Context: Bal Gangadhar Tilak's imprisonment by invoking the law of sedition failed to suppress the freedom struggle. The two trials teach us useful lessons in dealing with public protests.
About the first trial

• In the famine of 1896 Tilak’s first trial for sedition had begun.
• A series of articles were printed in the weekly newspaper Kesari which was started by Tilak. Officials who insisted on collecting land tax even during a famine, and for not implementing the Famine Relief Code were criticised in his newspaper.
• To control the spread of the Bubonic plague struck Pune in 1897, the special duty officer Walter Charles Rand adopted repressive measures under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897.
• Damodar Chaphekar murdered officer Rand and was convicted and hanged. Tilak had written strong articles condemning the brutality of the measures adopted even before this murder.
• Tilak also justified the killing of Afzal Khan by Shivaji in his article.The Anglo-Indian press bitterly criticised the British government for not taking action against Tilak.
• On July 27, 1897, Tilak was arrested and tried for sedition before the Bombay High Court.Dinshaw Davar, his lawyer who got him bail was the same judge who gave the order against him 10 years later.
• W C Bonnerjee, a Congress leader, Moti Lal Ghosh, the founder of the Amrita Bazar Patrika, and Rabindranath Tagore collected almost Rs 20,000 from donors and this was used to send two leading English barristers from Calcutta as none of the lawyers from Bombay High court were willing to appear for Tilak.
• Tilak was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment by Strachey because of his “disaffection” which constitutes the offence of sedition, under section 124A of the IPC, was simply “the absence of affection”. Tilak’s article on the killing of Afzal Khan by Shivaji was the part of the foundation of a case of sedition.
• The British press noted that Strachey’s interpretation of “disaffection” would be unacceptable in England whereas the decision was hailed by the Anglo-Indian press.

About the second trial

• The partition of Bengal and the killing of two English women by a bomb hurled by Khudiram Bose led to large-scale repression. The Anglo-Indian press held Tilak responsible for provoking the youth.
• Tilak in his articles suggested that the best way to stop violence and bombs was to grant self-rule to the people of India and also criticised the Explosives Act. He also asked the government to stop repressing freedom.
• Tilak was arrested in June 1908 and charged with sedition.M A Jinnah appeared for Tilak and applied for bail, but this was rejected by Justice Davar, who had appeared for Tilak in 1897.
• Tilak argued his own case and stated that the English translation of his articles had serious errors and asked for a correct version, but this plea was rejected.
• A card was found from Tilak’s Pune residence on which he had written the names of two books on explosives.Tilak explained that when he was writing an article on the Explosives Act, he came across the names of these two books, but this card was the basis of an allegation that Tilak was manufacturing bombs.
• Davar accepted the majority verdict of the jury which consisted of seven Englishmen/Anglo-Indians and two Indians and sentenced Tilak to six years imprisonment.
• The verdict was criticised by several newspapers. However, Tilak was sent to Mandalay jail in Burma and returned in 1914.

Conclusion

• Tilak’s imprisonment by invoking the law of sedition failed to suppress the freedom struggle. Our government can learn useful lessons in dealing with public protests from his two trials on sedition. Suppressing widespread dissent or criticism has always proved counterproductive and so government should work out the opposite viewpoint and have the grace to correct its path wherever necessary.

About Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar birth anniversary (23 July 1856)

• Bal Gangadhar Tilak or Lokmanya Tilak was an Indian nationalist, social reformer and lawyer.
• The Britishers called him, ‘The Father of the Indian unrest’.
• He was given the honourary title of 'Lokmanya', which means admired (or accepted) by the people.
• He is known as the 'Father of Swarajya' and made 'Swaraj' as a part of the independence movement and he was the strongest advocates of ‘Swaraj’ (self-rule).
• He started the Swadeshi movement.
• He joined the Indian National Congress (INC) in the year 1890.
• He started two newspaper, ‘Kesari’ in Marathi and ‘Mahratta’ in English (referred as 'Maratha').
• He had a political regime with Bipin Chandra Pal and Lala Lajpat Rai and they were referred as 'Lal-Bal-Pal triumvirate'.
• He organised ‘Deccan Education Society’ along with Gopal Ganesh Agarkar, Mahadev Ballal Namjoshi and Vishnushastri Chiplunkar.
• It was set up to teach young Indians, the nationalist ideas through an emphasis on Indian culture.
• He founded the ‘All India Home Rule League’ in 1916 along with Joseph Baptista, Annie Besant and Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
• He transformed the household worshipping of Ganesha into a grand public event ‘Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav’ in 1894.
• Today, ‘Ganesh Chaturthi’, started by Tilak, is considered as the prime festival in Maharastra and adjacent states.
• Tilak was the poineer for the celebration of "Shiv Jayanti", the birth anniversary of Chhatrapati Shivaji.
• In 2007, the Government of India released a coin to commemorate Tilak on his 150th birth anniversary.