a. Introduction:
Lord Curzon’s sole motive behind the Partition of Bengal was to weaken Bengal by sowing the seeds of dissension between the Hindus and the Muslims.
The people of Bengal had been opposing the Partition since the time when the proposal for Partitioning Bengal was officially announced.
But when the Partition was finally affected to utter disregard to the popular sentiment, the people of Bengal launched a powerful movement against it.
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b. Beginning of the Movement:
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 on the day came from Rabindranath Tagore.
c. Boycott Movement:
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In the programme of movement greatest emphasis was laid on boycott. People of Bengal unitedly took the vow that so long as the Partition was not undone they would reject all foreign articles.
The conception of boycott was mainly an economic one, though it had other aspects too.
d. Swadeshi:
Boycott of foreign articles necessitated their supplementation by indigenous goods. It was out of this necessity that Swadeshi was born.
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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 pointed out that: “The Boycott was the negative, the Swadeshi the positive aspect of the same idea.”
e. National Education:
The new spirit of nationalism that had been aroused among the people of our country found its expression in the formation of the national education system. When the idea of boycott assumed a wider meaning it also included the boycott of foreign education and the course of study prescribed by the British.
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In order to encourage the student participation in the political movement one Sachindra Prasad Basu organised the ‘Anti-Circular Society’ (1905).
Apart from encouraging the students to participate in the anti-British movement, the Society also made necessary arrangements for imparting education to the students who had been expelled by the government authorities. Satishchandra Mukherjee a\d his Dawn Society also made useful contributions in providing education to the expelled students.
f. Spread of the Swadeshi:
Though the Partition of Bengal directly affected the people of Bengal yet the tidal wave of the Boycott and Swadeshi swept away the country as a whole.
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Under the leadership of Bal Gangadhar Tilak the bonfire of British goods had taken place at Poona (present Pune). The people of Punjab joined the movement under the leadership of Lala Lajpat Rai.
He personally came to Calcutta to offer his support and express solidarity with the people of Bengal.
g. An Assessment:
The Swadeshi movement could not unify the divided Bengal. Yet the importance of Swadeshi in the history of the freedom movement of India can in no way be denied.
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The Swadeshi movement was a united movement of the Indians. Indeed the manner in which the movement integrated the people of India had never been seen before.