Page:The Life of Lokamanya Tilak.djvu/156

 Moderate leaders responsible for Mr. Tilak's troubles in the Tai Maharaj case. But their indifference to Mr. Tilak's fate is certainly culpable. We have yet to learn how to shield or protect our brethren even though they belonged to the opposite school. The Moderates might freely quarrel with the Extremists but while facing the Government, we all must present a united front.

This long struggle was not without its benefits to Mr. Tilak. No doubt, it left him very little leisure, especially in the earlier stages of the case. It did not enable him to take part in public activities with his characteristic ardour. Once he had to absent himself from the Congress; on another occasion he was too busy with the case to find time to give evidence before the Police Commission. He had to cancel so many public engagements; he had to restrict his activities to the narrowest possible limits. We do not deplore all this undoubted loss for the reason that this period (1901-1904) synchronised with that of the political reaction of which Lord Curzon was the most distinguished author. Until the reaction had reached its height, the movement of Regeneration could not start.

When, with the Partition of Bengal, the movement of Regeneration started, Mr. Tilak had come unscathed out of this fiery ordeal. The glory of martyrdom with which he started work was not the most important benefit he had derived from the Tai Maharaj case. Mr. Tilak himself was changed. The Tai Maharaj case aimed at knocking the bottom off his character; the course of its first stage (1901-1904) tested and strengthened his character. The vast conspiracy aimed at