Swadeshi Movement

Swadeshi movement began against the partition of Bengal and was the first episode of mass movement experienced by Indian national struggle. The partition of Bengal was in the offing since at least 1901 and even nationalists had accepted it for its administrative efficiency. However, the manner in which this was done led to a widespread movement.

Partition of Bengal

Reasons

• • Official justification
  • ◦ Bengal was too large for effective governance. The census of 1901 revealed the huge population of around 7.8 crores in Bengal.
  • ◦ The Bengal province consisted of present day Bangladesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha as well as North East India which indeed was a huge province to manage.
  • ◦ Thirdly, concern for administrative efficiency was shown as the major necessity for the partition.
• • To weaken the national movement- Sumit Sarkar argues that administrative concern was supreme only until 1903 because-
  • ◦ Even nationalists were in favour of the partition of Bengal and they had even proposed its linguistic reorganization which would separate Hindi speaking regions from Bengali speaking regions.
  • ◦ But in 1903, Viceroy Curzon had released the minute of Bengal’s partition and religion was made the basis for partition-
    • ■ Bengal with its capital would consist of- West Bengal, Bihar and Odisha
    • ■ East Bengal with its capital at Dhaka would consist of- Bangladesh and North-East India.

But Curzon had clearly stated his intentions that Congress was run from Calcutta and to weaken Calcutta means to weaken the Congress.

• ◦ Therefore, Sumit Sarkar argues, the true intentions were-
  • ■ Divide and Rule- Division based on the religion would sow the seeds of communalism.
  • ■ Lord Minto even said that educated Bhadralok community of Bengal leads the national freedom struggle from Bengal and if it is weakened from within, the movement will die. Thus, he argued that in a new province of East Bengal the Muslims would enjoy a unity and in the West Bengal, Bengali speakers would become a minority.
  • ■ Home Secretary Herbert Risley also told that Bengal united is a power and divided will pull up in several different ways.

The partition of Bengal was formally announced on 19th July, 1905. Since moderates were already in discussions with administration, British government as well as activists through their modes of prayers, petitions, meetings and newspaper, the awareness regarding the issue was already there. With the failure of their methods, the extremists were ready to launch a mass movement.

Methods used by Extremists

1. Boycott

• • Boycott of British goods- It was an economic attack on colonialism. Public burnings of foreign clothes was organized, priests would not solemnize such marriages where foreign clothes were burned, washermen refused to wash British clothes. This method was the most successful one.
• • Boycott of British institutions (non-cooperation) such as schools, colleges, law courts etc. Call for self-reliance or as Rabindranath Tagore called it ‘Atma-Shakti’ was given.
• • Civil Disobedience of certain laws and passive resistance. However, the latter two methods could not gain much popularity as neither leaders nor masses had enough experience regarding this.

2. Swadeshi

• • Economic- It was related to boycott of goods as an alternate mechanism encouraged Indian goods such as textiles, chemicals, services etc.
• • Social- It refers to social aspect of Swadeshi. Thus focus was on strengthening rural communities, anti-untouchability programs, developing indigenous dispute settling bodies such as Swadesh Bandhab Samiti etc. The focus was on preparing the masses for action.
• • Cultural- It stood for the rejection of Western colonial symbols in favour of indigenous art forms, patriotic literature, songs such as Bande Mataram, Amar Sonar Bangla, paintings of Bharat Mata became highly popular.

3. National Education

• • National curriculum, national schools were set up and even teachers were given training for teaching ‘Swadeshi’ education to patriotic students.
• • Satishchandra Mukherjee’s Bhagabat Chatuspathi, the Dawn society, and Shantiniketan of Rabindranath Tagore became popular educational institutes.

4. Volunteer organizations also known as Samitis were formed which actually undertook the job of reaching the last person in order to spread the movement. They worked to spread awareness, resolve disputes and mobilize masses during processions and picketing.

MOVEMENT

Spread and extent

• • The movement was most active in Bengal
  • ◦ Here it attracted followers from several classes including professionals, workers, traders and businessmen, students and women.
• • In 1906, under Extremist leadership, the movement spread beyond Bengal as well.
  • ◦ BG Tilak popularized it in Maharashtra with Poona and Bombay emerging as important centres of the movement.
  • ◦ Lala Lajpat Rai and Ajit Singh popularized the movement in Punjab with Lahore emerging as an important centre.
  • ◦ At Delhi, the Swadeshi movement was led by Syed Haider Raza.
  • ◦ VO Chidambaram Pillai led the movement at Madras.
• • Across India, the Swadeshi movement attracted support from students, workers, women, professionals and petty traders.
  • ◦ Mass rallies, public demonstrations and organized burning of foreign cloth met resounding practical success in cities.
• • However, the response of rural India to the call of Swadeshi was lacklustre. This was due to the following factors-
  • ◦ The Extremists had not been able to link the political urges of rural India to the cities. While volunteer organizations had started becoming active in the Indian villages, their activities were still at the initial stages. In other words, the preparatory work needed to mobilize the rural masses was yet to be done.
  • ◦ The movement also suffered due to a certain clash of interests between the aspirations of the rural peasants and the personal interests of the Congress leadership. Most of the Congress leaders either owned land in the villages or depended upon the support of the wealthy Zamindars of Bengal. Therefore, mobilizing the peasant for a political cause seemed like a dangerous proposition. As a result, Congress leadership was not very enthusiastic about mobilizing the peasants.
  • ◦ Further, in Bengal, the class divide also overlapped with the communal divide. The bulk of Zamindars were Hindus, while peasants were Muslims. This was further compounded by the inability of the movement to attract Muslims due to it repeated appeal to Hindu religion and culture.
• • The movement also failed to draw substantial support from Indian Muslims.
  • ◦ This was largely due to the use of Hindu cultural symbols by the extremists to attract the masses. Muslim masses were automatically excluded.
  • ◦ Secondly, a section of the Muslim political elite also opposed the Swadeshi movement on political grounds. Leaders such as Nawab Salimullah of Dhaka, Agha Khan, Mohsin ul Mulk and Waqar ul Mulk were satisfied with the creation of new Muslim majority provinces in Bengal. They felt that this was in the long term interests of the Bengali Muslim community. In June, 1906 they led a deputation to Shimla to meet the Governor General Lord Minto, pledge loyalty to the British rule and demanded further concessions for Indian Muslims. Later, in December, 1906 they laid the foundation of the Muslim League with the agenda to represent the interests of Indian Muslims. From the very beginning, they had a pro-British anti-Congress stance and did their best to undermine the Swadeshi movement in the eyes of ordinary Muslims.
• • Swadeshi movement greatly benefitted from the active support of intellectuals and artists.
  • ◦ Rabindranath Tagore emerged as the intellectual grandfather of the Swadeshi movement. He popularized the idea of atma-shakti is the means to assert independence. It stood for inner strength, self-sufficiency and self-help. This became the motto behind Swadeshi and Swaraj. The former represented self-sufficiency while the latter stood for self-rule.
  • ◦ Further, Rabindranath Tagore actively contributed to the building of strong cultural identity not only for the movement but for Bengalis and Indians as a whole. He wrote his famous song ‘Amar Sonar Bangla’ which emerged as the unofficial anthem of the people of Bengal and stood for the solidarity between the two halves of Bengal.
  • ◦ Other artists such as Abanindranath Tagore led the charge for creating patriotic art. He visualized India as a holy goddess in the form of Bharat Mata. Such symbols resonated powerfully with the masses transforming their struggle into a holy crusade against a foreign oppressor.
• • Students also participated in large numbers. This was despite the Carlyle circular which was designed to have a chilling effect on student participation.
  • ◦ The main reason behind this was the program of national education launched by the leaders which provided Swadeshi alternative to government schools and colleges and promised the inculcation of patriotic values within the framework of comprehensive education, sought to overcome technical deficits by adopting the best practices and technology of foreign allies such as Japan and offered legal protection from government repression.
• • One highlight of the movement was the entry of women into nationalist politics- this was made possible due to the appeals and propaganda of the extremist leaders. They had successfully transformed the political struggle against British rule into a moral and religious struggle.
  • ◦ This normalized the participation of women in nationalistic politics since it was considered to be the part of the traditional role of women.
  • ◦ Further, movement was also able to provide practical means for the participation of women including the Khadi program, peaceful picketing of shops selling foreign goods, boycott of liquor and public burning of foreign cloth.

Practice Question

Q. Throw light on the level of mass participation during the Swadeshi movement. How did it attract women and students? Why was it unable to draw out Muslims and peasants?

Swadeshi movement (1905-08) began as a struggle against the partition of Bengal in 1905 but soon, under the leadership of extremists in spread to various parts of the country thus becoming the first mass movement of Indian national movement.

The Swadeshi movement was most active in Bengal because-

• • Firstly, the Bengal was the centre of nationalist awareness at that time and people were already mobilized upto a great extent,
• • Secondly, the partition of Bengal was directly affecting the people of Bengal.

However, the movement also spread to other regions under the leadership of extremists leaders. For example-

• • BG Tilak was the leader of the movement in Bombay province.
• • Lala Lajpat Rai and Ajit Singh led the movement in Punjab.
• • It spread to Delhi under Syed Haider Raza
• • VO Chidambaram Pillai popularized it in Madras province

The movement was successful in attracting students and women because of the following reasons-

Students’ participation was very high because the youth was already more oriented towards patriotism and now found a platform to channelize its anger. Despite the Carlyle circular aimed at an attempt to check the student participation, the influence of national education models, curriculum and a chain of alternate Swadeshi schools was high and thus student participation remained to be significant.

Women’s entry into the freedom struggle was one of the biggest achievements of the Swadeshi movement. Extremist leaders were successful in transforming a political issue into a moral and religious one. Secondly, the movement provided practical means for women to participate into the movement. Now they could boycott the foreign goods, use khadi or spinning and weaving, participate in picketing.

But Muslim and peasants’ participation was poor on account of the following reasons-

Muslims- One reason was that extremist leaders used religious symbols which kept the Muslims away. Secondly, Muslim leaders and intelligentsia fell prey to the British policy of divide and rule. A delegation of Nawab Salimullah of Dhaka, Waqar ul Mulk, Mohsin ul Mulk and Agha Khan met the Governor General Minto in Shimla and ultimately it led to the establishment of Muslim League which was pro-British anti-colonial in its approach.

Peasants’ participation was not great because

• • Rural areas were not yet efficiently mobilized
• • Class interests of Zamindar or pro-zamindar leaders clashed with those of the peasants.
• • In Bengal, class interest overlapped with communalism as peasants were mostly Muslims and Zamindars mainly came from Hindus.

The importance of Swadeshi cannot be gauged merely from the fact how great its spread was but it should be understood that it laid the broad framework under which Gandhian movement thrived later.

Reasons for the failure of the Swadeshi movement

• • It was unsuccessful in attracting the peasants and Muslims. As a result, it lacked the necessary strength and cohesion.
• • The methods adopted during the Swadeshi movement were new and unfamiliar.
  • ◦ Neither the leaders nor the masses had any prior experience of organizing a mass struggle and strategies such as passive resistance, non-cooperation and boycott were being experimented with for the first time.
  • ◦ It was difficult to put some of these ideas into practice.
• • All mass struggles have certain inherent limitations and Swadeshi movement was also not immune to them.
  • ◦ It lacked cohesive leadership due to the deep ideological difference between moderates and extremists,
  • ◦ The masses had limited ability to make sacrifices with no rewards in sight and the practical realities of life began catching up as the movement dragged on for years.
  • ◦ Generally it was a significant lack of political unity among the masses as Indian society was heavily divided and stratified.
• • Bitter government repression
  • ◦ The British were determined to crush the movement. They began by suspending civil liberties such as free speech, free movement and assembly.
  • ◦ They criminalized the chanting of patriotic slogans and songs such as Bande Mataram.
  • ◦ They used the sedition law to target the leaders
  • ◦ The masses were threatened with police brutalities such as lathicharge, mass arrests, and preventive detention.
  • ◦ Students were especially targeted in order to create a chilling effect on the movement as a whole and not even women were spared from police brutalities.
  • ◦ In such a scenario, it was very difficult to sustain the mass struggle in any meaningful way.
• • Surat Split (1907)

  The Surat split refers to the expulsion of the extremists from the Congress at its Surat session in 1907. It gave a death blow to the Swadeshi movement and slowed down national movement as a whole. Superficially, this development seems surprising but closer observation reveals that it was largely inevitable.

  • ◦ The Surat split was simply the physical manifestation of the ideological division of the Congress. It was bound to happen sooner or later.
  • ◦ It was the pressure created by the Swadeshi movement that brought about the split in 1907.

Factors behind the Surat split

• • Ideological differences between the moderates and extremists.
  • ◦ Moderates and Extremists had wide ideological gulf dividing them. Their opinions differed on almost all issues pertaining to the national struggle.
  • ◦ Moderates preferred to stick to constitutional methods while Extremists favoured passive resistance involving the masses.
  • ◦ The objective of the moderates was simply the annulment of partition alongwith incremental constitutional reforms whereas the Extremists wanted Swaraj.
  • ◦ Moderates wanted to keep the movement confined to Bengal but the extremists wanted to spread it across India.
  • ◦ Similarly, moderates wanted simply the idea of economic boycott while the extremists wanted to extend boycott to the level of general non-cooperation with the British rule.
• • The numerical disparity between the moderates and extremists.
  • ◦ While the moderates had majority of numbers within the Congress, the extremists enjoyed much higher popularity among the masses.
  • ◦ Swadeshi movement being an extremist led movement frustrated the moderates and was bound to cause friction.
  • ◦ Moderates used their numerical advantage to slow down the movement. This caused suspicion in the minds of the extremists.
• • Increasing an open hostility between the moderates and extremists.
  • ◦ The extremists used their public platform not only to condemn British misrule but also to paint moderates as loyalist, patriotic and political mendicants.
  • ◦ Aurobindo Ghosh published a series of essays titled ‘New Lamps for the old’ which criticized in a bitter and sarcastic fashion not only the moderate method but also the moderate leadership personally.
  • ◦ Naturally this caused personal rancour between the two factions. The relationship suffered grievously gradually reaching the breaking point.
  • ◦ This hostility ended any hopes for a future compromise as both groups became increasingly adamant.
  • ◦ These weaknesses were exploited by the British to bring about the Surat split.

Build up towards the Surat split

To appreciate the events in Surat in December 1907 we must go back all the way to the beginning of the Swadeshi movement since this created domino effect that would ultimately destroy Congress’ unity.

• • Banaras session (1905), Gopal Krishna Gokhale- the movement had started in August, 1905 and was still gaining momentum when the session was in place.
  • ◦ Moderates used their numerical advantage to try and retard the movement
  • ◦ Under Gokhale’s Presidency, the Congress adopted mild resolutions condemning the partition of Bengal and calling for limited program i.e. economic boycott within Bengal.
  • ◦ This frustrated the extremist greatly who wanted to control the Congress agenda and wield it as weapon in the Swadeshi movement.
• • Calcutta Session (1906), Dadabhai Nauroji- During 1906, the Swadeshi movement had emerged as powerful All India mass movement.
  • ◦ The national movement as a whole had perceptively slipped out of the moderate grasp and the extremists had upper hand.
  • ◦ The moderates had increasing pressure to respond to the extremist agenda in a positive manner.
  • ◦ As a compromise, Dadabhai Nauroji was respected by both sides and was elected as President in place of BG Tilak or Lala Lajpat Rai who the extremists wanted. In return, the Congress adopted more radical stance towards the British with four resolutions-
    • ■ Swaraj- Congress officially raised the demand of Swaraj for the first time. While it was generally understood as “self-rule within the British Empire” like the white colonies of Canada and Australia, it was not clearly defined. This vagueness resulted in emergence of radically differing interpretations. This caused even greater faction between the moderates and extremists.
    • ■ Swadeshi- Congress adopted Swadeshi as the means to attain Swaraj. For the moderates it meant promotion of Swadeshi economic enterprises only. On the other hand, the extremists supported a more comprehensive version involving political, economic, social, cultural and psychological self-sufficiency. They wanted complete decolonization of India and the uprooting of Western influence.
    • ■ Boycott- Congress resolved boycott not only of British goods but also British institutions and services such as schools, colleges, law courts legislatures and councils. However, this was a bitter pill for the moderates to swallow.
    • ■ National education- The Congress resolved to promote national education involving both literary and technical education in the vernacular medium. Its objective was to liberate India from the ideological domination of the British rule and inspire cultural pride and nationalism. Once again, moderates felt arm-twisted.
• • Surat session (1907), Rash Behari Ghosh- During 1906-07, new developments had taken place which shifted the political discourse and brought about the split. These included
  • ◦ Meeting of Gokhale with Montague- Montague travelled to Britain at the invitation of the Secretary of state for India. He was assured of Constitutional reforms if the moderates withdrew their support for the Swadeshi movement.
  • ◦ Shimla deputation and formation of the Muslim League in 1906- Creation of the Muslim League and the demand for the separate electorates exposed chinks in the armour of Indian nationalism and strengthened the anti- extremist alliance.
  • ◦ Arrest and deportation of Ajit Singh and the exile of Lala Lajpat Rai in 1907- The government crackdown in Punjab was meant to rattle the moderates to quickly disavowing political extremism to end the demand of the Swaraj.
• • Due to these, the moderates were anxious to distance themselves from the extremists and roll back the movement. On the other hand, the extremists are becoming even more radical with Aurobindo Ghosh putting the idea of complete independence and mass civil disobedience. Once again, extremists wanted either Tilak or Lala Lajpat Rai to be President. The latter was intimidated by exile while the former was eliminated by organizing the session at Surat which was in Tilak’s native province of Bombay instead of Nagpur (CP) as the extremists had been demanding.
• • The two sides met at Surat in a charged atmosphere. The moderates elected Rash Behari Ghosh and quickly resolved to withdraw the four resolutions of 1906.
• • This caused the outbreak of physical violence following which police was called in to physically expel the extremists. After this, the moderates passed a resolution for permanently expelling the extremists from Congress. For this amendments were made to the Congress constitution which made their re-entry virtually impossible if the moderates did not wish so.

The government approach

Beginning of the Swadeshi movement and its popularity alarmed the British. Their tried and tested policy of divide and rule had backfired.

• • They were desperately searching for an alternative approach. The ideological differences within the Congress exposed it. The British, wanting to capitalize adopted the ‘ carrot and stick policy’ that was to be implemented in three stages-
  • ◦ Mild repression-They mildly repressed the extremist movement in Punjab. This was done primarily to terrify the moderates.
  • ◦ Conciliation- Moderates were conciliated to indications of upcoming liberal reforms if they distance themselves from the extremists.
  • ◦ Isolation and suppression- Once the moderates withdrew their support from the Swadeshi movement, the extremists would become isolated and the British could ruthlessly suppress the movement without any resistance.
• • The carrot and stick approach succeeded where the divide and rule policy had failed. Swadeshi movement was left leaderless following the large scale arrest of extremist leaders.
• • The moderates did not try to defend the extremists, resulting in stiff sentences and mass deportations.
  • ◦ Tilak was deported to Mandalay for six years while Aurobindo Ghosh was forced to retire from active politics.
  • ◦ The Surat split thus directly caused the demise of Swadeshi movement.
• • Further, Indian nationalism was pushed into a lengthy phase of dormancy. While moderates were the shield of the movement, the extremists were its sword.
  • ◦ Following the end of the Swadeshi movement, no mass movement was launched for almost a decade.
  • ◦ With the extremist out of the picture, the British would simply ignore the moderates and progress on the nationalist demand remained virtually non-existent.

The Surat split and the demise of Swadeshi filled the younger nationalists with a sense of disenchantment and despair.

• ◦ They drifted apart from both political moderation and extremism towards the use of revolutionary methods.

Surat split also imparted a tough lesson to future nationalists.

• ◦ The Congress realized that the split has caused immense damage and was determined to prevent it in future. This determination allowed the Congress leadership to preserve unity during the Swarajist controversy and the post-CDM strategic debate (1934-37).

Practice Questions

Q. Discuss the factors responsible for the Surat split. How did the split manifest since the beginning of the Swadeshi movement?

Surat split exposed the existing divisions among the Congress leaders which became highlighted on the issue of partition of Bengal and the method to oppose it. It led not only to the bifurcation of the Congress but also delayed the freedom movement.

Factors responsible for the Surat split-

• • Ideological differences between the moderates and the extremists- While moderates were talking of constitutional methods to secure annulment of partition of Bengal, extremists wanted passive resistance to attain Swaraj.
  • ◦ Secondly, moderates wanted to confine it to Bengal but extremists wanted to spread it across India.
• • The numerical disparity between moderates and extremists- Moderates were numerically superior to extremists within the Congress but extremist leaders had much greater popularity among masses.
• • Increasing hostilities among moderates and extremists- Leaders such as Aurobindo Ghosh openly criticized moderate methods as well as leadership bitterly and sarcastically.
• • Government’s role- Government used its carrot and stick policy to convince moderates of constitutional reforms, then taking action against extremists to scare them and finally to crush extremists by unleashing the legal and administrative powers.

Split’s manifestation could clearly be seen atleast from 1905 even if its elements were present since the beginning-

• • Banaras session (1905), GK Gokhale- under Gokhale’s Presidency, the Congress adopted mild resolutions condemning the partition and called for limited program in contradiction to extremists’ demands.
• • Calcutta session (1906) the conflict began on the issue of the election of President in which extremists wanted either BG Tilak or Lala Lajpat Rai.
  • ◦ The Swadeshi movement had gone in the favour of extremist and under increasing pressure, moderates pushed for Dadabhai Nauroji’s name for Presidency.
  • ◦ As he was widely respected, moderates did not oppose him but Congress had to accept radical resolution of- Swaraj, Swadeshi, Boycott and national education.
• • Surat session (1907): By this time, British government had talked to moderate leaders assuring them of some Constitutional reforms.
  • ◦ Secondly, government’s attempted crackdown on Extremist leaders such as Lala Lajpat Rai had strengthened moderates.
  • ◦ The moderates elected Rash Behari Ghosh and withdrawal of four resolutions led to physical altercation between moderated and extremists. This led to the infamous Surat split.

Surat split worked as a break on the freedom struggle for almost a decade but it also imparted an important lesson of organizational unity which helped Congress later.

Q. The carrot and stick policy succeeded where the divide and rule policy had failed. In the context of this statement, discuss the significance of the Surat split.

The divide and policy was the most formidable tool in the hands of British owing to religious-linguistic-regional diversities in India. However during Swadeshi movement, despite all attempts from the above its popular appeal could not be reduced thus forcing British to devise a new policy.

Failure of divide and rule policy

Muslims leaders and intelligentsia fell prey to the British. A delegation of Nawab Salimullah, Waqar ul Mulk, Mohsin ul Mulk and Agha Khan met the Governor General Minto in Shimla and ultimately it led to the establishment of Muslim League which was pro-British anti-Congress organization.

Despite low participation from Muslims, overall movement had gathered a strong momentum and thus ‘divide and rule policy’ could not succeed.

Carrot and stick policy

The failure of divide and rule policy led to the emergence of carrot and stick policy which was implemented in the following manner-

• • Mild repression- They mildly repressed the extremist movement in Punjab in order to terrify the moderates.
• • Conciliation- Moderates were conciliated to indications of upcoming liberal reforms if they distance themselves from the extremists.
• • Isolation and suppression- Once the moderates withdrew their support, the extremists would become isolated and the British could ruthlessly suppress the movement without any resistance.

This approach succeeded as the Swadeshi movement was left leaderless following the large scale arrest of extremist leaders. The moderates did not try to defend the extremists resulting in stiff sentences and mass deportations.

Thus, carrot and stick policy was a new weapon which helped moderates greatly but on the other hand, it seems to be the extension of the divide and rule policy in which ultimately mutual discontent was utilized to divide moderates and extremists.

Significance of Swadeshi Movement

In many ways, the Swadeshi movement represented a new beginning in the nationalist struggle.

1. It announced the beginning of All India mass politics. In the future, the masses would continue to play a massive role in the national movement.

2. The Swadeshi movement also marked the beginning of the extremist phase of Indian politics. Leadership permanently slipped out of the grip of the moderates.

3. The Swadeshi movement gave to Indian national movement new demands, new energy, new methods and a new power. This was due to the complete transformation of the model of politics brought out by this movement characterized by Swaraj, Swadeshi, boycott, passive resistance, mass participation and anti-colonialism.

4. This movement prepared the template for the future of Indian nationalism. It acted as the laboratory for testing out new methods and strategies such as boycott and Swadeshi with mass support. These strategies would be perfected by later nationalists such as Mahatma Gandhi and was used more effectively.

5. The Swadeshi movement also gave nationalists a new tool for mass mobilization, namely cultural and religious symbols. This would become a permanent picture of Indian nationalism. However, it was a double edged sword.

• ◦ Its raw appeal could draw millions to the streets but it also contributed to the communalization of Indian politics.

6. Swadeshi also exposed the internal fissures within he national movement exposing it to the British policy of divide and rule these included the deep divide between-

• ◦ Moderates and extremists
• ◦ Hindus and Muslims
• ◦ The Westernized upper middle class the deeply patriotic lower middle class
• ◦ Linguistic and caste divides.

As a result, future nationalists, particularly Mahatma Gandhi had to adopt measured and cautious strategy to simultaneously challenge British rule and overcome internal division among Indians. In other words, the national struggle and nation building would have to be carried out hand in hand. This was why Mahatma Gandhi adopted a strategy that sought to prioritize the primary contradiction between Indian nationalism and British imperialism over secondary contradictions within Indian nationalists. This strategy resulted in ideas such as class cooperation, trusteeship, anti-untouchability and emphasis on cultural unity.

Practice Question

Q. Discuss the features of the Swadeshi movement and highlight the significance to the national struggle as a whole.

Swadeshi movement started in around 1905 against the partition of Bengal which became a transitionary moment in Indian struggle where the national freedom movement came out of a limited political programme to a popular mass struggle.

Features of the Swadeshi movement-

• • Extremist movement- it began the period of dominance of extremists which lasted for a short period but created the ground for radical demands.
• • Mass movement- In Swadeshi, the method of protest shifted to mass struggle. Masses participated in huge numbers in rallies and meetings.
• • Extra-Constitutional methods such as boycott, picketing etc. were adopted as the mode of protest.
• • Radical demands such as Swaraj and Swadeshi were made which broke the earlier hesitation of moderate leaders.
• • All India Movement- unlike previous protests, Swadeshi was the first pan-India movement thus strengthening the feelings of nationalism.
• • Trendsetter- Swadeshi set the trend for future movements which were later experimented and refined by Mahatma Gandhi.
• • Muslims and Peasants were absent from the movement to a great extent. Partially because of lack of class consciousness and partially because of British policy, the movement revolved around lower middle class urban Indians.
• • Destroyed the unity of Indian nationalism- Moderate-Extremist schism led to the split in Congress at its Surat session in 1907.
• • Effective than Moderate movement as after this British had to bring Indian Councils Act, 1909 conceding significant powers to the India.

Significance of Swadeshi Movement to the national struggle

• • It announced the beginning of All India mass politics. In the future, the masses would continue to play a massive role in the national movement.
• • The Swadeshi movement also marked the beginning of the extremist phase of Indian politics. Leadership permanently slipped out of the grip of the moderates.
• • The Swadeshi movement gave to Indian national movement new demands, new energy, new methods and a new power. This was due to the complete transformation of the model of politics brought out by this movement characterized by Swaraj, Swadeshi, boycott, passive resistance, mass participation and anti-colonialism.
• • This movement prepared the template for the future of Indian nationalism. It acted as the laboratory for testing out new methods and strategies such as boycott and Swadeshi with mass support. These strategies would be perfected by later nationalists such as Mahatma Gandhi and was used more effectively.
• • The Swadeshi movement also gave nationalists a new tool for mass mobilization, namely cultural and religious symbols. This would become a permanent picture of Indian nationalism. However, it was a double edged sword.
  • ◦ Its raw appeal could draw millions to the streets but it also contributed to the communalization of Indian politics.
• • Swadeshi also exposed the internal fissures within he national movement exposing it to the British policy of divide and rule these included the deep divide between-
  • ◦ Moderates and extremists
  • ◦ Hindus and Muslims
  • ◦ The Westernized upper middle class the deeply patriotic lower middle class
  • ◦ Linguistic and caste divides

Early Phase of Gandhi

By the end of the first decade of the twentieth century, the political movement in India was rather dull. Congress had already split in 1907 at Surat and British repression along with the policy of carrot and stick had weakened the movement. However, by the beginning of the second decade, the movement started regaining momentum. Revolutionary extremism and Home rule movement had intensified the struggle. Still, the greatest development of the period proved to be the entry of Mahatma Gandhi in Indian national struggle. Let us examine the transition of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to Mahatma Gandhi, his philosophy and early experiments in this chapter.

Gandhi in South Africa

• • Mahatma Gandhi went to South Africa in 1893 as an advocate to represent his client and Gujarati origin friend Dadabhai Abdullah and his company in a legal matter in South Africa.
• • In South Africa, under British rule, an informal racial segregation known as Apartheid was being followed at that time. Apartheid was the legal and social division of different racial groups. All the schools, parks, buses, toilets, cinemas, theatres, restaurants, offices, living quarters etc. were racially segregated.
• • Although African societies consisted of Whites, blacks, coloured and Asians (two-third were Indians), the social division was between Whites and non-whites.
• • Gandhi experienced this racial segregation in a train ride from Durban to Pretoria and even again in a cart ride when he was not allowed to sit in the first class despite having the ticket. The humiliation made him realise the gravity of the situation and he also experienced first-hand the implicit and explicit face of ‘Colonial supremacy’.
• • This led him to set up Indian Natal Congress in 1894 in order to generate sympathetic opinion in the Indian community living in Natal. The Congress used to organise meetings, made representations to provincial and union governments of South Africa and attempted to shape public opinion among both Indians and others through his newspaper Indian Opinion.
• • Alongwith these, Mahatma Gandhi also established Phoenix ashram and Tolstoy farm to develop his own social philosophy, political ideology and further strategy. It was here that he got to experience his unique philosophy of Satyagraha.
• • This experiment emboldened him to establish Passive Resistance Association in 1907 through which his Satyagraha phase began to start manifesting. Boycott, promotion of Swadeshi, non-cooperation and civil disobedience were used to overcome certain problems Indian community was facing.
• • He not only challenged various problematic and discriminatory laws such as Marriage law, Asiatic Registration bill, Natal Disenfranchisement bill and poll tax but also succeeded in the legal fight against these bills.
• • Apart from this, he established Natal Indian Ambulance Corps during Boer War (1899-1902). Although the war was fought between two ‘white groups’ i.e. British and the Afrikaners (Dutch who had settled in 15th-16th centuries), Mahatma Gandhi led this humanitarian initiative to provide medical assistance to the British soldiers. While recognizing his contributions, he was awarded ‘Kaiser-i-Hind’ by the British.

Gandhian thought

Religious thought

• • God and truth is the same thing – he believed that truth and the God are the same thing. The word truth or ‘satya’ is derived from ‘Sat’, which means ‘being’. Nothing is or exists in reality except truth. That is why sat or truth is perhaps the most important name of God. He suggests that it is more correct to say that Truth is God, than to say that God is truth.
• • Spirit or soul of a religion is more important than its body/form – he believed in following the religious values rather than just creating an outward impression of following a religion.
  • ◦ According to him, the soul of any religion lies in its core values rather than its physical attributes such as costumes etc.
• • He believed that different religions are simply different paths to realize the same destination – since the essential values of various religions are same, any tangible or intangible difference is more virtual than real.

Political thought

• • Mahatma Gandhi was inspired by the political philosophies of John Ruskin, HD Thoreau and Leo Tolstoy. However, the major chunk of his political philosophies comes from his own experiments.
• • Political thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi include -
  • ◦ Satyagraha i.e. ‘to search for the truth’ was his political philosophy and strategy for mass struggle. Its important components were non-violence and truthfulness which, according to Gandhi, were paramount in the search for truth. His adherence to and insistence upon the truth was without the fear of consequences, making God as a witness, to change the heart and mind of the opponent through self-suffering. He believed that man by nature is good, so in order to change the heart and mind of an opponent one should endure ‘self-suffering’.
  • ◦ Trusteeship was Mahatma Gandhi’s solution for class struggle. He believed that class cooperation and harmony will increase if the affluent class voluntarily let go of some of its wealth and privileges to establish class harmony. He believed that it will also increase national unity.
  • ◦ Sarvodaya and Antyodaya – Sarvodaya means nobody should be left behind and that everyone’s participation should be ensured in various aspects of public life vis-à-vis politics, economy and religious. Antyodaya means upliftment of the people living at the margins of the society. He believed that humanity is like a great ocean in which the core is constituted of elite people who are few but have huge share in public affairs whereas there are people at the margins of the margins who are unrepresented. So the idea of the Antyodaya speaks for the rise of the people at the margins of the margins. It is also known as Gandhi’s Talisman as he famously said that whenever one is confused for the consequences of his actions, he should think from the point of view of its impact on the last person in the society.
  • ◦ The idea of Swaraj- Mahatma Gandhi’s Swaraj does not simply mean political freedom but it also comprised of social, economic, ideological and cultural liberation. This was a comprehensive definition of Swaraj for the common masses.

Gandhi’s arrival in India

• • Mahatma Gandhi came to India on 9th January, 1915. His political guru Gopal Krishna Gokhale advised him not to enter the Indian politics directly and rather to travel across the country first. Over the next two years, Gandhi worked on this advice travelling to every corner of the country.
• • He was already a known figure owing to his achievements in South Africa and so he attended some of the meetings of Home rule leagues as well but never participated directly on any political activity until he got to know about the ground realities.
• • His direct contact with Indians from various regions and diverse background gave him an innate ability to connect with the masses later allowing him to emerge as a true mass leader.
• • It was during his journey that Raj Kumar Shukla, a farmer from Champaran asked him to visit Champaran in Bihar and sought his help for the problems they were facing. He was finally prepared to test his strategy of non-violent Satyagraha against British rule in India.
• • During 1917-18, he launched three regional satyagrahas upon specific regional issues. These could be considered as mini experiments of his strategy before they could be replicated at a grander stage. These include – 1) Champaran Satyagraha, 2) Ahmedabad Mill strike, 3) Kheda Satyagraha.

Gandhi’s early Satyagrahas in India

Champaran Satyagraha (1917): First Civil disobedience

Issues

• • The Indigo farmers from Champaran wanted freedom from forced indigo plantation under the ‘teenkathia system’.
• • Under this system, indigo farmers were legally forced to cultivate indigo on 3/20th of their land through legal contracts enforced upon them by the British planters with the help of local authorities and courts.
  • ◦ Since indigo cultivation is highly capital intensive, the contracts provided for arrangement of loans for the farmers by the planters. In return they would have to supply a fixed quantity of indigo to the planters.
• • The farmers wanted freedom from the teenkathia system due to the following problems-
  • ◦ Indigo cultivation had become uncomfortable due to rising competition from synthetic German dyes. The planters were shifting losses onto the farmers thus increasing their indigo demands.
  • ◦ It was also leading to the problem of rural indebtedness.
  • ◦ Indigo cultivation also led to shortage of food crops diverting valuable agriculture land away from it.
  • ◦ It was also harmful for soil fertility reducing productivity of agriculture.
  • ◦ It also caused imbalances due to its water intensive and polluting nature. It also disrupted the labour market due to its high labour intensity.
• • European planters wanted heavy monetary compensation to dissolve the contracts but the farmers were not in a position to pay.

Gandhiji’s response

• • As we read, he was approached by a local farmer Rajkumar Shukla to visit Champaran. Initially, he asked his other companions to lead a fact finding mission in Champaran. These involved Anugraha Narayan Sinha, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Mazhur ul Haq, Narhari Parekh, Bhulabhai Desai, JB Kriplani.
• • Once he was convinced that the issues of the farmers were real, he advised them not to cultivate indigo thus violating their contracts.
• • Morally, it was justified on the grounds that these forced contracts were unjust and illegitimate. By upholding them the farmers would be participating in injustice.
• • Strategically, it was meant to pressurize the British planters and the authorities who knew that quick solution would have to be found. Gandhiji demanded the establishment of an inquiry commission and simultaneously used the press to criticize the authorities and gain national sympathy for the farmers.

Outcome

• • Ultimately, indigo commission was set up with Gandhiji as the member.
  • ◦ It concluded that the contracts forcing farmers to cultivate indigo were illegal since they violated basic principles of English law.
  • ◦ It recommended that no farmer should be forced to cultivate the crop against their wishes and the planters’ demand for monetary compensation was invalid.

With this, Gandhi’s first act of civil disobedience in India was a resounding success.

Ahmedabad Mill strike (1918): First Hunger strike

Issue

• • The mill workers were unhappy due to discontinuation of plague bonus that had been in place since the outbreak of Bubonic plague in the Surat-Ahmedabad belt in 1916.
• • The textile mill owners had discontinued it because of two reasons-
  • ◦ The revival of British textiles industry following Germany’s capitulation in World War One resulting in higher competition.
  • ◦ End of the plague accompanying labour shortage.

Gandhiji’s response

• • He advised the workers to go on an indefinite strike and he himself went on a hunger strike to pressurize the mill owners and draw national attention to the problems of the workers.
• • He also outlined more comprehensive demand program for the workers including
  • ◦ 50% bonus
  • ◦ Wage hikes
  • ◦ Improvement in living and working conditions
  • ◦ Establishment of industrial disputes resolution tribunal

Outcome

• • Mill owners ultimately agreed to set up a tribunal which awarded
  • ◦ 35% bonus
  • ◦ Fixed working hours and wages
  • ◦ Safety and hygiene protocols
• • Mahatma Gandhi called off the strike and advised the workers to accept the award.
• • This was because he wanted to strike a compromise between both sides as they involved Indian interests. This was an early example of Gandhian trusteeship and class cooperation.

Kheda Satyagraha (1918): First Non-cooperation

Issue

• • The farmers at Kheda wanted exemption from land revenue due to massive crop failure urging from a drought.
• • Revenue officials, on the other hand, continued demanding revenue in full even though their own famine code recommended the automatic suspension of collection to bring crop failures in access of 50%.

Gandhi’s response

• • He sent Sardar Patel and Indu Lal Yagnik on a fact finding mission. After meeting the peasants, they reported back validating their problems.
• • Gandhiji advised the peasants not to cooperate with the revenue officials. He also asked them to prepare for lengthy campaign of civil disobedience.
• • Gandhiji’s strategy was to compromise the revenue officials, attract national sympathy for the farmer and expose the British hypocrisy. Simultaneously, he wanted Indians to retain the moral high-ground by remaining entirely non-violent and giving an opportunity to the British to accept their demands.

Outcome

• • Ultimately, the government issued internal circular instructing revenue officials to collect revenue only from those peasants who were in a position to pay.
• • Mahatma Gandhi advised the peasants to resume cooperation with the tax authorities and call off their protests. He did not persist towards complete victory due to the following reasons-
  • ◦ He considered it the moral responsibility of capable farmers to pay their share of the taxes
  • ◦ He wanted a demonstrable victory that was quickly attained.
  • ◦ He did not want to test the British patience since it may have resulted in the evaporation of ay gains made by the farmers.
• • Thus, once again, Mahatma Gandhi had succeeded in demonstrating strength of non-violent Satyagraha.

Significance of the three Satyagrahas

• • It was the early political expression of Gandhian philosophy in India. It demonstrated the strength of non-violent Satyagraha.
• • Gandhiji was also propelled to the national limelight.
• • The success of the satyagrahas filled Indians with enthusiasm. It increased Gandhiji’s popularity and attached masses with him for future struggles as well.
• • He forged a balance between different classes without taking sides for any particular class and rather keeping his approach issue-centric. This measured strategy won the confidence of the nationalist leadership as well as the common masses.
• • His success and style of protest removed the fear of British repression from the minds of ordinary Indians.
• • He also demonstrated the ability to transform mundane issues and disputes to a moral, righteous and religious struggle.
• • He also displayed the ability to publicise even local issues.
• • These three satyagrahas announced the beginning of the Gandhian phase of the Indian national movement.

Criticism

• • Colonial historians claimed that Mahatma Gandhi was a shrewd political operator who used his religious image and spiritual charisma to ‘hijack’ the national leadership.
• • Marxist historians, on the other hand, have leveled the allegations that Mahatma Gandhi deliberately used his image as a miracle worker to transform himself into an ideologue. This, according to them, reduced the democratic credentials of the movement.
  • ◦ They accuse that Mahatma Gandhi tactically made the movement to revolve around him and thus did not allow any other leader to shine.
  • ◦ The whole Gandhian movement is described by them as a demagoguery which flourished in the absence of a strong anti-British intellectual base.
  • ◦ The also allege that Gandhian ideology was never actually meant to serve the interests of the working class. It was always meant to preserve the Bourgeoisie and landed classes. His idea of trusteeship and class cooperation were never meant to succeed. Rather, they were simply meant to create the impression of goodwill between the classes so that the real interest of the working classes could not be fulfilled.
  • ◦ Gandhi’s cooperation and rather acceptance of caste system, according to them, only decelerated the progress of Indian society.

Counter-arguments

• • Colonial and Marxist historians were inherently biased against Mahatma Gandhi.
• • Since colonial historians were against the very idea of the national struggle so there delegitimizing of Mahatma Gandhi is not surprising. They would discredit any movement or idea which led to the independence.
• • Marxists, on the other hand, looked at the movement only through the lens of the class struggle. They tried to discredit Gandhi because of his attempt at class solidarity and for successfully leading a multi-class movement.
• • Contrary to these criticisms, it was Gandhi’s effective leadership which could maintain cohesion and unity of action.
  • ◦ To be a good leader, Gandhiji needed to put himself in a position of leadership.
  • ◦ Greatest gains were made under his leadership.
• • In response to the accusation of demagoguery, it should be understood that Gandhi is regarded as one of the greatest leaders in human history for his own unique style.
  • ◦ Secondly, Gandhiji never personally engaged in demagoguery. Rather it was the superstitious Indian masses that ascribed supernatural abilities upon him.
  • ◦ Thirdly, the inherent flaw with the Marxism itself should be understood. It has itself failed on several fronts owing to a rigid class concept.
  • ◦ Therefore, Gandhi should be credited for giving a new ideology to the world.
• • In words of Ravindra Kumar, Gandhiji enlisted loyalty of different social groups for the Congress and thus it became the umbrella under which almost all the shades of Indian nationalism found their place.

While concluding the discussion, it can be said that these three early satyagrahas of Gandhi laid the foundation of Gandhian mass politics that redefined the Indian nationalism.

Practice Question

Q. Throw light on the entry of Gandhi into nationalistic politics. Discuss the significance of his three early satyagrahas.

Mahatma Gandhi’s entry into Indian national movement was a millennial step which not only contributed greatly to the freedom of India but also gave an original political thought to the world with the unique feature of mass participation.

Gandhiji’s entry into nationalistic politics was through three satyagrahas that revolved around local issues-

• • Champaran Satyagraha (1917) (first civil disobedience) - under ‘teenkathia system’, farmers of the region were forced by the planters to cultivate indigo on 3/20th of their respective land. They had to supply a fixed quantity of indigo to the planters who controlled its prices on the one hand and on the other hand, it was leading to food shortages due to diversion of land.
  • ◦ Gandhiji asked farmers to violate their contracts and not to cultivate the indigo.
  • ◦ Under pressure, British had to set up indigo commission with Gandhiji as the member and forced indigo cultivation was abandoned.
• • Ahmedabad Mill Strike (1918) (First hunger strike) - The mill discontinued the plague bonus at a time when inflation was on the rise. As workers approached Mahatma Gandhi, he asked them to go on an indefinite strike and he himself went on a hunger strike.
  • ◦ Gandhi also realized that mill owners were also under pressure and thus a mutually acceptable rise in bonus alongwith better working hours and safety and hygiene protocols were agreed upon.
• • Kheda Satyagraha (1918) (First non-cooperation) – The farmers in Kheda were demanding exemptions from land revenue due to massive crop failure owing to drought.
  • ◦ However, revenue officials continued demanding full revenue.
  • ◦ Gandhiji asked peasants not to cooperate with revenue officials.
  • ◦ Ultimately, government asked officials to tax only those peasants who were capable.

Significance of the three Satyagrahas

• • It was the early political expression of Gandhian philosophy in India. It demonstrated the strength of non-violent Satyagraha.
• • Gandhiji was also propelled to the national limelight.
• • The success of the satyagrahas filled Indians with enthusiasm. It increased Gandhiji’s popularity and attached masses with him for future struggles as well.
• • He forged a balance between different classes without taking sides for any particular class and rather keeping his approach issue-centric. This measured strategy won the confidence of the nationalist leadership as well as the common masses.
• • His success and style of protest removed the fear of British repression from the minds of ordinary Indians.
• • He also demonstrated the ability to transform mundane issues and disputes to a moral, righteous and religious struggle.
• • He also displayed the ability to publicise even local issues.
• • These three satyagrahas announced the beginning of the Gandhian phase of the Indian national movement.

These three satyagrahas prepared the blueprint for nationalists all over the world to stand against a cruel opponent in a disproportionate struggle. Even till the very end of the Indian independence, these strategies were used by Gandhi in one or the other way.