Lokmanya Tilak Speech: Swaraj Is My Birthright (Full English & Hindi)

Lokmanya Tilak Speech: Swaraj Is My Birthright (Full Text)

A definitive historical archive of Bal Gangadhar Tilak's 1916 Home Rule declaration, featuring complete textual records in English and Hindi alongside deep contextual analysis.

Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s famous declaration, “Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it,” was delivered during the Belgaum Provincial Conference in 1916 under the auspices of the Indian Home Rule Movement. This historic address shifted India’s nationalist struggle from elite petitions to a radical mass movement, anchoring the demand for self-governance in fundamental human rights.

Bal Gangadhar Tilak, revered as the pioneering pillar of radical nationalism in India.

Historical Background of the Speech

Historical Parameter	Archival Details
Date of Delivery	May 1916
Historical Event	Belgaum Provincial Conference (Bombay Presidency)
Political Milestone	Launch of the Indian Home Rule Movement League
Transcript Provenance	Compiled from standard nationalist archival reconstructions. Textual variations may exist across secondary history texts.

Full Speech Text in English

I am young in spirit though old in body. I do not wish to lose this privilege of youth. To deny the growing capacity to my thinking power is to admit that I have no right to speak on this resolution. Whatever I am going to speak today is eternally young. The body might grow old, decrepit and it might perish, but the soul is immortal. Similarly, if there might be an apparent lull in our Home Rule activities, the freedom of the spirit behind it is eternal and indestructible, and it will secure liberty for us.

The Soul means Parameshwar and the mind will not get peace till it gets identified with Him. If one body is worn out the soul will take another: so assures the Gita. This philosophy is quite old. Swaraj is my birthright. So long as it is awake within me, I am not old. No weapon can cut this spirit, no fire can burn it, no water can wet it, no wind can dry it. I say further that no CID can burn it. I declare the same principle to the Superintendent of Police who is sitting before me, to the Collector who had been invited to attend this meeting and to the Government shorthand writer who is busy taking down notes of our speeches.

The philosophical core of the Home Rule movement, rendering public demand as an undeniable cosmic right.

This principle will not disappear even if it seems to be killed. We ask for Home Rule and we must get it. The Science which ends in Home Rule is the Science of Politics and not the one which ends in slavery. The Science of Politics is the "Vedas" of the country. You have a soul and I only want to wake it up. I want to tear off the blind that has been let down by ignorant, designing and selfish people. The Science of Politics consists of two parts.

The first is Divine and the second is Demonic. The slavery of a Nation comes into the latter part. There cannot be a moral justification for the Demonic part of the Science of Politics. A Nation which might justify this is guilty of sin in the sight of God. Some people have the courage to declare what is harmful to them and some have not that courage. The political and religious teaching consists in giving the knowledge of this principle. Religious and political teachings are not separate, though they appear to be so on account of foreign rule. All philosophies are included in the Science of Politics.

"Who does not know the meaning of Home Rule? Who does not want it? Would you like it, if I enter your house and take possession of your cooking department?"

I must have the right to manage the affairs in my own house. It is only lunatics and children who do not know how to manage their own affairs. Not being lunatics or children you understand your own business, your own rights and, therefore, you know Home Rule. We are told we are not fit for Home Rule. A century has passed away and the British Rule has not made us fit for Home Rule; now we will make our own efforts and fit ourselves for it.

To offer irrelevant excuses, to hold out any temptation and to make other offers will be putting a stigma on the English policy. England is trying to protect the small state of Belgium with the help of India; how can it then say that we should not have Home Rule?

Those who find fault with us are avaricious people. But there are people who find fault even with the All-Merciful God. We must work hard to save the soul of our Nation without caring for anything. The good of our country consists in guarding this - our birthright. The Congress has passed this Home Rule resolution. The Provincial Conference is only a child of the Congress, which submits to mandates of its father. We will follow Shri Ramachandra in obeying the order of our father the Congress. We are determined to make efforts to get this resolution enforced even if the effort leads us to the desert, compels us to live incognito, makes us suffer any hardship and even if it finally brings us to death. Shri Ramachandra did it.

Do not pass this resolution by merely clapping your hands but by taking a solemn vow that you will work for it. We will work for it by every possible constitutional and law-abiding method to get Home Rule. Through the grace of God, England has changed its mind towards us. We feel our efforts will not be without success. England proudly thought that a tiny nation might be able to protect the Empire by itself. This pride has gone down.

The English people have discovered that the wisdom of all their parties is not sufficient. The Indian soldiers have saved the lives of the British soldiers on the French battlefield and have showed their bravery. Those who once considered us as slaves have begun now to call us brothers. God has brought about all these changes. We must push our demands while the notion of this brotherhood is existing in the minds of the English. We must inform them that we, thirty crores of the Indian people, are ready to lay down our lives for the Empire; and that while we are with them none shall dare cast an evil glance at the Empire.

Meaning of "Swaraj Is My Birthright"

Prior to Tilak's ascendance, early Indian nationalism relied heavily on Moderate methods—petitions and structural appeals to British sensibility. Tilak systematically dismantled this dynamic by re-rooting political leverage into the absolute rights of the individual. By invoking the term "Swaraj" (Self-Rule), he argued that self-governance was not a concession to be granted by an empire, but a cosmic, unalienable birthright. He argued that colonization was not merely administrative exploitation, but a subversion of human spiritual existence.

लोकमान्य तिलक का ऐतिहासिक भाषण (हिंदी में पूर्ण पाठ)

भारतीय स्वतंत्रता संग्राम में जनचेतना फूंकने वाला बाल गंगाधर तिलक का कालजयी उद्घोष।

मेरी उम्र बहुत जवां नहीं है लेकिन मेरे जज़्बे में आज भी वही आग है। आज मैं आप से जो कुछ भी कहूंगा वो आपके लिए हमेशा प्रेरणादायक होगा। ये शरीर भले ही ढल जाए, बूढ़ा हो जाए, जर्जर हो जाए लेकिन हमारी प्रतिज्ञा अमर होती है। ठीक उसी तरह हो सकता है हमारे स्वराज अभियान में थोड़ी शिथिलता आ जाए लेकिन इसके पीछे की सोच, और उद्देश्य शाश्वत है जो कभी खत्म नहीं होगी और हम स्वतंत्रता हासिल कर के रहेंगे।

स्वराज मेरा जन्मसिद्ध अधिकार है। मेरा स्वराज जबतक मेरे अंदर ज़िंदा है मैं कमज़ोर या बूढ़ा नहीं हो सकता। कोई भी हथियार इस हौसले को नहीं पस्त कर सकता, कोई आग इसे जला नहीं सकती, पानी की धारा इसे भिगो नहीं सकती, हवा के तेज़ झोंके भी इसे सुखा नहीं सकते। हम स्वराज की मांग करते हैं और हम इसे लेकर रहेंगे। जो विज्ञान स्वराज पर खत्म होती है वही राजनीति की भी विज्ञान होनी चाहिए, वो नहीं जो ग़ुलामी की ओर ले जाए। राजनीति का विज्ञान ही देश का वेद है। मैं आपकी अंतरआत्मा को जगाने आया हूं। मैं आप सबको झूठे, मक्कारों और ठगों के झांसे से बाहर निकालने आया हूं।

"स्वराज का मतलब कौन नहीं जानता? कौन स्वराज नहीं चाहता? अगर मैं आपके घर जबरन घुस आऊं और आपके किचन को कब्ज़े में ले लूं तो क्या आप इसकी इजाज़त देंगे?"

नहीं ना, मेरे घर की तमाम मसलों पर मेरा अधिकार होना चाहिए। एक सदी गुज़र गई लेकिन अंग्रेज़ी हुकूमत अब भी हमें स्वराज के काबिल नहीं मानती, लेकिन अब हम अपनी लड़ाई खुद लड़ेंगे। जब इंग्लैंड भारत का इस्तेमाल कर बेल्जियम जैसे छोटे राष्ट्र को बचाना चाहता है फिर, वह हमें किस मुंह से स्वराज के काबिल नहीं मानता?

जो लोग हमें गलत ठहरा रहे हैं वो लालची और हमारे विरोधी हैं, लेकिन इससे विचलित होने की ज़रुरत नहीं है क्योंकि बहुत लोग ईश्वर के निर्णय में भी खोट निकालते हैं। हमें इस वक्त बिना कुछ और सोचे हुए देश की आत्मा की रक्षा में जुटना होगा। हमारे देश का भविष्य और समृद्धि अपने जन्मसिद्ध अधिकार यानी स्वराज में निहित है। कांग्रेस ने स्वराज का प्रस्ताव पास कर दिया है।

हमारे स्वराज अभियान के रास्ते में कई अड़चनें खड़ी हैं या खड़ी की जा रही हैं। बड़े स्तर पर अशिक्षा ऐसी ही एक बड़ी अड़चन है, लेकिन इस अड़चन को बहुत दिनों तक हम नहीं सह सकते। अगर हमारे देश के अशिक्षित लोगों को स्वराज की थोड़ी जानकारी भी हो तब भी बहुत बड़ा मसला हल हो सकता है, ठीक वैसे ही जैसे ईश्वर का पूरा सत्य शायद ही हममें से कोई जानता है, फिर भी अटूट आस्था रखता है। जो अपना काम खुद कर सकते हैं वो अशिक्षित ज़रूर हो सकते हैं लेकिन मूर्ख नहीं। वो किसी भी पढ़े-लिखे इंसान जैसे ही विद्वान हैं, और अगर वो अपनी ज़रुरतों और परेशानियों का फर्क समझ लें तो उन्हें स्वराज के मूल्यों को समझने में भी कोई दिक्कत नहीं होगी। अनपढ़ लोग भी इसी समाज का हिस्सा हैं और हम में से ही हैं उनको भी समाज में समान अधिकार है। इसलिए जनमानस को जागृत करना हमारा कर्तव्य है।

परिस्थितियां बदली हैं और हमारे लिए ये बिलकुल सही मौका है। इस वक्त हम सबकी एक ही आवाज़ है ”अभी नहीं तो कभी नहीं”। आइये हम सब इंसाफ और संवैधानिक क्रांति की राह पर चलें। संकल्प करिए और पीछे मुड़ कर मत देखिए अंत परिणाम ऊपर वाले पर छोड़ दीजिए।

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Who gave the slogan "Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it"?

The immortal nationalist slogan was proclaimed by Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak during the Indian freedom struggle.

When and where was the Swaraj speech delivered?

Bal Gangadhar Tilak delivered this foundational address in May 1916 at the Belgaum Provincial Conference, initiating the Home Rule Movement.

What does "Swaraj is my birthright" mean?

It signifies that self-rule is a natural, unalienable right of every Indian, intertwining political sovereignty with spiritual autonomy.

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