{"id":15146,"date":"2021-05-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-10T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/current_affairs\/uncategorized\/10-05-2021\/gopal-krishna-gokhale-2\/"},"modified":"2025-09-24T18:42:47","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T13:12:47","slug":"gopal-krishna-gokhale-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/10-05-2021\/gopal-krishna-gokhale-2","title":{"rendered":"Gopal Krishna Gokhale"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong><u>In News<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">The Prime Minister of India has paid tribute to great freedom fighter Gopal Krishna Gokhale on his Jayanti.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong><u>About <\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong><u>Gopal Krishna Gokhale<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:16pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><u>\u00a0<\/u><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Born on May 9, 1866, in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra (then Bombay Presidency) <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>in a Brahmin family.<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">He\u00a0 was one of the <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>founding leaders<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> of the Indian national movement.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">He was an immensely wise liberal nationalist, made outstanding contributions towards social empowerment.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">He represented the category of highly-educated Indians.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/5Grhst_zHWNwU8GjgF7ehM5rCc_A74nhPVYePi9_h0THjnDsSb6_BeIa7wTShtiBBhPmTb3J-anwslhv7YJTg5zaNeaJWoROTvYAJ-32aR8xg0YyOmzY1wfHUeouQw08_KRBS5Ih\" style=\"height:188px; width:283px\" \/><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/amp\/s\/www.news18.com\/amp\/news\/india\/remembering-gopal-krishna-gokhale-on-his-106th-death-anniversary-through-these-lesser-known-facts-3450746.html\" style=\"text-decoration:none\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#1155cc\"><u>Image courtesy:News 18<\/u><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Contributions\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>As a political and social reformer<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Gokhale founded the <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Servants of India Society(SIS)<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> in Maharashtra\u2019s Pune on June 12, 1905.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">\u00a0The SIS launched campaigns for the <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>promotion of education<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">, health care and sanitation.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">\u00a0It also made efforts to <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>eradicate social evils<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> such as untouchability and oppression of women.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">\u00a0It is noteworthy that Gokhle was one of the first big political leaders who raised the demand for <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>free primary public education<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">He actively participating in budget debates when he was a member of the Imperial Legislative Council.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">His name is associated with an <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>internationally-renowned economics institute<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> \u2013\u00a0 Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">The institute was founded by <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Gokhale&#8217;s Servants of India Society in 1930<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">, and it works with the mission to \u201cprovide education in all fields of economics with the singular purpose of contributing its might to enhance economic betterment and social welfare\u201d.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">He started english weekly newspaper, <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>The Hitavada (The people&#8217;s paper).<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Positions in colonial legislatures<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">He\u00a0 is best remembered for his extensive work in colonial legislatures. Between 1899 and 1902, he was a member of the <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Bombay Legislative Council followed<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> by a stint at the Imperial Legislative Council from 1902 till his death.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">At Bombay, he\u00a0 opposed the British government\u2019s onerous <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>land revenue policies<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> and\u00a0 asked for the creation of equal opportunities to fight against untouchability.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">At the Imperial legislature, Gokhale played a key role in <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>framing the Morley-Minto reforms of 1909 <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">and advocated for the expansion of legislative councils at both the Centre and the provinces.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">A critic of British imperial bureaucracy, Gokhale <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>favoured decentralisation<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> and the promotion of panchayat and taluka bodies.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">He also spoke for the Indian diaspora living in other parts of the British Empire and opposed tooth and nail the indentured labour system, raising their problems in the Imperial legislature as well as at Congress sessions<\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>.<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Work in the Congress<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">He was <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>associated with the<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Moderate Group<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> of Indian National Congress (joined in 1889).<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">He\u00a0 became Congress president at its Banaras session in 1905.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">This was also the time when bitter differences had arisen between his group of <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>\u2018Moderates\u2019 and the \u2018Extremists\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> led by Lala Lajpat Rai and Bal Gangadhar Tilak among others.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:square\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Matters came to a head when the two factions split at the Surat session of 1907.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Historians note that despite ideological differences, Gokhale maintained cordial relations with his opponents.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:square\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">\u00a0In 1907, he fervently campaigned for the release of <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Lala Lajpat Rai,<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> who was imprisoned that year by the <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>British at Mandalay in present-day Myanmar<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>As a mentor\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">He was a <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>mentor to both Mahatma Gandhi<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> and Mohammed Ali Jinnah.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Gandhi Ji, in <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>his autobiography<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">, described Gokhale as \u201cpure as crystal, gentle as a lamb, brave as a lion and chivalrous to a fault and the most perfect man in the political field.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Similarly, Jinnah was so inspired by Gokhle that his aspiration, during the early years of his political life, was to become a <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>\u201cMuslim Gokhle\u201d.<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/amp\/s\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/pm-modi-pays-tributes-to-tagore-gokhale-maharana-pratap\/article34519272.ece\/amp\/\" style=\"text-decoration:none\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial\"><span style=\"color:#1155cc\"><strong><u>Source :TH<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In News The Prime Minister of India has paid tribute to great freedom fighter Gopal Krishna Gokhale on his Jayanti. About Gopal Krishna Gokhale\u00a0 Born on May 9, 1866, in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra (then Bombay Presidency) in a Brahmin family. He\u00a0 was one of the founding leaders of the Indian national movement. He was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[25,87],"class_list":["post-15146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-affairs","tag-gs1","tag-personalities"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2023\/07\/205976current-affairs.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15146"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15146\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55046,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15146\/revisions\/55046"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}