Thread by @sheshapatangi1

#Kesari
#Lokamanya
#BalaGangadharaTilak
Journalism is often termed as the first draft of history. Newspapers record history. Some newspapers also create history for several reasons. Kesari is one of those newspapers which has recorded and created history in almost equal measures

It has been used as the socio political platform of Bal Gangadhar Tilak, one of the most prominent leaders of Indian freedom movement. Kesari was his megaphone for propagating his social and political ideology and countering his opponent’s.
It was in January 1881 that Tilak and

Gopal Ganesh Agarkar along with Mahadeo Ballal Namjoshi, Vaman S. Apte and Ganesh K. Garde, started two newspapers: The Mahratta on Sunday, January 2, 1881 in English and the ‘Kesari’ on January 4, 1881 in Marathi.
They had specific objectives for starting these newspapers,

which were spelt out clearly in the first issue of Kesari: “a newspaper is useful in two ways. Firstly, if the newspapers carry out their duty impartially and dauntlessly, government officials are filled with awe. The purpose that is served, in the night, by lighting the street

lamps or by the continuous patrolling of the police, is the purpose that is served by the incessant penmanship of journalists.”Kesari recorded the social history of pre independence India, its struggle for independence.
Kesari has also played a significant role in triggering

and driving the socio political movement in pre independence time.
Tilak was emotionally & functionally closer to Kesari than Mahratta. Over time, Kesari became an extension of his personality. To quote noted litterateur N. C. Kelkar, “It is impossible to consider the ‘Kesari’

exclusive of Lokmanya Tilak and Tilak apart from the ‘Kesari”.
Tilak made use of Kesari for bringing about political consciousness among the masses for the purpose of the freedom struggle, for giving a new direction to their thinking and for boosting the different agitations

and programmes initiated by him. The four-point programme of ‘Swaraj, Swadeshi, Boycott and National Education’ that Tilak offered to the Congress and to the whole nation, was strongly propagated by Kesari. As Tilak took to agitation and confrontation with the British Govt., he

and along with him Kesari had to suffer the rage of the British Rulers. It had to face many court cases. Many times Kesari had to furnish sureties and the editors had to suffer imprisonment.
However, two such cases became much talked about. There were charges of sedition first

in 1897 and the second in 1908. In 1897, it was a series of articles on the mal governance and repression of the British administration during the 1897 Plague epidemic in Maharastra, particularly in Pune that angered the administration. The ‘Suspension of Land Revenue’ campaign

started by Kesari also incurred the wrath of the British rulers. The murder of Rand at Ganeshkhind in Pune ultimately unhinged the mind of the Govt & they at last launched prosecution against Tilak, charged him for sedition. This resulted in 18 months rigorous imprisonment.

The second prosecution on the charge of sedition was in the year 1908. It was a very disturbing time for the country. Governor General Lord Curzon had planned the partition of Bengal and the entire country was opposed to it. Following the bomb blast at Muzaffarpur, an engine

of repression was let loose in Bengal. In this situation Tilak wrote about the development concerning Bengal in four articles in Kesari titled, 1) ‘Misfortune of the Nation, 2) ‘Double warning’, 3) ‘What the bomb blast really means’, 4) ‘These Remedies Not Durable’.

The British administration slapped sedition charges based on the first and fourth article. Tilak was convicted & sentenced to six years imprisonment and was sent to Mandalay prison in Myanmar. But nothing could dampen the zeal and spirit of Tilak and his dear newspaper Kesari.

Tilak said, “Even if the sky collapses on me, I shall stand firmly thereon. Kesari continued.......

Today's Journalism itself needs introspection as it hasn't produced Journalists these days.

#VANDEMATARAM