Swadeshi Movement[edit]

The proposal of partition of Bengal became publicly known in 1903, followed by immediate and
spontaneous protests all over Bengal. 500 meetings were held in East Bengal alone. 50,000
copies of pamphlets with a detailed critique of partition were distributed. This phase is marked by
moderate techniques of protest such as petitions, public meetings, press campaign, etc. to turn
public opinion in India as well as in Britain against partition. This movement also involved the
boycott of British products. Western clothes were thrown onto bonfires. To let the British know
how unhappy the Indians were at the partition of Bengal, leaders of the anti-partition movement
decided to use only Indian goods and to boycott British goods. People gathered at the cross
roads and burnt the imported clothes that they had. People picketed the shops selling foreign
goods, and imported sugar was boycotted. People also resolved to use things made only in India
and this was called the Swadeshi movement.The Swadeshi movement had its genesis in the
anti-partition movement which started to oppose the British decision to partition Bengal. There
was no questioning the fact that Bengal with a population of 70 million had indeed become
administratively unwieldy. Equally, there was escaping the fact that the real motive for
partitioning Bengal was political. Indian nationalism was gaining in strength and partition Bengal
was political. Indian nationalism was gaining in strength in Bengal and partition expected as the
nerve center of Indian nationalism. Tough affected in 1905, the partition was expected to weaken
what was perceived as the nerve center of Indian nationalism. Though affected in 1905, the
partition proposals had come onto the public domain as early as 1903. Therefore, since 1903,
there was prepared the ground for the launch of the Swadeshi movement. In the official note,
Risley, the Home Secretary to the Government of India said, Bengal united is power; Bengal
divided will pull several different ways. The partition of the state intended to curb Bengali
influence by not only placing Bengalis under two administrations, but by reducing them to a
minority in Bengal itself. In the new proposal, Bengal proper was to have 17 million Bengali and
37 million Oriya and Hindi speaking people. Also, the partition was meant to foster another kind
of division-this time on the basis of religion, i.e. between the Muslims and the Hindus. The Indian
Nationalist clearly saw the design behind the partition and condemned it unanimously. The antipartition and Swadeshi movement had begun. The Nature of the Swadeshi Movement The
Bengalis adopted the boycott movement as the last resort after they had exhausted the armoury
of constitutional agitation known to them, namely vocal protests, appeals, petitions and
Conferences to coerce the British to concede the unanimous national demand. The original
conception of Boycott was mainly an economic one. It had two distinct, but allied purposes in
view. The first was to bring pressure upon the British public by the pecuniary loss they would
suffer by the boycott of British goods, particularly the Manchester cotton goods for which Bengal
provided the richest market in India. Secondly, it was regarded as essential for the revival of
indigenous industry which being at its infant stage could never grow in the face of free
competition with foreign countries which had highly developed industry. Like the Boycott, the
Swadeshi as a purely economic measure for the growth of Indian Industry was not an altogether
novel idea in India. It was preached by several eminent personalities in the 19th century, Gopal

Hari Deshmukh, better known as Lokahitawadi of Bombay, Swami Dayananda and Bholanath
Chandra of Calcutta. But the seeds sown by them did not germinate till the soil was rendered
fertile by the grim resolve of a united people, exasperated beyond measure; to forge the twin
weapons of Boycott and Swadeshi in order to undo the great wrong which was inflicted upon
them by an arrogant Government, callous to the voice of the people. Later on, the economic
boycott receded into background with the passage of time and it developed into an idea of noncooperation with the British in every field and the object aimed at was a political regeneration of
the country with the distant goal of absolute freedom looming large before the eyes of the more
advanced section. Similarly, Swadeshi completely outgrew the original conception of promoting
Indian industry. It assumed a new form based upon the literal connotation of the word swadeshi,
namely attachment to everything Indian. The Economic Boycott and Swadeshi In the economic
sense, Swadeshi would represent both a positive and a negative element. These have been
discussed as under:- The positive element of economic swadeshi was the regeneration of
indigenous goods. The boycott of foreign goods led to the increase in demand of indigenous
goods. The boycott of foreign goods led to the increase in demand of indigenous goods
especially clothes which felt short of supply. The mill-owners of Bombay and Ahmadabad came
to its rescue. The Boycott movement in Bengal supplied a momentum and driving force to the
cotton mills in India and the opportunity thus presented was exploited by the mill-owners. It was
complained at that time that the Bombay mill-owners made a huge profit at the expense of what
they regarded as Bengali Sentimentalism, for buying indigenous cloth at any sacrifice and there
maybe some truth in it but this is not sure. Bengal had to supplement the supply from Bombay
mills by the coarse production of handlooms. The weaving industry in Bengal was a very
flourishing one till the British ruined it after they had established their rule over the province in the
18th century. The economic boycott movement seemed to be a suitable opportunity for reviving
that industry. The clothes produce were very coarse but were accepted by the Bengalis in the
true spirit of the Swadeshi Movement. A song which became very popular all over the country
urged upon the people to give the place of honour to the coarse cloth which is the gift of the
Mother, too poor to offer a better one. The negative element of the economic swadeshi was the
boycott and burning of foreign goods. Though Manchester cloth was the chief target of attack,
the movement was extended to other British manufacturers also, such as salt and sugar as well
as luxury goods in general. The ideas of Swadeshi and economic boycott was kept alive and
brought home to every door by articles in newspapers, processions, popular songs, enrolment of
volunteers to keep vigilant watch and by occasion bonfires of foreign cloth, salt and sugar. The
old apparels of foreign made belonging to sundry people were placed in a heap and then it was
set on fire. The blazing flames were looked upon as a special mode of homouring noted public
leaders and the bonfires greeting them were regarded as of great value as a means of infusing
enthusiasm for Swadeshi. Fines were inflicted on anyone found using foreign sugar. Foreign
cigarettes were bought and burnt in the streets, Brahmins refused to assist any religious
ceremonies in houses where European salt and sugar in houses where European salt and sugar
were used and Marwaris were warned of importing foreign articles. All these bonfires however
affected the economy of the people. To burn Manchester made goods bought at a high price

literally affects the people but swept by national enthusiasm, people continued to eschew and
burn foreign goods. Swadeshi and Social Boycott The social boycott was an outcome of
economic swadeshi movement. It was preached to go against the repressive measures of the
Government. The social boycott was a very powerful weapon. A man selling or buying foreign
goods or in any way opposing swadeshi Mmvement and helping Government in putting it down
would be subjected to various degrees of humiliation. Such social ostracism would make a man
quite unhappy, sometimes even very miserable and the Government could do very little to help
him in his distress. But such non-violent ostracism was not the only form of persecution.
Sometimes, the renegade would suffer material loss and bodily or mental pain. Swadeshi and
National Education Students in promoting the boycott and swadeshi movement drew upon them
the wrath and violence of the British Raj. Circulars were issued forbidding the students under
threat of severe penalty to associate themselves in any way with the Boycott movement even the
cry of Bande Mataram in streets and other public places was declared to be a punishable
offence. Scholars or colleges whose students disobeyed the order were not only threatened with
the withdrawal of Government grants and even with disaffiliation, but their students were to be
declared ineligible for Government Service. The authorities of the educational institutions were
asked to keep strict watch over their pupils, and if unable to control them, were to report the
names to the Education Department for taking necessary disciplinary action. The magistrates
were asked to inform the teachers and those connected with the management of educational
institutions, that of necessary they might be enrolled as Special Constables. The Direction of
Public Instruction asked the principals of colleges to show causes why their students who took
part in the picketing should not be expelled. All this produced a storm of indignation in the
country and the Indian-owned Press denounced the circulars in the strongest language. The
people of Bengal took up the challenge. The students of some colleges in Rangpur defied the
Government orders and when they were fined, the guardians refused to pay the fine and stabled
a national school for the boys who were expelled. Teachers were also asked to resign for not
whipping the boys. The action of the authorities led to a movement among the students to
boycott the Calcutta University which they described as Golamkhana (House of manufacturing
slaves). At a conference attended by a large number of very eminent men of Bengal in different
walks of life held on 10th November, 1905, it was decided to establish at once a National Council
of Education in order to organize a system of education-literary, scientific and technical- on
national lines and under national control. The number of national schools also grew apace with
time. The enthusiasm with which the two Bengals responded to the idea of national education
shows the way in which the swadeshi movement, like a mighty river was overflowing its bed and
inundating vast stretches of country. It was no longer confined to its primary object of industrial
regeneration and boycotting British goods. More important still, the movement with its extended
connotation was no longer confined to Bengal but spread to the whole of India. Swadeshi,
Culture and Press It was perhaps in the cultural sphere that the impact of the swadeshi
movement was most marked. The songs composed at the time of Rabindranath Tagore, Rajani
Kanta Sen, Dwijendralal Ray, Makunda Das, Syed Abu Mohammad and other later became the
moving spirit for nationalist of all hues, terrorists, Gandhian or Communists are still popular.

Rabindranaths Amar Sonar Bangla, written at that time, was to later inspire the liberation
struggle of Bangaldesh and was adopted as the National Anthem of the country in 1971.
Similarly, there were great improvements in Indian art. The writings of Bande Mataram,
practically revolutionized the political attitude of Bengal. The four leading newspapers of
Calcutta- the Bengalee, the Amrita Bazaar Patrika, the Indian Mirror and the Hindu Patriot
protested against this division of Bengal. Apart from this, vernacular newspapers such as the
Sanjivani and the Bangabashi expressed open hostility against this proposal. The Amrita Bazaar
Patrika in its issue of 14th December, 1903 called on the people of East Bengal to hold public
meetings in every town and village to prepare petition for submission to the government, which
was signed by lakhs of people. Repressive measures taken by the Government Other than
boycott and burning of foreign goods, people also resorted to peaceful picketing which destined
to become a normal feature in almost every type of political agitation in future. All these gave the
police a good opportunity to interfere. The volunteers were roughly handled and if they resisted
the police a good opportunity to interfere. The volunteers were roughly handled and if they
resisted, the police beat them with lathis. These Regulation Lathis, as they were called, were
freely used by the police in the first instance to drive away the picketers and to disperse crowds,
whether rioters or peaceful, if they were supposed to be sympathetic to the picketing volunteers.
The uttering of Bande Mataram was an indisputable evidence of such sympathy and later it was
made illegal to shout Bande Mataram in a public place. The official phrase, mild lathi charge to
describe the assault of the police, was a misnomer. It was certainly not mild as the gaping
wounds on the bodies loudly proclaimed. The Government also issued instructions to the
educational institutions to control their boys and prevent them from participating in the swadeshi
movement. Rural markets were controlled bans were put on processions and meetings, leaders
were put into confinement without any trial and loyal Muslims were made to go against the
recalcitrant Hindus. Effects and Estimate of Swadeshi It is difficult to form an accurate estimate
of the effect of the Boycott movement on the import of foreign goods in Bengal, as no exact
statistics are available. It appears, however, from the official and confidential Police reports that
for the first two or three years, there was a serious decline in the import of British goods,
particularly cloth. Passive resistance could not go for long and its ultimate result could never be
in doubt. This was the genesis of the sudden emergence of a network of secret revolutionary
organizations which were determined to meet the Government on equal terms, by collectively
arms and opposing terrorism by terrorism. The swadeshi partition and the Government measures
also finally led to the split of Hindus and Muslims and virtually the formation of Muslim League in
1906.
Although swadeshi was originally conceived as merely a handmade of boycott of foreign goods
and meant only to be an urge to use indigeneous in preference to foreign goods, it soon attained
a much more comprehensive character and became a concrete symbol of nationalism. No less
significant was that swadeshi in Bengal brought into the vortex of politics a class of people-the
landed aristocracy- who had hitherto held studiously aloof from the congress or any other political
organization. Outside Bengal, it gave a rude shock of disillusionment to the whole of India and
stimulated the political thoughts of the people. Swadeshi emphasized on atmasakti or soul

force. One particular aspect of the swadeshi movement which M.K. Gandhi prized above
everything else should be specially emphasized. It taught the people to challenge and defy the
authority of the Government openly in public and took away from the minds of even ordinary men
the dread of police assault and prison as well as the sense of ignominy which hitherto attached to
them. To go to prison or get badge of honour and not as hitherto a brand of infancy.

Swadeshi after independence[edit]

The Post-Independence "Swadeshi Movement" has developed forth differently than its preindependence counterpart. While the pre-independence movement was essentially a response to
colonial policies, the post-independence swadeshi movement sprung forth as an answer to
increasingly oppressive imperialistic policies in the post-second world-war climate. For a nation
emerging from two centuries of colonial oppression, India was required to compete with the
industrialised economies of the west. While rapid industrialisation under the umbrella of "Five
year Plans" were aimed at enabling a self-sufficient India, the need to balance it with a
predominantly agrarian set-up was the need of the hour. This need to preserve the old fabric of
an agrarian country while simultaneously modernising, necessitated a resurgence of a slightly
recast "Swadeshi Movement". Forerunners of this resurgent movement was noted journalist,
writer and critic S. R. Ramaswamy. Others of late in the movement include the likes of Rajiv
Dixit and Swami Ramdev.

Etymology[edit]
The word Swadeshi derives from Sanskrit and is a sandhi or conjunction of two Sanskrit
words. Swa means "self" or "own" and desh means country, so Swadeshwould be "own country",
and Swadeshi, the adjectival form, would mean "of one's own country".

Influences[edit]

E. F. Schumacher, author of Small is Beautiful, was influenced by Gandhi's concept of

Swadeshi when he wrote his article on Buddhist economics[2]

Satish Kumar, editor of Resurgence, has promoted the concept of Swadeshi in his writing
and teaching, including a section in his book You Are, Therefore I Am(2002).