Tilak: Where it all started

Many unknown details such as Jinnah's defence of Tilak in a sedition case are part of a book of selected essays in Kesari, a Marathi publication Tilak founded in 1881, now translated in English.

- PARAMITA GHOSH

AL Gangadhar Tilak was a radical, who was a central figure of the Indian nationalist movement in the pre-Gandhi era. He gave the call, "Swaraj is our birthright and we shall have it", and urged the boycott of foreign goods as a hit on British imperialism. Some among his essays published in Kesari, a Marathi publication founded by him in 1881, on topics ranging from the Indian National Congress and the economy to nationalism, besides his views on sedition - a topic that's still controversial and in debate today - are part of a new book titled Kesari: Selected Essays (Penguin). The essays selected in the book, which also includes some unknown facts about Tilak's political life, has been translated