Letter to BS: Tilak described as 'father of terrorism' in class 8 book

This is with reference to the Chinese Whispers item “Tilak, the father of terrorism” (May 14), the aam aadmi's loveable Bal Gangadhar Tilak was an Indian nationalist, teacher, social reformer, journalist, lawyer and an independence activist, who inspired the nation by his call, "swarajis my birthright and I shall have it". Naturally people wonder how Tilak, who was also conferred with the title of "Lokmanya", has, all of a sudden, become the ‘father of terror’?

One of the reasons may be that the British colonial authorities called him "the father of the Indian unrest", and due to the translator’s mistake, it got printed as ‘father of terror’, though the word terrorism was not even coined then. Student Advisor Publication Private Limited, which publishes the book, said the mistake had been rectified in the revised edition. People are in complete agreement with the great-granddaughter–in law of Tilak and the Mayor of Pune, Bharatiya Janata Party’s Mukta Tilak’s shock and anger "that anybody could make such a derogatory remark about the man who gave 50 years of his 64-year-long life to the nation…this is how they treat him… this is beyond comprehension”.

The mistake is beyond condemnable, no language can heal it. But has she ever raised her voice when the BJP abused Congress and other leaders who sacrificed their lives for the freedom struggle? Their abuse has insulted not just the memory of our freedom fighters, but the entire nation.

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee,  Faridabad Letters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to: 

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