The first political strike - Lenin praised Tilak....
Tilak's support base extended beyond orthodox Brahmins. His allies and followers included Maharashtrian Roman Catholics such as Joseph 'Kaka' Baptista, Muslims such as MA Jinnah, and Parsi and Gujarati merchants.
There is an anecdote about him that in 1908, when Tilak was convicted of treason and exiled to Mandalay in burma for six years, the preeminent non-Brahmin mill workers in bombay stopped work and observed a six-day strike. It is recognized as the first political strike in india and Russian revolutionary V.I. Lenin appreciated it.
Because of the strike and protests, the british government set up police stations in mumbai and a special branch to collect intelligence. After this the crime branch was formed. In this way, Tilak can also be considered as the father of modern mumbai Police. His relations with the underground revolutionaries were also deep, the underground revolutionaries used to take guidance from Tilak only.
Another reason for Tilak's popularity as Lokmanya was his aggressive support of Hindu interests during communal riots. In this conflict between Hindus and Muslims, he largely supported the Hindus. Tilak also accused the british of being partial towards Muslims. Some biographers of Tilak like Sadanand More have written in their articles that Tilak seemed to be fighting the Muslims, but his fight was against the british Raj as he challenged its divisive policies.
Tilak wanted Hindus and Muslims to resolve their differences without the interference of the British. Unlike modern Hindu rightists, Tilak had no enmity towards Muslims as a community.
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