past 25 years. With the INC supporting Gandhi’s peaceful resistance, the Mahatma lead many resistance movements against the British including the famous Salt March in 1930 as well as the Quit India Movement in 1942. These various cries for independence led by Gandhi and the INC sent a clear message to the British Raj and in 1947 India finally gained its long awaited independence from the European government.
Clearly the support of the Indian National Congress was vital to the leaders of the struggle for Indian independence at this time. The two men who truly deserve a great deal of credit for gaining this support are Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Mohandas Gandhi. While both men had tremendously different tactics for gaining independence, they both realized that either way the support of the INC would be crucial to gaining Indian independence. This mutual understanding and the work both men put in did finally result in the INC advocating total independence and subsequently facilitated the movements that eventually gained independence for India.
Works Cited
Mishra, Patit Paban. "Tilak, Bal Gangadhar." Encyclopedia of World History: Age of Revolution and Empire, 1750 to 1900, Ed.
Marsha E. Ackermann et al. Vol. 4. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. N. pay. Modern World History Online. Web. 2
Apr. 2013
Walsh, Judith E. "Gandhi and the nationalist movement in India." A Brief History of India, Brief History. Modern World History
Online, Facts On File, 2006. Web. 2 Apr. 2013.
"Indian National Congress." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2013. Web. 1 Apr. 2013.
"Bal Gangadhar Tilak." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2013. Web. 1 Apr. 2013.
"Independence for India (Overview)." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2013. Web. 1 Apr. 2013.
Works Cited
Mishra, Patit Paban. "Tilak, Bal Gangadhar." Encyclopedia of World History: Age of Revolution and Empire, 1750 to 1900, Ed.
Marsha E. Ackermann et al. Vol. 4. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. N. pay. Modern World History Online. Web. 2
Apr. 2013
Walsh, Judith E. "Gandhi and the nationalist movement in India." A Brief History of India, Brief History. Modern World History
Online, Facts On File, 2006. Web. 2 Apr. 2013.
"Indian National Congress." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2013. Web. 1 Apr. 2013.
"Bal Gangadhar Tilak." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2013. Web. 1 Apr. 2013.
"Independence for India (Overview)." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2013. Web. 1 Apr. 2013.