The telegram we published regarding the action of the Collector of Dharwar towards the Dharwar Municipality for closing its schools in honour of Tilak’s memory, will have aroused feelings of bitter resentment in the country. Persecuted all his life by Anglo-Indian on the one hand and his own countrymen on the other, Mr. Tilak is now beyond the foul breath of calumny; and words of hatred, now expressed, would only recoil with double effect on the speakers. We do not know if there are many among the official hierarchy who would echo the insulting epithets used by this Collector who is base enough to call Mr. Tilak a “notorious unrepentant criminal.” Whether the enemies be many or few, the persistence of hatred after death is, we take it, an unconscious tribute, mixed with an amount of chagrin, to the success of the ideals and methods associated with Mr. Tilak’s revered name. The bureaucracy and Anglo-India do not as yet seem to repent the treatment they gave him; they but add to their own notoriety, for he passed away in the height of his success. The people of Dharwar, we are informed, are greatly incensed at the Collector’s outrageous demand on the Municipal council. They have indeed, good reason, for not only is one of India’s great sons insulted but the people’s power as embodied in Municipal government is challenged.
