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Indian Freedom Struggle (1707–1947 A.D.)

Notes Tilak’s League furthered its propaganda efforts by publishing six Marathi and two English
pamphlets, of which 47,000 copies were sold. Pamphlets were brought out in Gujarati and Kannada
as well. The League was organized into six branches, one each in Central Maharashtra, Bombay
city, Karnataka, and Central Provinces, and two in Berar.
As soon as the movement for Home Rule began to gather steam, the Government hit back, and it
chose a particularly auspicious day for the blow. The 23rd of July, 1916, was Tilak’s sixtieth
birthday, and, according to custom, it was the occasion for a big celebration. A purse of Rs. one
lakh was presented to him. The same day the Government offered him their own present: a notice
asking him to show cause why he should not be bound over for good behaviour for a period of
one year and demanding securities of Rs. 60,000. For Tilak, this was the best gift he could have
wanted for his birthday. ‘The Lord is with us,’ he said, ‘Home Rule will now spread like wildfire.
Repression was sure to fan the fire of revolt.
Tilak was defended by a team of lawyers led by Mohammed Ali Jinnah. He lost the case in the
Magistrate’s Court but was exonerated by the High Court in November. The victory was hailed all
over the country. Gandhiji’s Young India summed up the popular feeling: ‘Thus, a great victory
has been won for the cause of Home Rule which has, thus, been freed from the chains that were
sought to be put upon it. Tilak immediately pushed home the advantage by proclaiming in his
public speeches that Home Rule now had the sanction of the Government and he and his colleagues
intensified their propaganda campaign for Home Rule. By April 1917 Tilak had enlisted 14,000
members.
Meanwhile, Annie Besant had gone ahead with the formal founding of her League in September
1916. The organization of her League was much looser than that of Tilak’s, and three members
could form a branch while in the case of Tilak’s League each of the six branches had a clearly
defined area and activities. Two hundred branches of Besant’s League were established, some
consisting of a town and others of groups of villages. And though a formal Executive Council of
seven members was elected for three years by thirty-four ‘founding branches,’ most of the work
was carried on by Annie Besant and her lieutenants — Arundale, C.P. Ramaswamy Aiyar, and
B.P. Wadia — from her headquarters at Adyar. Nor was there any organized method for passing
on instructions — these were conveyed through individual members and through Arundale’s
column on Home Rule in New India. The membership of Annie Besant’s League increased at a rate
slower than that of Tilak’s. By March 1917, her League had 7,000 members. Besides her existing
Theosophical followers, many others including Jawaharlal Nehru in Allahabad and B. Chakravarti
and J. Banerjee in Calcutta joined the Home Rule League. However, the strength of the League
could not be judged from the number of branches because, while many were extremely active,
others remained adjuncts of the Theosophical societies. In Madras city, for example, though the
number of branches was very large, many were inactive, while the branch in Bombay city, the four
branches in the U.P. towns, and many village branches in Gujarat were very active.
The main thrust of the activity was directed towards building up an agitation around the demand
for Home Rule. This was to be achieved by promoting political education and discussion. Arundale,
through New India, advised members to promote political discussions, establish libraries containing
material on national politics, organize classes for students on politics, print and circulate pamphlets,
collect funds, organize social work, take part in local government activities, arrange political
meetings and lectures, present arguments to friends in favour of Home Rule and urge them to join
the movement. At least some of these activities were carried on by many of the branches, and
especially the task of promotion of political discussion and debate.
Some idea of the immensity of the propaganda effort that was launched can be gauged from the
fact that by the time Annie Besant’s League was formally founded in September 1916, the
Propaganda Fund started earlier in the year had already sold 300,000 copies of twenty-six English
pamphlets which focused mainly on the system of government existing in India and the arguments
for self-government. After the founding of the League, these pamphlets were published again and,
in addition, new ones in Indian languages were brought out. Most branches were also very active
in holding public meetings and lectures. Further, they would always respond when a nation-wide
call was given for protest on any specific issue. For example,” when Annie Besant was externed

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