1905–1947 Indian movement for domestic cloth production
The Swadeshi movement was a
self-sufficiency movement that was part of the
Indian independence movement and contributed to the development of
Indian nationalism.[1] Before the BML Government's decision for the
partition of Bengal was made public in December 1903, there was a lot of growing discontentment among the Indians. In response the Swadeshi movement was formally started from
Town Hall at
Calcutta on 7 August 1905 to curb
foreign goods by relying on domestic production.[2]Mahatma Gandhi described it as the soul of
swaraj (self-rule). The movement took its vast size and shape after rich Indians donated money and land dedicated to
Khadi and Gramodyog societies which started
cloth production in every household. It also included other village industries so as to make village self-sufficient and self-reliant.[3] The
Indian National Congress used this movement as arsenal for its freedom struggle and ultimately on 15 August 1947, a hand-spun Khadi tricolor
Ashoka Chakra Indian flag was unfurled at Princess Park near
India Gate,
New Delhi by
Jawaharlal Nehru.[4]
The
government's decision to
partition Bengal was made in December 1903. The official reason was that Bengal, with a population of 78 million, was too large to be administered; the real reason, however, was that it was the center of the revolt, and British officials could not control the protests, which they thought would spread throughout India. Reappointed
George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston Viceroy of India (1899–1905), in August 1904, he presided over the
1905 partition of Bengal.
In ‘Lion and the Tiger : The Rise and Fall of the British Raj, 1600-1947’, Denis Judd wrote: “Curzon had hoped… to bind India permanently to the Raj. Ironically, his partition of Bengal, and the bitter controversy that followed, did much to revitalize Congress. Curzon, typically, had dismissed the Congress in 1900 as ‘tottering to its fall’. But he left India with Congress more active and effective than at any time in its history.”[5]
Bengal was divided by religion: the western half would be primarily
Hindu, and the eastern half would be primarily
Muslim. This divide-and-conquer strategy sparked the Swadeshi movement. The British
reunited Bengal in 1911 and shifted their capital to New Delhi. The Swadeshi movement took on a new meaning after the reunification of Bengal.
Etymology
Swadeshi is a conjunction (sandhi) of two
Sanskrit words: swa ("self" or "own") and desh ("country"). Swadeshi is an adjective that means "of one's own country".[6]
Timeline
Swadeshi Movement has been characterized as cloth production in India.
1905–1917: The movement opposed the 1905
Partition of Bengal, which was ordered by
Lord Curzon.[7] Revolutionary groups in form of local clubs grew.
Anushilan Samiti and
Jugantar Party made attempts of arm revolts and assassination of notorious administrators.
1918–1947: The movement was further strengthened by
Mahatma Gandhi when he took a pledge to boycott foreign goods by burning 150,000 English cloths at Elpinstone Mill Compound, Parel, Mumbai on 31 July 1921.[12] Mahatma Gandhi organized Khadi spinning centres all over the country and branded Khadi spinners as freedom fighters.[13]
Indians started ditching British goods for Indian products, even though they were costlier. The impact was strong with British seeing 20% fall in its product sales. The trio of
Lal-Bal-Pal organized several samitis,
Bal Gangadhar Tilak led
Ganesh Utsav as a means to popularize use and consumption of indigenous products from soil to sweets. Another notable figure in Swadeshi movement is
V. O. Chidambaram Pillai in
Tuticorin, who took over British India Steam Navigation Company and converted it into Indian-owned shipping company and named it Swadeshi Shipping Company in October 1906.[14]
Influence
Swadeshi movement forms the backdrop of the novel Ghare Baire (
The Home and the World), published in 1916, by
Rabindranath Tagore. The novel, besides many other complex themes, shows the pitfalls of fervent nationalism. The 1984 film Ghare Baire (The Home and the World) by
Satyajit Ray is based on the novel.
In 1982 the movie Gandhi by
Richard Attenborough, Indians vow on the bonfire of English cloths to wear swadeshi khadi after Gandhi's speech at Elphinstone Fort, Mumbai.
On 7 August 2015,
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi commemorated the first annual National Handloom Day in India to promote indigenous
handloom and
khadi products. The date was chosen because on 7 August 1905, the Swadeshi movement was proclaimed to avoid foreign goods and use only Indian-made products.[16]
In 2019 the movie
Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi (film) by
Kangana Ranaut on the Queen, who fought valiantly against English in 1857, extensively used khadi (hand spun fabrics) made of cotton, brocade and paithani to mark the spirit of swadeshi. Prior to becoming the Queen, the historical figure learned how to made the fabric.[17]
In July 2020 Tooter is a new social media platform that was launched which is a cross-over between
Facebook and
Twitter. The social media platform has now garnered attention for calling itself the Swadeshi Andolan 2.0.[18]
On 18 August 2020 IT minister
Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday announced Swadeshi Microprocessor Challenge with award money of Rs 4.3 crore to key challenges after ban on Chinese investments.[19]
On 17 July 2021 at the 18th Investiture Ceremony of the
Border Security Force (BSF), Home Minister
Amit Shah said that the
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and other agencies are working on an anti-drone swadeshi technology to deal with this danger of "Smuggling of drugs, arms, and explosives by drones has become a major challenge".[20]
On 25 July 2021 Prime Minister
Narendra Modi addressed the nation through the 79th episode of his monthly radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’ encouraging the people to buy Indian arts and crafts and attributed the increase in sales of khadi to its Indian patrons. "To buy khadi is to serve the people and the country #myhandloommypride should be used when you buy and post it online." He also reminded the celebration of National Handloom Day on 7 August "When the Swadeshi movement was launched years ago, many of our artisans were associated with it."[21]
On 28 July 2021 Bangalore based GoCoop, India's first online marketplace for artisans and weavers is hosting Go Swadeshi, an exhibition showcasing handcrafted weaves from 30,000+ artisans, 12,000+ woman showcasing their largest collection of handmade textiles from India with over 70,000 products across sarees, apparel, accessories, home furnishings and fabrics. In 2015, GoCoop was the winner of India's first National Award for Handlooms marketing (eCommerce) 2015.[22]
See also
Autarky – A country, state, or society that is economically independent
^Anjan, Tara; Rattan, Saldi (2016). Satguru Ram Singh and the Kuka Movement. New Delhi: Publications Division Ministry of Information & Broadcasting.
ISBN9788123022581.
^McLeod, W. H.; French, Louis (2014). Historical Dictionary of Sikhism. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 261.
ISBN9781442236011.
^Kaur, Manmohan (1985). Women in India's freedom struggle. Sterling. p. 76.
^Clarke, Peter (2004). Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements. Oxon: Routledge. p. 425.
ISBN9781134499700.
^Weber, Thomas (May 1999). "Gandhi, Deep Ecology, Peace Research and Buddhist Economics". Journal of Peace Research. 36 (3): 349–361.
doi:
10.1177/0022343399036003007.
S2CID145534577.
Bandyopadhyay, Sekhar. From Plassey to Partition - A History of Modern India (2004) pp 248–62
Das, M. N. India Under Morley and Minto: Politics Behind Revolution, Revolution, and Reform (1964)
Gonsalves, Peter. Clothing for Liberation, A Communication Analysis of Gandhi's Swadeshi Revolution, SAGE, (2010)
Gonsalves, Peter. Khadi: Gandhi's Mega Symbol of Subversion, SAGE, (2012)
Trivedi, Lisa. "Clothing Gandhi's Nation: Homespun and Modern India", Indiana University Press, (2007)
Trivedi, Lisa N. (February 2003). "Visually Mapping the 'Nation': Swadeshi Politics in Nationalist India, 1920-1930". The Journal of Asian Studies. 62 (1). Association for Asian Studies: 11–41.
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10.2307/3096134.
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