Saquib Salim

“See immediately professionally Savarkar arriving Bombay Steamer Morea. Inform him French Government demanded his return. Choose your Solicitor. Letter follows. Madame Cama.” This was the text of a telegram received by Joseph Baptista in Mumbai (then Bombay) from Madam Bhikaji Cama of Paris on 20 July 1910.

Very few people know Joseph Batista in today’s India. The man who, along with Bal Gangadhar Tilak, was responsible for militant Indian nationalism and demand of Swarajya is now a forgotten man.

Previously, in June 1908, when S. M. Paranjpe and Tilak were about to be arrested for writing in support of the Indian revolutionaries in their journal Kesari, Tilak contacted Baptista for help. Dhananjay Keer notes in his biography of Tilak, “Baptista told Tilak that the prospects of acquittal were not bright but he added that a political defence would convert the High Court into a corner of Hyde Park. “Hyde Park! What is Hyde Park?” asked Tilak.” Hyde Park in London was famous for its speaker’s corner, where leaders addressed people.

The trial of Paranjpe and Tilak affected public opinion. This tactics was later adopted by revolutionaries like Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Bhagat Singh. Courtrooms were turned into a political arena.

Baptista walked the talk. On 3 July 1908, while appearing for Tilak he demanded more Indians on the Jury. “It is impossible to close one's eyes to the fact that these political offences and press prosecutions are really a struggle between the rulers and the ruled for political rights and privileges, which can be obtained from the rulers alone. Now Englishmen belong to the ruling class. There must exist some political and patriotic bias against Indian aspirations.”

The trial was reported by the Indian media and turned the public opinion against foreign rule. Baptista was the go-to man for the revolutionaries at a time when legal aid was almost absent for them.

Joachim Alva later wrote, “He leapt into fame as the Counsel for Tilak in his well-known Sedition case, and also accompanied him to England to assist him in his fight against the late Sir Valentine Chirol, who was alleged to have defamed the Lion of Maharashtra. It was at this time that Baptista is reported to have declined the offer of a judgeship.

"It also appears that a hint was thrown to the young lawyer by the judges that he must remember he was defending Tilak in his mere professional capacity and that he should not make any capital out of his position as a Counsel in a political trial! The present writer remembers how gracefully some of his fellow prisoners from Maharashtra recalled Baptista’s services as Counsel rendered over a quarter of a century ago when a number of Maharashtra youths were hauled up for alleged terrorism after the murder of Jackson, the Collector of Nasik. In those days it was difficult to get a lawyer to defend a political case; now you can get any number of lawyers willing to shoulder the responsibilities of a political trial for nothing!”

Like many of his contemporary lawyers, Baptista was an active politician as well. On 8 May 1915, the Nationalist Party of Tilak met in Pune under the Presidentship of Baptista. George Thomas in Christian Indians and Indian Nationalism writes, “In his address, he proposed a movement for the attainment of Home Rule. He suggested that "the World War offered a suitable opportunity for the Indians to demand Home Rule while helping the Government to prosecute it to a successful end. The Nationalists met again in Belgaum towards the end of April 1916 and resolved to establish the Indian Home Rule League. Its object was "to attain Home Rule or Self-Government within the British Empire by all constitutional means and to educate and organise public opinion in the country towards the attainment of the same.”

The Home Rule League was formally inaugurated on 28 April 1916 with Baptista as its President. Tilak did not accept any office in the organisation but provided leadership. Baptista then went to England to win support for Indian independence with the Labour Party. Later, Tilak also joined him.

Baptista played an important role in the development of the trade union movements in India from 1920 onwards. Tilak and he understood that the working class held the key to future political development. The movement was further expanded and transformed into a radical mass movement by Mahatma Gandhi.

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The friendship of the Indian Nationalists and the Labour Party started with these efforts led by Baptista and Tilak in 1918, which were later harnessed by Nehru and others. In the end, it helped India win freedom in 1947, when the Party became powerful in England.