I have had many opportunities of exchanging views with Mr. Tilak during his stay in England, and every time that I have spoken with him, I have felt that he was truly a statesman and not a mere politician. The way in which he was able to take a sane view of the Indian situation in Britain, within a few days of his arrival in this country (England) made me marvel at his perspicuity
St. Nihal Sing
EVER abject, never fanatical, Mr. Tilak’s methods of political agitation were a unique combination of manliness, astuteness and a sense of proportion. He disdained the constant waitings, never-ending mendi###cancy that characterised the efforts of some of the ex###treme Moderates. On the other hand, he kept clear from the noxious weed of anarchism. Within these two clearly -defined limits, he was willing to work in any way, if he was sure of the wisdom of the path. He was^ " an operator, a co-operator, and a non-co-operator.’* He liked to vary his means with changes in circum###stances. In 1904, he had spoken to a Congress resolu###tion supporting political deputations to England. He was, then, anxious to rouse the Moderate leaders from their dangerous slumber and when the Congress Depu-
THE MISSION TO ENGLAND 25/
tation was sent to England, he intended to start a vigo###rous agitation in India to back it up. With the Parti###tion of Bengal came a change. Public opinion in India was roused to an intense pitch. Appeals were made to England. They were unheeded. The people lost their faith in the good intentions of England. At this time, the question of sending deputations to England was raised ; but now Mr. Tilak opposed the idea. The Nationalist Party wanted to force England’s attention to India by means of a vigorous Boycott movement. In this programme of Boycott, deputations had no place. Ten eventful years passed and the times were changed. The India of 19 17 was not the India of 1907. New forces were at work, not only in India but all the world over. The war of ’ Liberty ’ had transformed the civi###lised world, estabUshed India’s necessity to England and extorted from the most bigoted Anglo-Indians and English men and women tributes to India’s loyalty and India’s heroism. This was, indeed, the time to press our claims on the grateful attention of England, open her eyes to India’s grievances and to the valour strength and ability lying unused, discouraged and put down by the suspicions of the Bureaucrats in India. " Now is the time when a political mission ought to be established in England ‘* said Mr. Tilak. " We must cease to be parochial. Our earliest activities were merely local and isolated. Then they became provin###cial and then National. Now is the time to plunge into international currents of thought and life, realise our ideal, and to convince the world that India is seri###ously after attaining her highest not only in National life but in the international affairs as weU". 17
258 LOKAMANYA TILAK
The old guard of the Moderate Party could not mus###ter up courage to ** pinprick " the British Lion in the midst of his struggle. Mrs. Besant, however, cordially supported Mr. Tilak, for she knew the value of world###propaganda. In the Lucknow Congress, Mr. Tilak’s scheme for a vigilant Executive for the Congress was ruled out of order. His persistent attempts to get the sanction of the Congress for a strong deputation met with tardy and nominal success. A deputation was agreed upon ; but every excuse was found for delay ; and when at last, procrastination was impossible, was recei###ved the cable of Sir WilUam Wedderbum advising delay. In the meanwhile, judgment in England was going against us by default. The Sydenham group was busy as ever ; India’s " representatives " like the Maharaja of Bikaner declared that India wanted not Swaraj but only a little dose of Reforms ; the tide of repression was merrily flowing in. Finding the big Moderate guns immoveable, Mr. Tilak sent out the inde###fatigable and enterprising Mr. Baptista for pioneer work in England. The goodwill and co-operation of the Labour Party was secured ; and yet a well-organised propaganda was to be carried on. In the meanwhile, Mr. Montague himself had come over to India to look into India’s grievances ; this was a further excuse for delay. At last both Mr. Tilak and Mrs. Besant decided to send their own " Home Rule Deputations " to England and herein they were wise, as later, the All-India Congress Committee decided not to send out a deputation until the Montague Report was out and the Special Session of the Congress had pronounced India’s verdict there###upon.
THE MISSION TO EKGLAND 259*-
It was this suicidal and unstatesmanlike dilatoriness that Mr. Tilak strongly disliked. " You will never &id " said he, “a better opportunity of arousing the slumbering conscience of the average Britisher. When even Mr. Bonar Law advises the colonies to strike when the iron is hot, surely, we shall be faiUng in our duty, if we don’t take up the hint.’ The usual Indian claims for Swaraj, he argued, are based upon sentimental appeals to English Liberalism or compassion. Now, is the opportunity to show how England can save herself by saving India, become great herself by giving India the opportunity to regain her pristine glory. He want «d to tell the Enghsh Democracy how their representa###tives in India had kept the children of the soil under their heels, prostrate, starving and emasculated and how the tonic of Swaraj if given now, would still enable India to do fuU justice to her ambition of helping Bri###tain. This was the message which Mr. Tilak wanted to deliver in England. It was dignified,lofty and wholesome.
Since the entry of the capitalistic class into the field of politics, the difficulty of collecting funds is not acutely felt. Yet Mr. Tilak always preferred to have small contributions from many to a big donation from one. " I should like to have 64 pice from as many persons instead of one rupee from one.” he said ; and on this principle he set about collecting funds for the Home Rule Deputation. He made extensive tours in Belgaum, Nasik, Sholapur, Thana, and Kolaba dis###tricts, where along with the inevitable addresses and processions, large purses were presented to him. His tour in the Central Provinces and Berar was from this
260 LOKAMANYA TILAK
standpoint the grandest, the most successful because well organised. During a short period of little less than three weeks (Feb. 1918) he delivered lectures at 30 places and collected one hundred and fifty thousand Rupees, He travelled one thousand miles by motor and an equal distance by railway. It was a triumph of will power pure and simple; for his body, old, weakened and ailing was utterly unable to bear the strain.
In a monemt of exhaustion he once said ‘* People can’t possibly realise that I feel so weak. When the moment comes I lecture. But the body is all the while breaking under the strain. The lecture over, I retire from the crowds and sleep over my fatigue. Only my will supports me. The body is done up." Extensive tours — especially those that call forth constant crowds and require frequent lectures try the strength of the youngest and the most energetic. Mr. Tilak at 61 did not hesitate to undertake a long and busy tour, prepara###tory to his voyage to England. What an iron will he had!
The Home Rule Deputation was turned back from Colombo at the last moment and Mr. Tilak had to wait for some time more. In the meanwhile his defamation suit against Sir Valentine Chirol was hanging fire ; finding that it could not reasonably be postponed, the Government had to permit Mr. Tilak to proceed to England. The Bureaucracy, however, took special care to send Mr. Tilak with a gag on his mouth and a slur on his loyalty. He was required to give a pledge that he would not address any meetings while in England and a couple of months before Mr. Tilak proceeded to England he was prohibited from speaking in India with-
THE MISSION TO ENGLAND 26l
•out the previous permission of the District Magistrate. The alleged reason was a speech supposed to discourage recruiting. Mr. Tilak was too busy with his legal and other work to attempt to speak in India. But the undertaking he was required to give as regards his silence in England was evidently very inconvenient. He had to give it which he did under protest. But the first thing he did in England was to get the undertaking cancelled. Nor was this very difficult. If Dr. Nair, who had given a similar undertaking could ^%t the per###mission of the British Cabinet to make speeches, why should not Mr. Tilak have the same ? Surely, what is sauce for goose is sauce for gander also. He did get the cancellation of the pledge, though of course, he was shrewd enough not to endanger his case in the Court by a too early appearance on the public platform. His failure in his suit against Sir Valentine Chirol was due largely to the prejudice created by the prohibition order of Lord Willingdon, the extemment orders from Delhi and Lahore, the untimely publication in England of the Rowlatt Report and by the peculiarly perverted man###ner in which Sir Edward Carson made capital out of his two convictions for sedition. Whatever the reasons, the result was certainly disastrous not only to Mr. Tilak individually, but to his cause as well.
In the meanwhile, Mr. Tilak had already commenced his self-imposed task of reorganizing the British Con###gress Committee and the affairs of the India. Both the Committee and the newspaper owe their existence to the need felt, ever since the birth of the Congress, of educating the English public, whose ignorance about jndia was — and unfortunately still is — almost pheno-
-2^2 LOKAMANYA TILAK
menal. A humorous story is told illustrative of this###ignorance. It was the day following the death of Lord Northbrook. Two Englishmen were travelling in a railway carriage. " One of them, looking through the news columns of the paper in his hand, quietly asked
- Who is this Lord Northbrook that snipped off yester###day ?’ ’ Who knows ? * said his equally indifferent companion " May be some relation of Lord Cromer ‘/* It was to counter-act the evil effects of such abysmal ignorance of Englishmen even about persons sent out to India as Viceroys, that the British Congress Commit###tee was started in 1889 and the newspaper India in
- As long as the Congress was a united body con###trolled by Moderate leaders with whom the Congress Committee was in general agreement, there was no difficulty. But now came a change . The Moderates had seceded from the Congress; and the Congress Committee and its weekly organ were still the monopoly of the British friends of the Moderates ; the result was that though the Congress supported the journal and spent nearly Rs. 30,000 annually on the work of the Committee, the policy of India was antagonistic to that of the Congress. Mr. Polak whose evident leanings towards the Moderates, ill fitted him for his editorial work under the changed circumstances, had not, Mr. Tilak was astonished to find, cared to publish even the Resolutions of the Special Congress (1918).
Mr. Tilak, though the chosen President of the Delhi Congress, was not the bearer of any mandate from the Congress. So he found it very difficult to carry on his work with the Congress Committee and India. The reactionary element in the Committee assumed a lofty
THE MISSION TO ENGLAND 263
attitude and claimed to be wiser than the Congress. Even for such a simple thing as attending the meeting of the Committee, Mr. Tilak had to move heaven and earth. He received insults at every turn and ** was made to feel that he was a busy-body." Fortunately for him, the Delhi Congress took up the question of re###organizing the work in England. The Congress Depu###tation was specially charged with this work ; and until order was brought out of chaos, supplies were witheld. Still, Mr. Polak and his friends in the Committee went on with their even course ; and under one pretext or another, the work was postponed indefinitely. There were three persons among the Directors who could not tolerate these dilatory tactics of Mr. Polak. So, " Dr. Clark, Dr. Rutherford and Mr. Parekh, as Directors of the India asked the acting editor whether or not, he could conscientiously support the Congress policy." Mr. Polak at once declared that he was no longer res###ponsible for the editorial control of the paper. After his resignation, Miss Normanton became editor and was guided in her work by Mr. N, C. Kelkar during the period he was in England.
In his task of re-organizing the Congress Committee Mr. Tilak was considerably helped by Dr. Clark and his followers, who, in spite of the opposition of several ex###Presidents of the Congress, adopted a new Constitution in August 1919. By this change in the Constitution, only persons in thorough agreement with the Congress policy could become the members of the British Congress Committee. The rest had to resign.
It will be thus seen that after nearly one year’s persist###ent work, Mr. Tilak triumphed. When Mr. Tilak left
264 LOKAMANYA TILAK
for England, there were many well-meaning persons who had expressed their doubt as to whether, Mr. Tilak had at that advanced age the necessary elasticity of spirit to do the difificult and delicate work undertaken by him. They admired Mr. Tilak’s ability but evidently thought that " an oak can’t be transplanted at sixty." But by his adroitness in dealing with men and affairs, Mr. Tilak fully proved that though his body was old, his heart was ever young.
The spadework done by Mr. Joseph Baptista since August 1917 was of invaluable use to Mr. Tilak. At the Labour Party Conference at Nottingham (Jan. 23rd 1918) the Party had pledged itself to assist {India) in every possible way in her efforts to win Home Rule. Mr. Tilak cultivated the friendship of Labour leaders and the confidence they placed in him and the Congress Deputation was so great, that they agreed to move in Parliament amendments to the Government of India Bill in spite of Mrs. Besant’s best endeavours to dissuade them from so doing. His alliance with the Labour party was of great use to the party itself espe###cially in its efforts to bring out the Herald as a daily paper.
At the same time, Mr. Tilak did not neglect what###ever aid and co-operation he could derive from the moribund Liberal Party.
It was Mr. Tilak ’s earnest desire to bring about per###fect unanimity amongst all the important deputations, then in England. He believed in unity more than in any other thing and tried his best to win over Mrs, Besant and the Moderate leaders. He appealed to Mrs. Besant to forget all the bitterness of the Delhi Congress
THE MISSION TO ENGLAND 265
and so chalk out her course as to bring about unity. But she and the Moderate leaders were pledged to support the Reforms. No doubt they talked of slight improvements, here and there ; but they made no secret of their inten###tion of accepting whatever reforms were granted. Probably they were afraid of reactionaries of the type of Lord Sydenham and considered it to be the height -of statesmanship to run no risks. They wanted to strengthen the hands of Mr. Montague. Mr. Tilak on the contrary knew full well that it was to establish its credit with the civilized nations that England was grant###ing us Reforms. Mr. Montague was as anxious to give as we were to take. Why not ask for more ? The phi###losophy of Moderation said " Half a loaf is better than none." Mr. Tilak was prepared, if need be, to risk the loss of the proferred half in his endeavours to get three-quarters. He believed more in winning than in receiving. It was, therefore, psycho###logically impossible that the Moderates should come over to his side. Not only were they unwiUing to join hands with him in the matter of Reforms, but even regarding the Punjab situation. Several members of the Congress Deputation approached prominent members of the Moderate Deputation but with no result. The efforts of the British Congress Committee were also unavailing.
Mr. Tilak did his best to " educate the British Demo###cracy " by means of speeches and writings. Mr. Tilak’s ^ortcomings as a speaker have been noticed by many unsympathetic critics. It is worth remembering there###fore, that many of his speeches were greatly appreci###ated by the British audiences. Mr. Tilak never appealed
266 LOKAMANYA TILAK
to passions, but always to reason. The average English man is a hard-headed man. Appeal to his common###sense and he is won over ; and Mr. Tilak’s appeals were always directed to his head. It is not, therefore, sur###prising that Mr. Tilak’s speeches created a favourable impression on those who heard him.
Mr. Saint Nihal Singh thus describes a speech by Mr. Tilak : —
" Of all these addresses, the one that I like best was the one that Mr. Tilak delivered at the Caxton HaU while sitting in a chair, because he had sprained his ankle. Mr. Tilak outlined the conditions existing in India in olden times, referring to the aceounts of the wealthy, prosperous enlightened India left by foreign travellers. He asked the audience particularly to note the vast extent of the Indian Empire ruled over by Asoka and Samudra Gupta. He went on to relate that our country in those days, not only possessed a wealth of religious and philosophical literature but was industrially great and self-sufficing in every respect, able to satisfy all her material and artistic wants.
** Passing from the pleasant picture of ancient India, Mr. Tilak gave a graphic description of India to-day, with her millions of sons and daughters who, because of appaling poverty, never know what it is to have the pangs of hunger stilled. He told how the East India Company had deliberately killed our industries, throw###ing the whole weight of population upon agriculture.
" Taking up the political question, Mr. Tilak assured the audience, that Indians were not anti-British, — they were only ’ anti-Bureaucracy ’ They desired the Bri###tish connection to continue.
THE MISSION TO ENGLAND 26/
" Then Mr. Tilak shattered, one by one, the arguments advanced against granting Self-government to India. The Bureaucrats, he said, were themselves responsible for iUiteracy in India, While deploring caste and ac###knowledging that it required radical modification, he denied that it constituted a reason for refusing self###Govemment. The British, he pointed out, quarreled among themselves quite as much as Indians did. There was no Ulster in India — Hindus and Mushms were agreed concerning the constitutional reforms. He challenged the statement that Indians did not desire Home Rule. He demanded to know why, India alone, of aU the British oversea units, should be expected to achieve Self-government ’ step by step ‘. That phrase had no meaning in this age of progress. Indians should immediately be given control over their purely domestic civil affairs."
This was, in brief, the line of reasoning adopted by Mr. Tilak in convincing and winning over the British Democracy. He, however, did not confine his activi###ties merely to speeches. He sent out contributions to the Press and published several pamphlets and leaflets. In England, Mr. Tilak found that in spite of the so-called liberty and independence of the Press, the great Fourth Estate is practically manipulated and controlled by a few groups of politicians most of whom are quite insular in their outlook. Though swayed by " empire hunger ‘* these politicians care very little for the true interests of the empire. English Liberalism is essentially a
- white ’ Liberalism. It is not intended for the Black or the Brown. The English Press, therefore cares very little for India, so much so that not only are weD in-
^68 LOKAMANYA TILAK
formed contributions on Indian Affairs unwelcome but even paid advertisements of Indian meetings are not always accepted.
In the general election of 1918, Mr. Tilak was busy drawing the attention of English men and women to the problems of India. He issued four leaflets " each consisting of a page tastefully printed on one side only." Thousands of copies of these leaflets were distributed during the electioneering campaign.
Mr. Tilak ’s pamphlet on " Self-determination " at###tracted much notice. It was sent to hundreds of states###men and politicians in England and abroad. Similarly his petition to the President of the Peace Conference as an elected representative of the Congress, was widely read. Of this no fewer than a lakh of copies were issued. Besides these, a number of stray publications sought to attract England’s attention to the cause of India.
** On August 6th, Mr. Tilak, on behalf of the Indian Home Rule League, of which he was the President, ap###peared before the Joint Parliamentary Committee of the two Houses, set up to consider the Government of India Bill, and was asked by Lord Selbourne, the Chair###man, to make any statement that he cared to make to supplement the answers that he had given to the list of questions compiled by the Committee. Speaking without hesitation, in clear theough rather low tones, Mr. Tilak declared that the League in behalf of which he appeared, had accepted the Declaration of August 20, 1917, in regard to His Majesty’s Government’s policy in India, though he and his colleagues put their own con###struction upon the latter part of the Declaration, which
THE MISSION TO ENGLAND 26^
left the pace at which India should proceed towards Res###ponsible Government, to the authorities in White Hall to determine in consultation with the Government of India. They took the view that the proposals put forward by the Secretary of State and the Viceroy were not neces###sarily the corollary to the pronouncement. A much larger measure of Self-Govemment could be given to Indians without in any way going against the spirit of the British policy as laid down in that Declaration. la fact, even the Congress-League Scheme provided for advance by stages, though the stages would be fewer than they would be under the Montague-Chelmsford scheme. He also insisted that it was necessary that a time-limit be fixed in the statute for the attainment by India of fully Responsible administration. The term of 15 years fixed by the Congress might appear arbitrary but it was reasonable.
*’ Mr. Tilak also claimed that Indians were fully fit for administering Provinces, and that they should be given Provincial Autonomy. He also declared that Responsibility in the Central Government was absolute###ly necessary. He suggested that at least those depart###ments in the Central Government which dealt with affairs which in the case of the provinces were considered fit to be transferred to popular control, should be placed under responsible Ministers, That could be done with###out resorting to diarchy. The Congress and the League had suggested a scheme for that purpose, and had provi###ded sufficient safeguards.
" Mr. Tilak claimed that good materials for elector###ates existed in India. Indeed, he went so far as to state that one word from the officials could create elctorates.
270 LOKAMANYA TILAK
Above all, he wished to see the officials deprived of the initiative for inaugurating large policies that they at pre###sent possessed, and reduced to the status of permanent servants in Britain and other countries. Such initiative should only be exercised by the people’s representatives. Lastly, he considered the inclusion of a Declaration of Rights in the Statute was absolutely necessary “*.
After thee ompletion of the above oral statement it was naturally expected that Mr. Tilak would be cross###examined by the several members of the Committee, and as it was further expected that the cross-examina###tion of Mr. Tilak would particularly be lively, the Com###mittee-room was crowded to its utmost capacity. But it was soon announced that the Committee did not in###tend to trouble Mr. Tilak with questions. This particu###lar soUcitude for Mr. Tilak was evidently the off###spring of prejudice. It is said that when the name of Mr. Tilak was sent to the Committee to represent the Indian Home Rule League, Lord Selboume asked the members of the Committee whether Mr. Tilak was to be allowed to make a statement. The majority of the members were strongly against hearing Mr. Tilak, but none of them could hit upon some specious pretext on which he was to be rejected. They, therefore, had to allow him to appear before them, but as they did not like to tolerate his presence more than was absolutely neces###sary, they non-co-operated with him by refusing to put him questions. This childish conduct of the Committee shows the deep prejudice with which even the better mind of England regarded the greatest of Indians then Hving.
- Mr. Tilak’s work in England (St. Nihal Singh ; Modern Review October 191 9).
THE MISSION TO ENGLAND 27!
When the Joint Parliamentary Committee had finish###ed its labours and the passing of the Government of India Bill had been duly ensured, Mr. Tilak hastened back to India. He left England on October 30th, 19 19 and reached Bombay, hale and hearty, on 27th Novem###ber 1919, just a month before the Amritsar Con###gress. Some of his opponents have said that his mis###sion to England broadened his outlook. Mr. Tilak never required any contact with England to broaden his vision for the simple reason that his outlook was never parochial. His Ufe in England only deepened his faith in foreign propaganda and he intended to take the earliest opportunity of establishing permanent poUti###cal missions at London, Paris and New York.
An esteemed friend and associate of Mr. Tilak refers to his work in England in the following admiring lan###guage :—
" Then again Mr. Tilak had to fight against
great odds, before the Deputation arrived, in the matter of getting the London public to properly understand and appreciate the Congress scheme of Reforms. At every meeting, he impressed his audience with his re###markably terse statement of facts and brilliant reason###ing. You all know what remarkable powers, Mr. Tilak possesses of narrowing down the issues in a con###troversy and I may say he had never before an opportu###nity, like the one he had in England, for displaying his powers of elucidating matters of controversy and standing erect upon his own platform among the ruins of his opponents. He had quite a large variety of op###ponents from the agressive Sinn Feiner and bona fide Re###volutionist in England, who would if he could, blast
272 LOKAMANYA TILAK
4
the Indian constitutional workers with his supreme contempt — to the facile and plausible official exponent who dared appear on the pubUc platform to make the worse cause appear the better. But the final verdict of every audience Mr. Tilak addressed was that while with his peculiar subtlety and tactfulness, he put the Revolutionist out of Court, he made mince-meat of the official or semi-official propagandist. «…,….”