Gopal Krishna Gokhale - A Liberal Thinker

Abstract

Gopal Krishna Gokhale was prominent leader of Indian Independence Movement. He was one of the political and social leaders during the Freedom Struggle of India.  Gokhale’s political thought revolves around the socio-political issues. He appreciated and welcomed the British rule in India. He was essentially a liberal thinker and preferred constitutional methods for attaining the goal of self government. He supported the idea of strengthening local self government institutions. Gokhale gave more importance to national unity and considered it as the first pre-requisite for the growth and development of Indian nationalism. He also stood for the principle of racial equality and expressed strong resentment against the policy of racial discrimination being pursued by the English. He was favoring in establishing a state based on western ideas. Thus he laid emphasis on the principles of individual liberty and social equality. Gokhale favoured the Swadeshi movement. Now a days, we see the relevance of his political ideas.   I, M.VENKATACHALAPATHY, Research Scholor of Sri Krishnadevaraya University(Anantapur), wrote this paper and explain the political ideas of Gopal Krishna Gokhale.