Gopal Krishna Gokhale (गोपाल कृष्ण गोखले) born May 9, 1866, in Kolhat, Maharashtra, India was one of the founding social and political leaders during the Indian Independence Movement against the British Empire in India. Gokhale was a senior leader of the Indian National Congress and the Servants of India Society. The latter was committed to only social reform, whereas the Congress Party in Gokhale's time was the main vehicle for Indian political representation.
Early life
Gopal Krishna Gokhale's father Krishna Rao was working as a clerk and His mother Valubai Gokhale, a housewife. Krishna Rao Gokhale had farm land, but was forced to work as a clerk due to poor soil and inadequate irrigational facilities available at that time. Krishna Rao Gokhale was working from Tamhanala, another small village very near to Kothluk Village in Ratnagiri district of Maharastra.
Gopal Krishna Gokhale completed his secondary education from Rajaram High School in Kothapur. After completion of highschool he moved to Bombay for further studies at the Elphinstone College. He completed his graduation in 1888. Gopal Krishna Gokhale was a hardworking and talented student in the last year of his college and was awarded a scholarship of Rs. 20.
After graduation he moved to Pune and joined the New English School as an Assistant Master. During this period he complied a book of arithmetic in collabration with his colleague N.J. Bapat. He actively participated in the acadmeic and educational circles of Pune. He actively particpated in the Deccan Education Society and was the founding member of Fergusson College at Pune in 1885. He worked for more than twenty years in this college. Because of his knowledge of and facility for teaching a broad variety of subjects, he was known as "Professor to Order".
Gokhale was an early Indian champion for public education. Being one of the first generations of Indians to receive a college education, and a teacher at Fergusson College, Pune,Gokhale was respected widely both in the nascent Indian intellectual community and by the people of India. He was seen by the people as one of the least elitist of the educated community of India. Coming from a background of poverty, Gokhale was seen as a man of the people, and was a hero to young Indians of the early 20th century. He worked among the common people to encourage education and public development. He actively spoke against ignorance, casteism and untouchability in Indian society. He was also reputed for working towards trust and friendship between the Hindu and Muslim communities of India.
Along with other contemporary leaders like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Dadabhai Naoroji, Bipin Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai and Annie Besant, Gokhale fought for decades to obtain greater political representation and power over public affairs for common Indians. He was moderate in his views and attitudes, and sought to petition the British authorities by cultivating a process of dialogue and discussion which would yield greater British respect for Indian rights. Gokhale had visited Ireland and had arranged for an Irish nationalist, Alfred Webb, to serve as President of the Indian National Congress in 1894. In 1906, Gokhale and Tilak were the respective leaders of the moderates and the "extremists" (the latter now known by the more politically correct term, 'aggressive nationalists') in the Congress. Tilak was an advocate of civil agitation and direct revolution to overthrow the British Empire, whereas Gokhale was a moderate reformist. As a result, the Congress Party split into two wings. The two sides would later patch up in 1916.
Gokhale did not support explicit Indian independence, for such an idea was not understood or expressed among Indians until after World War I. Historically, Gokhale is viewed as a teacher and nurturer of a whole new generation of leaders, including Mahatma Gandhi.
Gokhale was famously a mentor to Mahatma Gandhi in his formative years. Gandhi as a young barrister returned from his struggles against the Empire in South Africa, and received personal guidance from Gokhale, including a knowledge and understanding of India and the issues confronting common Indians. By 1920, Gandhi would emerge as the leader of the Indian Independence Movement. In his autobiography, Gandhi calls Gokhale his mentor and guide, while Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the future founder of Pakistan, in 1912 aspired to become the "Muslim Gokhale", and an "ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity."
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