Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said Bal Gangadhar Tilak understood the importance of journalism and newspapers for amplifying the demand for freedom.
He was speaking after receiving the Lokmanya Tilak National Award in Pune.
"Tilak understood the importance of journalism and newspapers for making the demand for freedom louder. He started the weekly `Mahratta' in English, and with the help of another freedom fighter, Gopal Ganesh Agarkar, and Vishnu Shastri Chiplunkar he started the Marathi daily 'Kesari'," Modi said.
The Kesari is in circulation for 140 years which shows that Tilak laid a strong foundation for the institution, he said.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar also spoke about the importance of the press on this occasion and said that Tilak used journalism as a weapon to inspire the common man so as to free him from British slavery.
"At the age of 25, he started the daily Kesari and weekly Mahratta. With the help of these newspapers, he attacked the British....He used to say that journalism should be free of pressure. This was his stand, and he put it into practice," said Pawar.