In the late 1890s, plague had struck Pune and surrounding areas. The British administration adopted harsh, intrusive plague control measures, such as house searches and forced evacuations, which led to public resentment.
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On 22 June 1897, British officers Walter Rand and Lt. Ayerst were assassinated by the Chapekar brothers, Damodar and Balkrishna Chapekar, in Pune.
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Tilak had published strong critiques of British actions and praised Shivaji for resisting tyranny, in his articles in Kesari (Marathi) and Mahratta (English).
🔹 Arrest & Charges
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Tilak was arrested on 27 July 1897, under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code for sedition, accused of inciting violence through his writings.
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His writings were interpreted by the British as justifying the murder of Rand, although Tilak never explicitly supported violence.
🔹 Aftermath
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He was tried and sentenced to 18 months’ rigorous imprisonment.
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This was the first time Tilak was jailed, and it marked the beginning of his long and defiant stand against British rule.
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The arrest galvanized Indian political consciousness. Nationalist leaders and the public viewed Tilak as a martyr of free speech and Indian pride.
🧭 Significance
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Catalyst for Radical Nationalism: Tilak’s arrest intensified the divide between moderate and extremist factions within the Indian National Congress.
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He famously declared:
"Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it!"
(Though this slogan came later, in 1906, it was rooted in this spirit of defiance.) -
The event is now seen as a turning point in Indian nationalism, where public political critique of British colonialism took a more assertive and mass-based turn.
