Key Takeaways
The Prime Minister has paid tributes to the great Gopal Krishna Gokhale on his birth anniversary on 9th May
Gopal Krishna Gokhale was an Indian ‘moderate’ political leader and a social reformer during the Indian independence movement.
About Gopal Krishna Gokhale
- Gopal Krishna Gokhale was born on 9 May 1866 in Kotluk village in present-day Maharashtra
- Gokhale was a senior leader of the Indian National Congress
- Positions in colonial legislatures
- Between 1899 and 1902, he was a member of the Bombay Legislative Council followed by a stint at the Imperial Legislative Council from 1902 till his death.
- Gokhale opposed the British government’s onerous land revenue policies, advocated free and compulsory primary education, and asked for the creation of equal opportunities to fight against untouchability.
- At the Imperial legislature, Gokhale played a key role in framing the Morley-Minto reforms of 1909 and advocated for the expansion of legislative councils at both the Centre and the provinces.
- A critic of British imperial bureaucracy, Gokhale favoured decentralisation and the promotion of panchayat and taluka bodies.
- He also spoke for the Indian diaspora living in other parts of the British Empire and opposed tooth and nail the indentured labour system, raising their problems in the Imperial legislature as well as at Congress sessions.
- Role in INC
- He was the leader of the moderate faction of the Congress party that advocated reforms by working with existing government institutions
- Gokhale became Congress president at its Banaras session in 1905,
- This was also the time when bitter differences had arisen between his group of ‘Moderates’ and the ‘Extremists’ led by Lala Lajpat Rai and Bal Gangadhar Tilak among others.
- Matters came to a head when the two factions split at the Surat session of 1907.
- Historians note that despite ideological differences, Gokhale maintained cordial relations with his opponents.
- In 1907, he fervently campaigned for the release of Lala Lajpat Rai, who was imprisoned that year by the British at Mandalay in present-day Myanmar.
- Related Organisation and other works
- Established the Servants of India Society in 1905 to help Indians gain access to education.
- Also associated with the Sarvajanik sabha journal started by Govind Ranade.
- In 1908, Gokhale founded the Ranade Institute of Economics.
- He started english weekly newspaper, The Hitavada
- Gokhale as a mentor
- After Mahatma Gandhi’s return to India, he joined Gokhale’s group before going on to lead the independence movement.
- Gandhi regarded Gokhale as his political mentor, and wrote a book in Gujarati dedicated to the leader titled ‘Dharmatma Gokhale’.
Content Source: PIB