Says he played pivotal role in Indian freedom struggle
Srinagar: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha Sunday paid tributes to freedom fighter Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak on his 101th death anniversary and said that he was a social reformer and ardent nationalist who played a pivotal role in India’s freedom struggle.
Sinha said that Tilak’s courage and selfless sacrifice for the nation will always be recalled by the ages to come. “Remembering revolutionary freedom fighter Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak Ji on his Punyatithi. He was a social reformer & ardent nationalist who played a pivotal role in India’s Freedom. His courage & selfless sacrifice for the nation will always be recalled by the ages to come,” he wrote on micro-blogging site twitter.
Tilak died on August 1, 1920 in Mumbai. His slogan ‘Swaraj is my birth right and I shall have it’ caught the imagination of a country fighting to free itself from the colonial rule.
Tilak was a scholar, a writer, mathematician and a philosopher. He was given the title, ‘Lokmanya’, which means ‘beloved leader’ by his followers.
Tilak founded and edited two newspapers – Kesari in Marathi and The Mahratta in English. He used his pen as a weapon to criticise the colonial rulers.
He was imprisoned a number of times including a long stint at Mandalay in Myanmar.
