Gopal Krishna Gokhale birth anniversary
On 9 May, the Prime Minister paid tribute to the birth anniversary of ‘Gopal Krishna Gokhale’. Gopal Krishna Gokhale was born on 9th May
Introduction
- He was a freedom fighter, philanthropist, thinker, and reformer. Mahadev Govind Ranade was his teacher. Gokhale has been called the ‘Gladstone’ of India with a good understanding of economic matters and the ability to debate it properly.
- Gokhale was the most well-known leader of the moderate party in the Indian National Congress. He founded the Servants of India Society in 1905 with the aim of building the character of the youth and training them for public life. He was also of the opinion that scientific and technical education is an important need of India.
- He argued that self-governance depends on the average character persistence of an individual, and on the ability of individuals. Mahatma Gandhi considered him his political mentor.
Important facts related to Gopal Krishna Gokhale
- He also served as Secretary of the Deccan Education Society. He also went to Ireland in 1894 to prepare Irish nationalist Alfred Webb to serve as the President of the ‘Indian National Congress.
- In order to publicize his reformist views on politics and society, he also published a daily newspaper called ‘Jynan prakash’.
- In the year 1903, Gokhale was also elected a member of the Council of Governors-General of India. He contributed significantly to the formulation of the Minto-Morley Reforms (1909).
- Mahatma Gandhi also wrote a book called ‘Gokhale, my political guru‘. He was also the political guru of Jinnah. His fundamental concepts about the importance of political freedom, social reform, and economic progress for all Indians are still relevant to our time.
Source – PIB
