Page:The Life of Lokamanya Tilak.djvu/287

 "Then Mr. Tilak shattered, one by one, the arguments advanced against granting Self-government to India. The Bureaucrats, he said, were themselves responsible for iUiteracy in India, While deploring caste and acknowledging that it required radical modification, he denied that it constituted a reason for refusing self-Govemment. The British, he pointed out, quarreled among themselves quite as much as Indians did. There was no Ulster in India — Hindus and Mushms were agreed concerning the constitutional reforms. He challenged the statement that Indians did not desire Home Rule. He demanded to know why, India alone, of aU the British oversea units, should be expected to achieve Self-government ' step by step '. That phrase had no meaning in this age of progress. Indians should immediately be given control over their purely domestic civil affairs."

This was, in brief, the line of reasoning adopted by Mr. Tilak in convincing and winning over the British Democracy. He, however, did not confine his activities merely to speeches. He sent out contributions to the Press and published several pamphlets and leaflets. In England, Mr. Tilak found that in spite of the so-called liberty and independence of the Press, the great Fourth Estate is practically manipulated and controlled by a few groups of politicians most of whom are quite insular in their outlook. Though swayed by " empire hunger '* these politicians care very little for the true interests of the empire. English Liberalism is essentially a * white ' Liberalism. It is not intended for the Black or the Brown. The English Press, therefore cares very little for India, so much so that not only are weD in-