Bal Gangadhar Tilak was the first Indian nationalist to embrace Swaraj as the destiny of the nation.

Bal Gangadhar Tilak was the first Indian nationalist to embrace Swaraj as the destiny of the nation.

Tilak deeply opposed the British education system that ignored and defamed India's culture, history and values. 

He resented the denial of freedom of expression for nationalists, and the lack of any voice or role for ordinary Indians in the affairs of their nation. For these reasons, he considered Swaraj as the natural and only solution. 

His popular sentence "Swaraj is my birthright, and I shall have it" became the source of inspiration for Indians.

In 1907, the Congress was split into two. Tilak advocated what was deemed as extremism. He wanted a direct assault by the people upon the British Raj, and the abandonment of all things British. He was backed by rising public leaders like Bipin Chandra Pal and Lala Lajpat Rai, who held the same point of view. 

Under them, India's three great states - Maharashtra, Bengal and Punjab shaped the demand of the people and India's nationalism. Gokhale criticized Tilak for encouraging acts of violence and disorder. 

But the Congress of 1906 did not have public membership, and thus Tilak and his supporters were forced to leave the party.