Consider the following statements about Bal Gangadhar Tilak: 1. Tilak... – UPSC Practice Question | International Relations

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Consider the following statements about Bal Gangadhar Tilak:

1. Tilak started akharas, lathi clubs and anti-cow killing societies.

2. He was called the ‘Father of Unrest in India’ by Curzon.

3. He is the author of ‘The Arctic Home in the Vedas’.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

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Tilak, reverentially remembered by the Indians as Lokmanya and the ‘Uncrowned King of India’, played a leading part in popularlising the cult of patriotism and making the Congress movement broadbased.
Tilak planned, in collaboration with Agarkar, the establishment of institutions to impart cheap education to the people. In 1890, the Poona New English School was founded. He was also associated in the formation of the Deccan Educational Society and the foundation of the Fergusson College, Poona.
Tilak was the first nationalist leader who sought close contact with the masses. With that view Tilak started akharas, lathi clubs and anti-cow-killing societies. Shivaji and Ganpati festivals were started to inculcate among the people the spirit of service to the nation. He also started two newspapers ‘The Maharatta’ (English) and ‘Kesari’ (Marathi) to propagate his views.
Imprisonments: He was the first Congress leader to suffer several terms of imprisonments for the sake of the country. For criticizing in strong language the treatment meted out to the Maharaja of Kolhapur, Government tried Tilak and sentenced him to 4 months of imprisonment in 1882. In 1897, he was charged with instigating the murders of Mr. Rand and Lt. Ayerst, and sent to jail for 18 months. In 1908, Tilak for commenting on the Muzaffarpur Bomb case was tried for sedition and sent to Mandalay jail for 6 years.
Tilak played leading role in organizing, in collaboration with Lala Lajpat Rai and B. C. Pal, the Nationalist Party (Extremist Party) against the weak-kneed party of the Old Guard (the moderates). His extremist views caused a split in the Congress at Surat in 1907 and Tilak was considered as the ‘arch-offender’ for the split.
Tilak was the first again to openly declare the demand of Swaraj. ‘Swaraj is my birth right and I shall have it’. It was mostly due to his efforts and those associates that Congress resolution at Calcutta (1906) demanding Self-Government, Boycott and National Education was passed.
The Anglo-Indian bureaucracy thought Tilak as a seditionist and Sir Valentine Chirol called him the ‘Father of Unrest in India’. Tilak sued Chirol for defamation and went to England in this connection. Althought the case was lost; it opened his eyes to the real character of British rule in India.
Tilak favoured the policy responsive co-operation. During the First World War, he urged the people to cooperate with the British Government. In return, he expected the British Government to come forward with a reciprocal gesture and announce Home Rule for India. Later disappointed, Tilak set up the Home Rule League at Poona in 1906. Tilak was not satisfied with the Government of India Act, 1919. He died in August 1920.
Tilak has been described as an extremist in politics, but a moderate in matters of social reforms. He did oppose the Age of Consent Bill, not because he did not see the necessity of social reform, but because he believed that a foreign government should not legislate about social reform. He contended that social changes could better be brought about by educating public opinion.
Tilak authored two books – The Arctic Home in the Vedas and Gita Rahasya.

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