Lokmanya Tilak’s Swarajya movement is even more relevant today and its spirit, encapsulated in the Make in India campaign, symbolises how India with its three Ds — democracy, demography, demand — can become the world’s manufacturing hub, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Saturday. He was speaking at a function to commemorate the 160th birth anniversary of Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak and the centenary year of his slogan, “Swaraj is my birthright”.
Mr. Fadnavis released two books in English, Tilak in our Times and the photobiography Lokmanya, at a function jointly organised by the Lokmanya Tilak Vichar Manch and the Pune International Centre at Tilak Smarak Mandir in Pune. Also present on the occasion were cabinet ministers Girish Bapat and Dilip Kamble, Dr Raghunath Mashelkar, senior journalist Dilip Padgaonkar and historian Babasaheb Purandare among others.
The Chief Minister said Lokmanya’s powerful slogan “Swaraj is my birthright, and I shall have it” came at a time when the Indian freedom struggle was going through a negative phase, where a big class of society had accepted British rule as a fait accompli and believed that India would get freedom only when the British Parliament and the Queen bestow it on its colony.
He said, “After the British crushed the 1857 uprising, there was a negativity and depression in our society and many believed that now they cannot win against the colonial rulers. In this scenario, Lokmanya’s slogan reenergised the masses and the freedom movement.
“This slogan by Lokmanya Tilak is a base for nation building and has relevance even today. When we look at this slogan in today’s era, we see how the Make in India campaign is helping India grow and become self-sufficient. The three Ds of democracy, demographics and demand can cater to the manufacturing demand of the world. Make in India, make for the world. Lokmanya gave us Swaraj, and it is up to us to move towards Surajya (good governance) on the path shown by Lokmanya.”
Mr. Fadnavis said his government had renamed Girgaum Chowpatty in Mumbai as Swaraj Bhoomi as a tribute to Lokmanya, and had made budgetary allocation for propagating his thoughts through the Ganesh festival. The government has formed a committee headed by Finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar and Education Minister Vinod Tawde to handle the Ganesh festival dedicated to Lokmanya.
In Mumbai, Mr. Tawde said to commemorate the 160th anniversary of Mr. Tilak’s birth and the centenary of his slogan, the government will dedicate the 10-day ganesh festival from September 5-15 to Tilak’s memory as the festival enters its 12th year. Mr. Tilak is credited with transforming the privately-organised Ganesh festival into a public festival to help the freedom struggle, and the first such festival was held at the historic Keshavji Naik Chawl in Girgaum.
The government will dedicate the 10-day ganesh festival from September 5-15 to Tilak’s memory
