VO
Chidambaram Pillai serialised Tilak's biography in the 1930s in a Colombo Tamil
magazine. Here is a look at the relationship between the two men in the light
of the new sources and correspondence between them. The article carries the
facsimile of a letter VOC wrote to Tilak in 1914, being published for the first
time. VOC's close relationship with Tilak awaits detailed documentation and an
interpretative narrative.
A Special relationship: Bal Gangadhar
Tilak and VOC
The 1914
Letter
VO Chidambaram Pillai (1872–1936), or VOC, was known
contemporaneously as the ‘Tilak of the South'. Not surprising considering that
he was Bal Gangadhar Tilak's (1856–1920) staunchest lieutenant in the southern
part of the country. However, VOC's close relationship with Tilak awaits a
detailed documentation and an interpretative narrative.
For long it has been known that VOC, towards the fag end
of his life, wrote a biography of Tilak and serialised it in Virakesari, the Tamil daily published
from Colombo.
Unfortunately, for more than seven decades, no attempt had been made to recover
it from the back volumes of Virakesari.
In 2002 and 2008, I made two visits to Colombo
to accomplish the task. The volumes are now lodged in the Archives Department,
Government of Sri Lanka and the Virakesari
office. The newspaper, started by Indian mercantile interests in Colombo in August 1930,
covered the Indian nationalist movement extensively and is thus a mine of
information. From April 1933 the daily began to publish an illustrated weekly
supplement on Sundays.
Forgotten
narrative
VOC's Tilak biography, titled Bharata Jothi Sri Tilaka Maharishiyin Jeeviya Varalaru, was
serialised in the Sunday supplement. Nineteen instalments, published between
May 1933 and October 1934, could be recovered. It's not clear why it was
published intermittently and is incomplete. The narrative stops with Tilak's
return to India
in late 1919 after his abortive attempt to sue Sir Valentine Chirol for
defamation. Tilak died some months later on 1 August 1920. Tilak's biography by
his illustrious disciple—for, VOC refers to Tilak always as Guru—is an
interesting document. Its recovery provides the context for reconstructing the
relationship between teacher and disciple.
In a memoir on Tilak written in English in 1927, VOC
recollects that he had begun to follow Tilak's writings from as early as 1893.
There's evidence to show that he had been elected a delegate to the Congress
session of Madras
(1898) and Tilak too had attended it. But their meeting apparently did not take
place. The tryst was delayed by a decade.
Curzon's infamous partition of Bengal
set afire the Swadeshi movement with its programme of native industry, boycott
of foreign goods and national education. While Swadeshi enterprise across India
was limited to such tokenisms as making candles and bangles, in Tuticorin it
took the spectacular form of running nothing less than a steam shipping
company—an enterprise that propelled VOC, until then a modest pleader in the
local court, to national attention. VOC had galvanised the local merchants to
launch the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company in late 1906 and gave the British
shipping company a run for its money. The Swadeshi Company ran steamers between
Tuticorin and Colombo and VOC spent considerable
time in Colombo
raising share capital and organising the company. Probably it was this
connection that led to his later association with Virakesari.
By then he was closely aligned to the Extremist faction
of the Congress led by Tilak. VOC's efforts to buy two steamships took him
frequently to Bombay.
Yet, somewhat surprisingly, a visit to Pune, Tilak's hometown, never
materialised.
The Moderates' attempt to sideline the Extremist was
increasingly getting desperate. And the stage was set in Surat, the venue of the Congress in December
1907, for a showdown. VOC wired to Tilak and Aurobindo proposing Lala Lajpat
Rai for the presidentship of the Congress. In the event, Rash Behari Ghosh, the
Calcutta
moderate was set to take the presidential chair. All the while Tilak had tried
to avoid the inevitable split. But the Moderates' sly attempts to tamper with
the letter and spirit of resolutions passed in the preceding Calcutta session of the Congress was the last
straw. The Congress conference ended in pandemonium with blows exchanged and
chairs and shoes thrown. Tilak proposed a committee of one member each from
both factions from every province to effect a compromise. VOC was Tilak's
handpicked choice from the Madras
presidency, and he was also nominated Secretary of Tilak's new party. There was
little doubt that VOC was the spearhead of the nationalist movement in the
South.
The months following VOC's return from Surat were full of intense
nationalist activity. The Swadeshi shipping enterprise grew from strength to
strength. VOC led a major strike in the European-owned cotton Coral Mills of
Tuticorin. Swadeshi meetings with fiery nationalist speeches, probably for the
first time in the Tamil language, led to widespread nationalist mobilisation.
Colonial ire was turned on the nationalists. VOC and his colleagues were
arrested on 12 March 1908, which in turn led to an insurgent uprising in Tuticorin
and Tirunelveli.
Evidently the guru was following his disciple's
exploits, for, Tilak's English weekly Mahratta
regularly reported the events in far-off Tirunelveli. By the time a draconian
double life sentence was imposed on VOC in July 1907, Tilak himself was jailed.
While VOC languished in prison for the next four and a half years (on a reduced
sentence on appeal) Tilak was transported to Mandalay
(Burma).
Not surprisingly, the two lost touch during their
imprisonment. Barely a few days after Tilak's release, VOC wrote from his
Mylapore home on 19 June 1914. Addressing Tilak as ‘Respected Brother' he
congratulated him on his release. He offered condolences on his wife's death
and expressed the desire to meet him in a month or two. After enquiring about
his intellectual output during the prison years, he signed off ‘obediently'
with the words ‘I prostrate before you and offer my namaskaramsto your holy feet'. VOC's deep respect for Tilak is
palpable.
VOC's promised visit did not materialise for many
months. VOC arrived in Pune on the day of Gokhale's death (19 February 1915)
and spent a week with Tilak as his house guest. The two deliberated on how to
use the ongoing First World War to India's benefit, and in this
connection Tilak even discussed a secret message from Indian revolutionaries
abroad. Such was his trust in his disciple.
When Tilak launched his All India Home Rule League in
1916, VOC took an active part in it, organising and conducting meetings in
Chennai. However Tilak's close association with Annie Besant caused some
friction, with VOC neither being able to overrule Tilak's advice nor stopping
his campaign against her. The struggle within the labour movement between VOC
and the Besant-ites took on bitter propositions.
Tilak's critical attitude to the Montagu-Chelmsford
reform proposals were faithfully echoed by VOC. When Tilak canvassed the senior
leader C Vijayaraghavachari's support for the Bombay special Congress session
(August 1919), he specifically stated: “I have fully explained my position to
Mr Rajagopalachary and Mr Chidambaram Pillai and they will be able to give you
further explanations…”
Tilak invited some Congress luminaries after the Bombay special session to
Pune and VOC was among the invitees to discuss the future course of action.
When VOC rose to spoke he was “loudly cheered”. Motilal Ghose, the venerated
editor of Amrita Bazar Patrika, who
was present on the occasion, expressed his desire to see the hero of Swadeshi
days and warmly hugged VOC.
Momentous
times
Tilak's case against Chirol and his campaign for Home
Rule in England
consumed the next fourteen months, months that were momentous. The passing of
the Rowlett bills and the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, and Gandhi's conversion of
the nationalist movement into a mass movement signalled the end of the Tilak
era. The Calcutta
special Congress's endorsement of Gandhi's non-cooperation programme was only a
fait accompli. And in an event pregnant with symbolism, Tilak had breathed his
last barely weeks before the Calcutta
session. Tilak's followers were deeply demoralised. VOC resigned from the
Congress on his return from Calcutta.
While many of his Maharashtra disciples—GS Khaparde, BS Moonje and
others—drifted into Hindu communalism, the germ of which was very much in
Tilak's ideology, VOC's politics kept clear of it. He continued to play a part
in the nationalist movement, labour movement, the non-Brahmin movement and the
social reform movements.
When VOC died 18 November 1936 no obituary or tribute
failed to mention his closeness to Tilak.
This article is based on the introduction to his
forthcoming edition of Tilaka Maharishi
by VO Chidambaram Pillai (Kalachuvadu Publications, Nagercoil).
“The Calcutta special Congress's endorsement of Gandhi's non-cooperation programme was only a fait accompli. And in an event pregnant with symbolism, Tilak had breathed his last barely weeks before the Calcutta session. Tilak's followers were deeply demoralised. VOC resigned from the Congress on his return from Calcutta. While many of his Maharashtra disciples—GS Khaparde, BS Moonje and others—drifted into Hindu communalism, the germ of which was very much in Tilak's ideology, VOC's politics kept clear of it. He continued to play a part in the nationalist movement, labour movement, the non-Brahmin movement and the social reform movements.”
It seems the author is making a hurried statement by saying Tilak’s followers “drifted into Hindu communalism, the germ of which was very much in Tilak's ideology.” This needs careful consideration. A whole history of the period has to be still understood in terms of the national renaissance.
I do agree with you when you say that author's statement " Tilak's followers drifted into Hindu Communalism , the germ of which was very much in Tilak's ideology " needs carefull consideration . It is only because Tilak started Ganeshotsav and Shiva Jayanti many people who could not understand the need at that time of the National Renaissance ,do misunderstand him .
This reminds me , however , of what Sri Aurobindo wrote about Tilak ----
" the incarnation of the national endevour
and the God-given captain of the national aspiration ' Sri Aurobindo also writes further that " he used methods which Indianised the movement and brought into it the masses.
While many of his Maharashtra disciples—GS Khaparde, BS Moonje and others—drifted into Hindu communalism, the germ of which was very much in Tilak's ideology
The author is judging past actions based on present day virtues of secularism. In the colonial era, it may well have been necessary to assert Hindu values just as Sir Syed Ahmed Khan was busy asserting a Muslim identity that you have covered elsewhere on this blog here and here.
This form of reasoning (using present day values to judge past actions) is a logical fallacy called Presentism .
Presentism is a mode of historical analysis in which present-day ideas and perspectives are anachronistically introduced into depictions or interpretations of the past. Some modern historians seek to avoid presentism in their work because they believe it creates a distorted understanding of their subject matter.
Peter Heehs commits the same mistake in his book LOSA when he tries to analyze Sri Aurobindo's marriage using the lens of present day values. ("she was not an intellectual....what did he marry her for?...must be sexual gratification!")
Very true, except I do not find anything virtuous in the Nehruvian brand of secularism. Secularism, in the context of Indian politics, when boiled down to its essence is nothing but a misleading euphemism for "colonialism", a largely negative ideology that has come to mean today "anything but Hinduism", or Hinduphobia if you will. It is not surprising that the one unmistakable characteristic of the carriers of this germ is their paranoid hallucination about Hindu communal (Hindutva) germs behind all ills. We are seeing this delusion at work even today in the present controversy.
Secularism, in the context of Indian politics, when boiled down to its essence is nothing but a misleading euphemism for "colonialism", a largely negative ideology that has come to mean today "anything but Hinduism", or Hinduphobia if you will.
Some form of secularism (church-state separation) is necessary because it serves as a useful antidote to the infrarational forms of religion, whether it arises from Hinduism or Islam. Secularism in that sense can be seen as a rupture from the past and a prerequisite to Sri Aurobindo's "Subjective Age".
paranoid hallucination about Hindu communal (Hindutva) germs behind all ills. We are seeing this delusion at work even today in the present controversy.
One of the factors driving this suspicion/delusion is institutional memory. Most people have been around 30-40 years, their psyches have been traumatized by past controversies and so they naturally pre-judge in a certain direction. Any voice speaking from the Ashram is automatically regarded as irrational (many may be, but not all).
I promised earlier that I can identify a hundred different reasons for the controversy and I just added one more. I don't think I can find hundred but I have no doubt I could reach double digits if I tried.
Secularism in that sense can be seen as a rupture from the past and a prerequisite to Sri Aurobindo's "Subjective Age"
That is certainly the most positive way to look at it. I can detect a parallel between Sri Aurobindo's own experience as a child, with Krishnadhan Ghose attempting to bring about a similar drastic rupture from the past in the case of his own son. Our so-called founding fathers seem to have tried to do the same with Mother India. My faith tells me that India's further growth too will follow the trajectory of Sri Aurobindo's Life and She will arrive. Perhaps that is the inner significance of the 15th of August.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: VO Chidambaram Pillai: Tilak's Southern Lieutenant—by R Venkatachalapathy
by
Anonymous
on Wed 17 Feb 2010 02:12 AM IST | Permanent Link
It could also simply be the effect of vote-bank politics: hold on to a minority and try to split the majority. Given India's parliamentary structure and many minorities, many parties have emerged. In the US also it is the same (democrats appealing to minorities, for eg.).
It could also simply be the effect of vote-bank politics: hold on to a minority and try to split the majority. Given India's parliamentary structure and many minorities, many parties have emerged. In the US also it is the same (democrats appealing to minorities, for eg.).
Assuming you are referring to Nehruvian secularism, certainly there are opportunists who play vote bank politics but there may also be those who reach out to minorities because they want to be inclusive, help the poor and the downtrodden. That instinct of compassion is laudable even though it sometimes leads to laxity in standards and govt excesses.
I for one am quite proud to call myself a Hindu, though living in Ashram for now for 54 yrs. In fact Sri Aurobindo calls it the Sanatana Dharma.
Look at today's news, - Home Minister Chidambaram is inviting along with the Kashmir Chief Minister all the muslims who have gone to Azad Kashmir. But what about the poor 4 laks Hindu Pandits who have been systemetically removed as a cleansing policy.
I for one am quite proud to call myself a Hindu, though living in Ashram for now for 54 yrs. In fact Sri Aurobindo calls it the Sanatana Dharma.
Look at today's news, - Home Minister Chidambaram is inviting along with the Kashmir Chief Minister all the muslims who have gone to Azad Kashmir. But what about the poor 4 laks Hindu Pandits who have been systemetically removed as a cleansing policy.
This is a frequent point of contention raised in debates the world over and it goes like this: "It is the other side which is to blame. Why should I give up who I am when there is nothing wrong with me. Why should I compromise." The implication behind these remarks is that someone is asking you to be ashamed of who you are or to lower yourself in favour of a lesser person.
No, you are not being asked to renounce your culture but if we truly lived to the values of Sanatana Dharma, we would be able to enlarge and integrate the other communities into a greater harmony. It takes two sides to fight. If you persist in differentiating yourself from the other side, then the conflict continues.
If you were in Chidambaram's place, you might have done the same thing. Politics demands pragmatism to deflect volatile situations. If you first win he confidence of the minorities who are feeling disempowered, you may be able to attempt a reconciliation with the majority later. But if you keep forcing the minority to accept the majority, then the situation stays explosive.
I am glad that note is being taken of Chidambaranar, as he was affectionately called in the south in those days. He was a 'rebel with a cause'. Along with Subrahmanya Bharati he woke up the youth of south in those days of fervent movement towards freedom. We, as youth of those days living in the south, are still moved by the call of these great leaders. He challenged the British in their maritime supremacy, to rekindle the greatness of the old southern empires like Chhola and Pandya who had ruled the waves much before the British ventures into the sea.
It is time that the rest of India recognizes these great souls, just as we do Tilak, Savarkar, Subhash Chandra Bose, and many others.
Here is a transcription of the 1914 letter as far as the facsimile could be deciphered.
VO Chidambaram Madras
To Srijut B. G. Tilak
‘Kesari’ Office
Poona
Respected Brother
I feel extremely glad to know that you have after all reached home in good health and send you my warm congratulations.
I am not able to write to you how grieved I felt when I heard [...] the sad news of the death of your beloved wife [...] express my deep and sincere feelings of sorrow and condolence for her dear.
Although I had not the fortune of seeing her personally I have sufficiently heard of her noble qualities and virtues. I feel that her death is a great loss to the country. I pray to God to give you sufficient strength to overcome the feelings of sorrow of her irreparable loss.
Now, brother, you ought to take a good rest to recoup your past health and strength. I may, if God permits, meet you at Poona in a month or two. In the meanwhile, if it is convenient to you, please write to me the names of the books you have written, if possible the subjects they deal with and when you mean printing and publishing them.
I prostrate before you and offer my ‘namaskarams’ to your holy feet.
