Bal Gangadhar Tilak (Lokmanya) – Important Personalities of Modern India

Introduction

Bal Gangadhar Tilak, also known as Lokmanya Tilak was an Indian nationalist, educationist, scholar, author, mathematician, philosopher, lawyer, journalist, and a renowned leader of the Indian national movement. He was one of the members of the assertive nationalists' trio Lal-Bal-Pal. His firm advocacy of Swadeshi and strong determination to acquire India’s autonomy was remarkable. His slogan “Swaraj is my birth-right and I shall have it” breathed new life into the disillusioned national movement of India. So was his popularity among the Indian masses that fellow Indians that he came to be known as Lokmanya (“Beloved of the people” or "Revered by the world") while the British called him “the father of Indian unrest”. His help in laying the foundation of India’s freedom movement led to Tilak being considered the "father of the Indian n