Short essay on: The agitation against the Partition of Bengal

a. Introduction:

The manner in which the British government sought to implement the scheme of Partition served as an eye-opener to the people of our country.

It was now deeply felt that mere protest; and speeches in meetings would not be able to dissuade the government. In order to put pressure upon the government, they thought, some practical demonstration of their feeling was necessary

b. Manner of Protest on the day of Partition:

An extensive programme was chalked out to observe the 16 October, 1905, the day fixed for the Partition of Bengal, as the day of mourning.

On that day ceremonies like holy dip in the Ganges and Rakhi were also observed. The proposal of celebrating the Rakhi Bandhan Utsav or the day came from the Poet Rabindranath Tagore People of Bengal tied the Rakhi Or the silken band of unity and fraternity round one another’s wrist and took the solemn vow to preserve the unity of the motherland.

c. Programme of Boycott:

In the programme of movement greatest emphasis was laid upon the boycott. People of Bengal unitedly took the vow that so long as the Partition was not undone they would eschew all foreign articles.

The conception of boycott was mainly an economic one, though it had other aspects too. Along with the boycott of foreign goods measures were taken for the growth of indigenous industry.

This was the famous ‘Swadeshi’ (i.e., manufacture and use of indigenous goods).

d. Swadeshi:

Boycott of foreign articles necessitated their supplementation by indigenous goods. It was out of this necessity that Swadeshi was born. Along with the bonfire of the foreign cloth the weavers in villages as well as the Indian mill-owners were encouraged to produce cloth.

Thus, in reality, the Boycott and Swadeshi were interlinked, and one could not succeed -without the success of the other.

That is why Dr. R C. Majumder rightly remarked: The Boycott was the negative, the Swadeshi the positive aspect of the same idea.

e. Spread of the Anti-Partition Movement:

The anti-Partition agitation soon spread to different parts of the India. Intense anti- Partition agitation was organised in; Rawalpindi (in present Pakistan), Punjab, Bombay (present Mumbai), Poona (present Pune), etc. In Madras, one Chidambaram Pillai spread the message of Swadeshi there.

Thus it may be said that the anti-Partition agitation had been transformed into an all India movement. e. Participation of the Students and Womenfolk: The Swadeshi and boycott movements in the wake of the anti-Partition agitation did not remain confined to any particular section or class of people.

Rather the Swadeshi enthusiasm created a stir among all the classes of people-be it the students or the womenfolk. The students of schools and colleges actively participated in the movement by organising mass picketing in front of the shops selling foreign goods. The womenfolk of Bengal also had come forward to do their bit to make the Swadeshi successful.