"With his electrifying slogan, "Swaraj is my birth-right and I shall have it" Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak stirred the Indian people and breathed new life into our struggle of freedom. Born in 1856, just one year ahead of the First War of Indian Independence, Lokmanya Tilak grew up in an India that was frustrated and sullen, getting drawn into a whirlpool of despair and hopelessness after the failure of the 1857 revolt.

While some people were losing hope, others began to believe that the British had now turned a new leaf and were beginning to do good. A viewpoint had gained currency that the people of India were not yet ready for freedom since they did not know how to govern themselves. Apologists for the Empire were arguing that improvements in colonial administration had begun to give Indians a "good government".

It was in this environment of defeatism and cynicism, that Lokmanya Tilak stood up and said that the so-called "good government" was no substitute for "self-government". Indians wanted to regain their natural right to govern themselves. Swaraj, he therefore said, is our "birth-right". People did not have to "earn" their freedom, since every person is born with the right to be free. It had a great unifying impact on the Indian people belonging to different provinces, speaking a variety of languages and professing diverse faiths.

I am very happy that our Government is today honouring Lokmanya Tilak with this set of commemorative coins to mark his birth anniversary. It is a great privilege for me to associate myself with this memorable occasion.

Lokmanya Tilak belongs to the most revered pantheon of our freedom fighters. His impact on the people both inside and outside India was indeed mesmerizing. When the British authorities arrested him in 1908, a world-renowned personality like Lenin was so moved that he denounced it. His criticism of Lokmanya's imprisonment constituted a shattering condemnation of British Empire. Before Mahatma Gandhi spearheaded our struggle for independence, it was Lokmanya Tilak who was among its leading torchbearers.

Tilak's clarion call came as a breath of fresh air for our people and a nation's straining at the leash of subjugation. It summoned from the depths of their hearts unprecedented energy and courage to stand up to the might of the British rule. Mahatma Gandhi described himself as Lokmanya's "strongest bulwark". Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, then studying in London, described himself a "Tilakite".

The Swaraj that Tilak conceived and wanted to achieve was meant to liberate us, both from the yoke of foreign rule and from the exploitative social traditions indigenous to our country. By drawing our people belonging to all sections of society in to the national movement, he widened the bases of the movement and of the Indian National Congress.

His vision and his desire to achieve Swaraj through the mobilization of common people constituted a turning point in our struggle for independence. The Home Rule Movement that he started with Ms. Annie Besant forced the British to concede that introduction of responsible Government was their final objective. His activism and his passionate advocacy, especially through the media, inspired an entire generation.

The Swaraj of Lokmanya's conception was all-inclusive. In it, there was as much space for Hindus as for people pursuing other religions. A votary of Hindu - Muslim unity, Lokmanya Tilak wrote in the journal Kesari: "When Hindus and Muslims jointly ask for Swarajya from a common platform, the British bureaucracy has to realize that its days are numbered." Tilak found no contradiction between remaining a devout Hindu and having a secular worldview. This showed his modernism and his enlightenment.

That is why, when Lokmanya Tilak used the Ganesh festival for promoting the spirit of nationalism among people, he was neither bigoted nor communal. He was being both religious and nationalist. It was a creative use of a religious festival for the larger cause of nation-building and social mobilization. After the First War of Independence, British authorities had decided not to interfere in matters involving religion. Lokmanya Tilak took advantage of that policy and used the Ganesh festival and Shivaji Jayanti for political and secular mobilization of people in the cause of freedom from colonial rule. Lokmanya used religion to unite people, not to divide them. He used religion to seek freedom, not spread hatred. Those who use religion to divide people and to promote hatred must learn from the constructive lessons of Lokmanya Tilak's life and work.

It must also be recalled that social and political leaders like Lokmanya Tilak placed great emphasis on gender equality and on the rights of women. That is why the people of Maharashtra, both men and women, have been at the forefront of women's emancipation and empowerment in our country. It is, therefore, a matter of pride that on a day we commemorate the memory of Lokmanya Tilak, we can also say with pride that our country's First lady President happens to be a Maharashtrian. I am sure Lokmanya Tilak would have been a happy person today!

In the year in which we celebrate the 60th anniversary of our Independence, the 150th anniversary of the First War of Independence and the 151st birth anniversary of Lokmanya Balgangadhar Tilak, I feel proud as an Indian that we will have a woman from Tilak's homeland as our President."