Global Express-- By Harsh Pargat

 Misunderstandings and controversies have surrounded Tilak's political leadership. He is inherited as a virulent troublemaker, a supporter of social reaction, a defender of tradition, and a communalist who inflamed animosity between Hindus and Muslims. But the reality was different. He wasn't against social improvements in general. Conversely, he thought that social changes would inevitably accompany the advancement and enlightenment of human awareness. He disagreed with the hasty, careless, and sudden changes that the Westernized reformers had pushed. Neither Tilak nor academic political philosophy fit the description of an armchair thinker. India's political emancipation was his primary goal as a pragmatic politician. Though it had its roots in the Indian past, Tilak's political theory did not entirely reject Western ideas. The ancient philosophical and spiritual writings served as an inspiration to me. Thus he imbued his concept of Swaraj with a spiritual meaning...