Tilak: The stints in prison

Tilak was sent to prison on more than one ocassion. He was a problem of sorts for the British Government.

The cells in the jails in those days were actual, hell. The dark cell measured just 13 square feet, and the prisoner could not even turn from one side to another. The blanket was full of worms. Mosquitoes were innumer able. The bugs in the bed sucked the prisoners' blood as if to prevent the mos- quitoes from flying away with the prisoner. The bread was mixed with sand. The clothes were coarse. Officers whipped the prisoners and merci lessly set them to work. Tilak had to make rope and mats from coir and his fingers got blisters. The fingers that wrote 'Orion', which won praise from great scholars like Max Muller, were made to do dreadful tasks which made them bleed. Tilak lost 30 pounds in weight in just four months.In the little leisure he had he read and wrote. His book 'The Arctic Home in the Vedas' written in the jail, is a priceless work.

 

Scholars and statesmen from all over the world appealed to the government to release Tilak. The government in sisted on two conditions to release him: he should not attend any reception arranged in his honour and he should not criticize the government. Tilak was ready to accept the first condition as he did not desire anything for himself. But he would rather live as an outlaw in the Andamans than live as a coward in Maharashtra, admitting that he had done something wrong when he had no t done so. So he rejected the second condition. Finally the government reduced his sentence from one and a half years to a year. It was Deepavali in 1898; Tilak was released from jail. The joy of the people was beyond words. There were illumina- tions and fireworks everywhere. There was a heavy rush of people to have 'darshan' of Tilak. He was taken in a procession through the main streets of Pune. People shed tears of joy. Mothers and children worshipped Tilak's portrait in their homes by lighting incense and camphor.Tilak, who was a regional leader, now became the national leader. Every Indian's heart was filled with reverence for Tilak.

 

He was once again jailed when he penned a controversial article.

 

The government made this article 'The Country's Misfortune', a pretext to charge Tilak with treason against the government. Tilak was arrested on 24th June 1908 in Bombay. He was sentenced to six year's imprisonment outside India. Tilak was then 52 years old.He had plun- ged into the struggle for freedom with no thought for his health and had grown weak. Diabetes had further weakened him. How could he withstand this severe imprison ment for six years far away from India?The country was plunged in grief. Even foreign thinkers condemned this severe punishment to Tilak, who was a scholar, highly respected and honoured throughout the world. The prison in Mandalay, Burma; a small room made of wooden planks; inside, a cot, a table, a chair and a bookshelf this was Tilak's room. There was no protection from wind and cold. And he was cut off from other men. By the time Tilak completed one year in this jail, he got a note through one of his friends. The note said that if he accepted certain conditions, then he would be released. Tilak wrote back saying, 'I am now 53 years old. If I live for another ten Years, that means I shall live for five years after I come out of the prison. I can at least spend those five years in the service of the peo ple. if I accept government's conditions, I am as good dead'.

 

The prison in Burma where he was kept.

 

The rigorous imprisonment was reduced to simple imprison ment. So he was allowed to read and write. It was here that he wrote the book 'Gita-Rahasya'. It is a mighty work. Tilak wished to forget his loneliness and so was always immersed in reading and writing. By the time his term of six years in the jail was over, he had collected about 400 books. He learnt in the prison,German and French languages with the help of 'Teach Yourself, guides. He returned to his old daily routine, which he had given up for want of time. Every morning he used to pray to God, chant hymns like the Gayathri Manthra and perform religious rites; then, he would read and write. Tilak's, wife passed away in India when he was still rotting in the jail in Mandalay.