On the birth anniversary of two freedom fighters of India – Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Chandrashekhar Azad – PM Modi and a number of other leaders posted on Twitter remembering their struggle for the state.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi remembered Lokmanya Gangadhar Tilak and Chandrashekhar Azad on their birth anniversary on July 23 today. He made a post on Twitter on Thursday morning saluting the 2 brave sons of the state. Tributes also came in from several other leaders including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, vice-chairman Venkaiah Naidu, Goa CM Pramod Sawant, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, Union minister Shankar Prasad and more.
Chandrashekhar Azad
Born in 1906, Chandrashekhar Azad played a key role within the Kakori conspiracy, training Bhagat Singh et al. , and killing JP Saunders at Lahore in 1928 to avenge the killing of Lala Lajpat Rai. He had pledged to never be captured alive by British. Azad reorganised the Hindustan Republican Association under its new name of Hindustan Socialist Republican Army (HSRA) after the death of its founder Ram Prasad Bismil, and three other prominent party leaders, Roshan Singh, Rajendra Nath Lahiri and Ashfaqulla Khan.
“Ab bhi jiska khoon na khola, khoon nai woh paani hai. Jo desh ke kaam na aaye, woh bekaar jawani hai” Azad had a Clarion call.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Born before him in 1856, Bal Gangadhar Tilak was among the primary leaders of the Indian independence movement whom British mentioned because the “The father of the Indian unrest”. an excellent academician (Statistics was his subject), Tilak was linked with the Deccan Education Society of Pune which though he was a diabetic, he went through the tough punishment British Raj administered to him while he was imprisoned at Mandalay in Myanmar.
“Swaraj is my birthright and that I shall have it,” was a slogan popularized by Tilak.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak (in connivance with Maharaja Sayajirao Gaikwad of Baroda) also administered secret activities like funding (influencing) England’s the (then fledgeling) Labour Party politicians in order that they remained conducive to Indian Independence when and if they came to power.
