Yes, thou great sea !
I am more mighty and out-billow thee.
On thy tops I rise —
‘Tis an excuse to dally with the skies.
I sink below
The bottom of the clamourous world to know.
I come, oh free Ocean, to measure my huge soul with thee.+++(5)+++Arahindo Ghose
IVTR. TILAK’S transportation to Mandalay was followed by a long period of political re-action. Boycott, political or economic, ceased to count as a iactor in practical politics. Only lord Minto’s " Honest Swadeshi " lived. National schools and colleges were deserted. The Samitts were sup###pressed. Arbitration courts collapsed. Whole###sale repression drove the movement underground, bringing Terrorism in its train. The Terrorist was vigorously hunted. Popular leaders found their way either to goal or to self-imposed exile. The National Congress with its ever-dwindling enthusiasm and attendance, met only to register the grosving depres###sion of the Moderate leaders. The " Reformed " Councils had disillusioned the people. Even Mr. Gokhale’s optimism was shattered. The Octopeaa
214 LOKAMANYA TILAK
Press Act strangled all freedom of writing. National###literature was mostly proscribed, especially all that described Mr. Tilak’s personality or preached his principles. Evidently this was an attempt to make the people to forget him. " A hush had fallen over the country. No man seemed to know which way to move and from all sides came the question * What shall we do next ? What is there that we can do ? "
On his return to Poona, Mr. Tilak could read this question on every face. The great Nationalist Party so laboriously organised by him was thoroughly routed. People asked themselves the question, ** Would Mr. Tilak take his rightful place as the leader of the Nationalists or would he, like so many others, bow to the inevitable and spend the evening of his life in philosophy and meditation *’? The future of India de})ended on what answer Mr. Tilak###would give to this question. At a welcome meeting, held at Poona on Sunday 21st June 1914, he said :—
’ When after six year? absence, I return home and begin to renew my acquaintance with the world, I find myself in the position of Rip Van Winkle. 1 was kept by the authorities in such a rigorous seclu###sion that it seemed that they desired that I should’ forget the world and be forgotten by it. However I have not forgotten the people, and I am glad to notice that the people have not forgotten me. I can only assure the public that separation for six long years could not diminish my love for them and that I am willing and ready to serve in the satn^’ manner and in the same relation and in the same capa-
- Uttarapara speech of Srj. Arabindc Ghose (1909).
RIP VAN WINKLE ! 2l5
$ity which belonged to me six years before, though it may be, I shall have to modify the course a little."" This declaration gave a quietus to the rumour that Mr. Tilak " intended to devote the evening of his life to meditation " and scholarshp. There were some well-meaning advisers who even urged Mr. Tilak to retire from Politics and achieve " immortal re###nown " by writing books like the Gita Rahasya. But Mr. Tilak knew the mission of his life better. " Lite###rature and philosophy " he pointed out " are merely my recreation ; my life-work lies quite in a different direction."
In the leaden sky of Indian politics, Mr. Tilak saw a few gleams of hope. The total failure of the Morley###Minto Reforms^ the consequent disappointment of the Moderate party, the awakening of the great Moslem community and the entry of Mrs. Besant in Indian Politics, inspired him with great confidence. His immediate political programme was threefold : (i) The Congress-Compromise, (2) The reorganisation of the Nationalist party (3) The setting on foot of a strong agitation for Home Rule. His leisure was devoted to the completion and publication (1915) of the Gita-Rahasya and the consideration of the steps to be taken against Sir Valentine Chirol for defama###tion.
Seeing that he had no inclination for a life of learn###ed retirement, the Bureaucracy tried their hands at an ’ ofQcial boycott ’ of Mr. Tilak, and a couple of police-stations were created in the neighbourhood of his residence to keep ’ a close and rigorous surveil###lance ’ on him. Visitors to his house were * boldly
2l6 LOKAMANYA TILAK
and openly accosted ’ and were required to give their names. If Government servants or persons in any way connected with the Government called upon him, they received warnings subsequently. It was a bare-faced piece of ’ political Vendetta ’ which had to be abandoned owing to the outbreak of the great European war in August 19 14.
A man who had been in goal for over seven years of his life and who had been persecuted in a variety of other ways, has every reason to be embittered. But Mr. Tilak — who combined in himself the qualities of the soldier and the philosopher — took these troubles quite lightly, almost as a matter of course. He was nothing if not chivalrous and high-minded ; so when the British Government commenced its mortal fight with Germany he made (27th August 19 14) his " de###claration of loyalty " — a declaration which extorted admiration even from hostile quarters. He repudia###ted the nasty and totally unfounded charges against him, declared that he had never either directly or indirectly incited people to deeds of violence, denied that he had ever worked " with the object of sub###verting the British rule in India " and concluded by saying that " at such a crisis it is the duty of every Indian, be he great or small, rich or poor, to support and assist his Majesty’s Government to the best of his ability."
One effect of this declaration was to clear up many of the cruel misunderstandings that hung like an omi###nous cloud upon his personality and career. Even the (nominal) Advocate of India recognized in Mr. Tilak *’ one of our loyalest and truest friends " and called
^IF VAN WINKLE ! 21/
upon his detractors to " admit their mistake and make at the eariiest possible moment ’ the amende honorable.^ " No wonder that Mrs. Beasant thought this to be a most opportune moment for bringing together the much-abused Moderates and the much-persecuted Ex###tremists. If Sir Edward Carson could suspend his op’ position to the Liberal Ministry and shake hands with Mr. Asquith, could not Mr. Gokhale and Mr. Tilak " forget, forgive and unite " in the larger interests of of the country ?
The negotiations for the Congress Compromise re###sulted in a temporary failure and form one of the sad###dest chapters in the history of Maharashtra. x\s fates would have it, the two great Servants of India — Tilak and Gokhale — were pitted against each other in a bitter controversy, the younger had denounced the elder patriot, and, before the curtain fell on the controversy, was himself no more (19th February 1915) ; Gokhale, who began life as a reverent follower of Tilak ’’ stabbed him in the dark " and then vanished into eternity ! Oh, the irony of human life !
There was a humorous side, too, to this great tragedy ! Gokhale, on the point of death and Sir Pherozeshah not far removed from it, afraid to take Mr. Tilak in the Congress, because, once in, he would capture it !! " Boycott of the Government " considered to be the unpardonable sin of Mr. Tilak ! ! The introduction of a Home Rule Bill in ParUament, through Mr. Tilak’s influence with the Labour leaders and the concentra###tion of all the agitation on that one point regarded as the approach of deluge ! ! And all this, only six years before the Congress of 1920 ! ! 1
»«l8 LOKAMANYA TILAK
In the circumstances of the case, Mr. Tilak’s party was naturally anxious to re-enter the Congress-fold, not only on grounds of national unity but also for the more narrow reasons of party interests. The great Nationalist Party, organised by him in the eventful years of the Swadeshi agitation was, by Government repression weakened, silenced, disorganised, discredited and practically routed. As the Congress would be a great rallying point, Mr. Tilak’s sincerity in conducting the negotiations was transparent. Not so, that of the Moderates, to whom the association with their Extre###mist brethren was a matter which caused uneasiness and occasional inconvenience. Sir Pherozeshah Mehta was dead against the admission of Mr. Tilak with his
- firebrands ’ into the Congress camp and others like Gokhale had not the courage to go against their chief. That is why the negotiations fell through.
The Constitution and rules of the Congress were passed (1908) by a Committee appointed by the Conven###tion (Dec. 1907) from which many Nationalists, willing: to join it in spite of the evident humiliations, were deliberately and brusquely excluded. For the sake of unity, Mr. Tilak was willing to join a Congress###whose creed (Article No. I) was not quite inspiring, whose constitution was faulty and whose rules were unreason###able and arbitrary. But there must be some honour###able way of returning to the Congress. If Mr. Tilak wanted to go back to the Congress it must be only as a delegate elected by some political body recognised by or affiliated to the Congress.
" The old practice of electing delegates at any public meeting was set aside and the election of Congress dele-
RIP VAN WINKLE ! 21^
gates was completely and exclusively in the hands " of the Moderate Associations. ** It was unreasonable to expect that one party should seek admission to the Congress through the associations entirely controlled and managed by the other/’ The only course, therefore, that could bring the Nationahsts in the National Con###gress was so to amend Article XX of the Congress Constitution as to enable them to elect their delegates at public meetings or meetings of Nationalist Associa###tions. Everything depended on the Moderate leaders* willingness to alter Article XX of the Congress Con###stitution in the desired manner.
The rest of the story is soon told.* " Mrs. Besant accompanied by Mr. Subba Rao, the General Secretary of the Madras Congress (1914) went to Poona in the first week of December (1914) and conferred with Messrs. Tilak, Gokhale and other leading publicists of Poona. The suggested amendment of Article XX of the Con###gress Constitution was agreed upon. Then Mr. Subba Rao went over to Bombay to consult Sir Pherozeshah; he returned disappointed. Then he met Mr. Tilak, had a long talk with him, which frightened him as well as###Mr. Gokhale to whom it was subsequently reported. Mr. Gokhale was convinced, that Mr. Tilak’s re-entry into the Congress Camp would only be a signal for a renewal of the old struggle. He, therefore, withdrew his support from the proposed amendment, sent an oral message to Mrs. Besant accordingly and in reply to a letter from the President-elect, wrote to him a confidential letter explaining the reasons of his change of view. That letter or its re'ised copy ‘became publia
- From the Amrit Bazat Pairika (12th January 191 5).
220 LOKAMANYA TILAK
property in no time.’ It was stated in this communi###cation that Mr. Tilak had openly avowed his intention of adopting the ’ boycott of Government * and ob###structionist methods of the Irish, if he entered the Congress. The matter was prominently brought to the notice of the Subjects’ Committee and naturally, the ears of many of its members were poisoned against the Mahratta patriot behind his back. In the mean###time, Mrs. Besant wired to Mr. Tilak to ascertain the truth or otherwise of the allegation, and not only did he give a direct lie to it, but said that many of his col###leagues and followers were actually serving either in the Legislative Council or in Municipalities and Dis###trict Boards ! Mr. Tilak’s telegram, however, came too late to mend matters. An apology was, no doubt, offered to him and charges against him withdrawn but his enemies triumphed in the end by getting the ques###tion of reconcilation postponed and a Committee appointed to consider it."
It is clear that Mr. Gokhale’s conhdential* letters to the President-elect of the Congress spoiled the prospect of rapproachment between the two parties. Mr. Gokhale justified his conduct by asserting that his change of opinion with regard to the Compromise question was necessitated by Mr. Tilak’s conversation reported to him by Mr. Subba Rao. It was in part as follows : —
" In Mr. Tilak’s opinion the present programme of
- Mr. H. P. Mody, in his recently published Life of Sir Phero###zeshah Mehta has tried to lift the veil from this episode just a Mttle by giving two extracts from Mr. Gokhale’s letters. Evidently these extracts do not exhaust the whole of Mr. Gokhale’s case against Mr. Tilak. The venomous parts of the indictment are apparently still held back.
RIP VAN WINKLE ! 22r
the Congress was of no value. They were asking for small reforms while Mr. Tilak asked his countrymen to have nothing to do with these. He would make only one demand, viz, that for self-Go vernment within the Empire. The Irish, by resorting to methods of ob###struction, have in the course of 30 years, got Home Rule. They must also similarly adopt methods of obstruction within the limits of the law, and then only would they be able to compel the Government to con###cede their demands."
All this came upon Mr. Gokhale as bolt from the blue. Equally startling to him was the statement of Mr. Tilak’s conversation with Mr. Subba Rao. The state###ment commences thus : —
" The attitude of the Nationalists is generally one of Constitutional Opposition to the Government ; while that of the Moderates is that of Co-operation with the Government. Though the ideal of both is the samej the difference between them lies in the methods adopted by them for reaching the goal."
We leave it to the readers of to-day, to judge whether Mr. Gokhale’s change of front could be justified by Mr. Tilak’s remarks quoted above. It is interesting to note that this conversation, which so much disappoint###ed Mr. Gokhale occurred on December 8th 1914^ after Mr. Subba Rao to whom was assigned the difficult task of winning over the Bombay City Moderates, had returned quite disappointed from Bombay. Mr. Subba Rao has published in the New India (8th Feb. 1915) a statement in which he said that the Bombay Conven###tionist leaders were dead opposed to the amendment proposed by Mrs. Besant and that " great apprehension
222 LOKAMANYA TILAK
was felt that the Congress would be running a great risk if Mr. Tilak and his followers came in/’ This then was the real cause of the failure of the compromise negotiations. For it was not to be expected that Mr. Gokhale would now continue to support the proposed amendment of the Constitution, though it was origin###ally drafted by him.
The Report of the Committee appointed at Madras to consider the question of the Congress-Compromise was discussed at the next session of the Congress at Bombay and a partially satisfactory solution was arrived at. " Public meetings convened under the auspices of any association, which is not of less than two yeeirs standing on 31st December 19 15 and which has for one of its objects, the attainment of Self-Government by India on Colonial lines within the British Empire by Constitutional means " were allowed and as Mr. Tilak’s party could now send delegates to the Congress without looking up to the Moderates for patronage and support he decided to accept whole-heartedly the grudging and halting concession. It was high time. A new genera###tion of Nationalists, willing and eager to sink all differ###ences, had arisen. The great European War had alter###ed the whole outlook of the Nation. A demand for a substantial instalment of Self-government was to be formulated. It had to be backed up by the strength of United India. Under these circumstances Mr. Tilak was not the man to emphasize his differences with his erring and timid fellow-countrymen. As early as January 1916, he publicly announced the willingness of his party to forget the past and re-enter the Congress through the partially opened door.