Swadeshi movement

Popular 1930s poster depicting Gandhi using acharkhato spin cotton and weave cloth, captioned "Concentrate on Charkha and Swadeshi"

TheSwadeshi movementwas aself-sufficiencymovement that was part of theIndian independence movementand contributed to the development ofIndian nationalism.Before the BML Government's decision for thepartition of Bengalwas made public in December 1903, there was a lot of growing discontentment among the Indians. In response the Swadeshi movement was formally started fromTown HallatCalcuttaon 7 August 1905 to curbforeign goodsby relying on domestic production.Mahatma Gandhidescribed it as the soul ofswaraj(self-rule). The movement took its vast size and shape after rich Indians donated money and land dedicated toKhadiand Gramodyog societies which startedcloth productionin every household. It also included other village industries so as to make village self-sufficient and self-reliant.TheIndian National Congressused this movement as arsenal for its freedom struggle and ultimately on 15 August 1947, a hand-spun Khadi tricolorAshoka ChakraIndian flag was unfurled at Princess Park nearIndia Gate,New DelhibyJawaharlal Nehru.

Thegovernment'sdecision topartition Bengalwas 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 centre of the revolt, and British officials could not control the protests, which they thought would spread throughout India. ReappointedGeorge Curzon,1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston Viceroy of India (1899–1905), in August 1904, he presided over the1905 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."

Bengal was divided by religion: the western half would be primarilyHindu,and the eastern half would be primarilyMuslim.This divide-and-conquer strategy sparked the Swadeshi movement. The Britishreunited Bengalin 1911 and shifted their capital to New Delhi. The Swadeshi movement took on a new meaning after the reunification of Bengal.

Etymology

Swadeshiis a conjunction (sandhi) of twoSanskritwords:swa( "self" or "own" ) anddesh( "country" ).Swadeshiis an adjective that means "of one's own country".

Timeline

Bharat Mata,1905 painting byAbanindranath Tagore,one of the earliest visualizations ofBharat Mata,or "Mother India"

Swadeshi Movement has been characterized as cloth production in India.

• 1850–1904:Dadabhai Naoroji,Gopal Krishna Gokhale,Mahadev Govind Ranade,Bal Gangadhar Tilak,Ganesh Vyankatesh Joshi,and Bhaswat K. Nigoni began organizing to promote Indian nationalism (the First Swadeshi Movement).
• 1871–1872:NamdhariSikhs boycotted English cloth in Punjab.Ram Singh Kukaboycotted English cloths, education and courts and instead promoted hand spun cloths 'khaddar',vernaculareducation andkhappanchayats.
• 1905–1917: The movement opposed the 1905Partition of Bengal,which was ordered byLord Curzon.Revolutionary groups in form of local clubs grew.Anushilan SamitiandJugantar Partymade attempts of arm revolts and assassination of notorious administrators.
• 1918–1947: The movement was further strengthened byMahatma Gandhiwhen he took a pledge to boycott foreign goods by burning 150,000 English cloths at Elpinstone Mill Compound, Parel, Mumbai on 31 July 1921.Mahatma Gandhi organized Khadi spinning centres all over the country and branded Khadi spinners as freedom fighters.

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 ofLal-Bal-Palorganized several samitis,Bal Gangadhar TilakledGanesh Utsavas a means to popularize use and consumption of indigenous products from soil to sweets. Another notable figure in Swadeshi movement isV. O. Chidambaram PillaiinTuticorin,who took over British India Steam Navigation Company and converted it into Indian-owned shipping company and named itSwadeshi Shipping Companyin October 1906.

Influence

• Swadeshi movement forms the backdrop of the novelGhare Baire(The Home and the World), published in 1916, byRabindranath Tagore.The novel, besides many other complex themes, shows the pitfalls of fervent nationalism. The 1984 filmGhare Baire(The Home and the World) bySatyajit Rayis based on the novel.
• In 1982 the movieGandhibyRichard Attenborough,Indians vow on the bonfire of English cloths to wearswadeshi khadiafter Gandhi's speech at Elphinstone Fort, Mumbai.
• According to a 1999 article,E. F. Schumacher(author ofSmall Is Beautiful) was influenced by Gandhi's concept of Swadeshi.
• On 7 August 2015,Prime MinisterNarendra Modicommemorated the first annual National Handloom Day in India to promote indigenoushandloomandkhadiproducts. The date was chosen because on 7 August 1905, the Swadeshi movement was proclaimed to avoid foreign goods and use only Indian-made products.
• In 2019 the movieManikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi(film) byKangana Ranauton the Queen, who fought valiantly against English in 1857, extensively used khadi (hand spun fabrics) made of cotton, brocade and paithani to mark thespirit of swadeshi.Prior to becoming the Queen, the historical figure learned how to made the fabric.
• In July 2020 Tooter is a new social media platform that was launched which is a cross-over betweenFacebookandTwitter.The social media platform has now garnered attention for calling itself theSwadeshi Andolan 2.0.
• On 18 August 2020 IT ministerRavi Shankar Prasadon Tuesday announcedSwadeshi Microprocessor Challengewith award money of Rs 4.3 crore to key challenges after ban on Chinese investments.
• On 17 July 2021 at the 18th Investiture Ceremony of theBorder Security Force(BSF), Home MinisterAmit Shahsaid that theDefence Research and Development Organisation(DRDO) and other agencies are working on an anti-droneswadeshi technologyto deal with this danger of "Smuggling of drugs, arms, and explosives by drones has become a major challenge".
• On 25 July 2021 Prime MinisterNarendra Modiaddressed 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 theSwadeshi movementwas launched years ago, many of our artisans were associated with it. "
• On 28 July 2021 Bangalore based GoCoop, India's first online marketplace for artisans and weavers is hostingGo 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.

See also

• Autarky– A country, state, or society that is economically independent
• Continental Association
• Juche– The North Korean philosophy of self-reliance
• Khadi and Village Industries Commission
• National Charkha Museum
• Rajiv Dixit
• Sarvodaya
• Self-determination
• Stand-Up India
• Swadeshi Jagaran Manch

Further reading

• 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.doi:10.2307/3096134.JSTOR3096134.

External links

• The dictionary definition ofswadeshi movementat Wiktionary