Swadeshi Movement

About Swadeshi movement

With the beginnings of the Swadeshi movement at the turn of the century, the Indian national movement took a big step forward, with women, students, and a large segment of the urban and rural populace of Bengal and other regions of India becoming actively involved in politics for the first time.

The diversity of the movement was not restricted to politics. However, there was a breakthrough in Indian art, literature, music, science, and industry this time. Indian civilization as a whole was experimenting, and people’s imaginations were expanding in all directions.

In July 1905, Lord Curzon issued an order dividing Bengal into two parts: East Bengal and Assam, which had a population of 31 million people, and the rest of Bengal, which had a population of 54 million people. The current province of Bengal is thought to be too massive for a single provincial administration to administer successfully.

Reason for swadeshi movement

Curzon’s real intentions 

• Bengal was the nerve cord of Indian nationalism, it was necessary to destroy the developing strength of nationalism there
• To split Bengal’s Hindus and Muslims
• To show the British government’s enormous power to do whatever it pleased

The Indian National Congress and the Bengal Nationalists were adamantly opposed to Bengal’s partition. The Anti-Partition campaign began on August 7, 1905. On that day, a large demonstration opposing the division was held in Calcutta’s Town Hall. The movement’s leaders traveled across Bengal to expand it to other parts of the province.

• The partition occurred on October 16, 1905. Bengal has declared a day of national mourning, as proclaimed by the protest movement’s leaders. It was observed as a day of fasting
• Swadeshi and Boycott weapons were utilized to put more pressure on the authorities. The Swadeshi movement has provided a lot of encouragement to Indian businesses. The Swadeshi movement had numerous historical ramifications
• Nationalistic poetry, fiction, and journalism were all flourishing at the time. Poets such as Rabindranath Tagore wrote patriotic songs during the period
• National Education was another helpful action that took place at the time. On August 15, 1906, the National Council of Education was established. Calcutta established a National College with Aurobindo Ghosh as its principal
• Students and women carried out picketing of shops selling foreign-made salt, clothing, and liquor. Students were adamant about not utilizing books printed on foreign paper
• Under the leadership of numerous individuals, the Swadeshi Movement quickly extended to neighboring provinces. In Bombay, Madras, and Northern India, a movement supporting Bengali unity and boycotting foreign goods was formed

Swadeshi Movement and important sessions of INC

• 1905 Session: The INC’s Annual Session was held at Benares under the leadership of Gopal Krishna Gokhale, and the Swadeshi movement was declared
• The gap between moderates and extremists was brought to the forefront at the INC’s Annual Session in Calcutta in 1906. They decided to pick Dadabhai Naoroji as the session’s President
• Four resolutions were passed on Swaraj, Boycott, Swadeshi, and National Education

Government Measures to Suppress Swadeshi Movement 

Vande Mataram’s singing was outlawed. The Newspaper (Incitement to Offenses) Act of 1908 was enacted to silence the press. The Seditious Meetings Act of 1911 provided authorities broad powers to prevent people from speaking at specific meetings and even refuse permission to hold them. Schools and universities were cautioned not to allow their students to participate in the movement since their financial help would be cut off if they did. Students found guilty of participating were ineligible for government positions or scholarships, and disciplinary action was taken against them, including fines, expulsion, arrest, and beatings. Lal, Bal, Pal (Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and Bipin Chandra Pal), and Aurobindo Ghosh, extremist leaders, were imprisoned and deported, this led to  the decline of the Swadeshi Movement.

The open phase of the movement (as opposed to the clandestine revolutionary phase) was nearly done by 1908 for various reasons, including:

• Congress was split on the movement’s course, the movement failed to form an effective organization or a party structure
•  By 1908, most of the movement’s leaders had been jailed or deported, leaving the movement without a leader. Bipin Chandra Pal and Aurobindo Ghosh both left active politics
• The movement suffered greatly due to internal squabbles among leaders, which were exacerbated by the Surat split (1907)
• The movement enraged the public, but it was unclear how to channel the newly released energy or discover new ways to vent popular discontent
• The movement was mostly limited to the upper and middle classes and disputed Zamindars
•  Passive resistance and non-cooperation remained only notions

Achievements of Extremists

• They were the first to call for Swaraj as a natural right
• They enlisted the masses in the fight for liberation and enlarged the National Movement’s social basis
• They were the first to organize the Swadeshi Organization, an all-India political movement
• Bal Gangadhar Tilak established the Ganpati and Shivaji festivals to convey the message of boycotting Westernization in India. This was a significant social reform that had a far-reaching impact on society
• Tilak’s phrase, “Swaraj is my birthright, and I shall have it,” was all the rage
• The boycott of British goods resulted in a significant shift in the country’s economy, opening up employment and other opportunities for Indians
• As extremists attempted to construct National institutions free of government supervision, there was a dramatic revolution in education across the country