Swadeshi Spreads Beyond Bengal

The Swadeshi Movement  also drew other provinces of India such as Maharashtra, Punjab, Madras and even parts of Madhya Pradesh and the Deccanwithin its orbit.The hurricane tour of B.G.Tilak (1856-1920), assisted by G.S.Khaparde (1854-1938), throughout Maharashtra spread the ideas of boycott, swadeshi, national education and Swaraj. His two organs, the marhatta and the Kesari, were freely used for the purpose. He also made periodic visits to Calcutta and did everything necessary to popularise the Sivaji and Ganapati festivals in Bengal. The Sivaji festival was first celebrated in Bengal in 1902, was most enthusiastically performed in the process of Tilak at Calcutta in 1906 when the Swadeshi Movement was in its full swing.The speeches of B.C.Pal on the Marine Beech of of Madras in 1907 fired thousands of of people with the spirit of patriotism and nationalism and attracted them to the vows of Swadeshi and Swaraj. The magic spell of the Movement was also felt in the Punjab. Lala Lajpat Rai took  leadership of the movement after the riots of Rawalpindi and deportation of Lalaji and Sirdar Ajit Singh  (9 May 1907) for six months,           

The tempo of the Congress was also reflected in the Calcutta Congress of 1906. Dadabhai Naoroji, in his presidential address demanded self-government of the UK type or of the colonies.The success of the extremists in Calcutta Congress  frightened the Moderates, particularly of the Gokhale -Mehta brand which induced them to shift  the venue of the next Congress from Nagpur, a strong hold of the extremist,  to Surat. Tilak's prominent role at Surat to Save the Congress from moderates' influence and his courageous drive thereafter for disseminating the ideologies of the movement without frawn or fear   of the bureaucracyresulted in his arrest (June, 1908) and transportation to Mandalay jail for six months.
By 1908 the vindictive attitude of the government tried to strangle the movement from all sides. 

Hindu-Muslim Riot (contd-2)

The foundation of Muslim Leagueat Dacca on the last day of Dec. 1906, was the  begining of an organized opposition on the part of the Muslims to the Hindus. As days passed by, the Musalmans took a more and more hostile attitude towards the Hindus and the Swadeshi Movement sponsored by them.  This attitude, deliberately encouraged under the leadership of of the Nawab of Dacca, and connived at , if not investigated, by the British officials, culminated in a series of outbreaks in East Bengal. There were a number of communal riots, the most serious of which were those at Comilla and jamalpurThe depth of infamy to which the Muslim propaganda descended is best exemplified by the notorious document, known as Lal Ishtahar , or Red Pamphlet, which was the most virulant anti-hindu proclamation and an open incitement of the Muslims against the Hindus. The disturbances at Comilla broke out on the 4th March, 1907, and continued for about 4 days. They synchronized with the visit of Nawab Salimullah of Dacca to Comillatown to put fresh vigour into the anti-Swadeshi agitation. The Comilla riot followed by various other outbreaks of a similar nature, though of less intensity.      

The official version about the causes of the riots was thus summed up by Mr. Morley in reply to a certain questions in the House of Commons; "The situation in Eastern bengal" said he, " was strained owing to the bitterness existing between the Hindus and Muslims consequent to the attempt of purchasing foreign goods." But the disturbances were limited, only two districts out of 13 were affected.
The detail report of the riots are well described in the book History of Freedom Movement by Br. R.C.Majumdar.

Hindu-Muslim Riot (contd-1)

A Muslim delegation headed by the Aga Khan went to Simla and submitted a representation to the viceroy (Lord Elgin 11 Oct 1894

6 Jan 1899 Reorganisation of Indian Army (from Presidency System to the four Commands).Pamir agreement Russia, 1895
The Chitral Campaign (1895), the Tirah Campaign (1896–97)
Indian famine of 1896–97 beginning in Bundelkhand.
Bubonic plague in Bombay (1896), Bubonic plague in Calcutta (1898); riots in wake of plague prevention measures.
Establishment of Provincial Legislative Councils in Burma and Punjab; the former a new Lieutenant Governorship ) on the 1st Oct 1896. The memorandum related to the loss of status enjoyed by the Muslims during Muslim Period.
It is to be noted that some British officials had a role in sending this delegation to Simla. It is also to be mentioned here that some British officials took active interest at first to form Indian National Congress in 1885 to to arrewst the unrest of the Indian people in a proper manner suitable for their purpose. But when they saw that a new generation of educated Muslims with growing discontent was evolving they took interest in forming an organization on a communal basis to counter act the political activities of Indian National Congress.moreover the following reasons motivated the muslims to form an organization of their own to look after their own interest.
1. Hindus had thrown an idea that the independence from the british rule would help them to the revival of the old Hindu-dominated society in India and the Muslims meant the Independence would mean the re-establishment of the Muslim dominated society as in the case of the Mughal Empire.
2. Urdu was the official language  through out North India from the time of Mughal Rule.Hindus were in favour of giving Hindi the equal status as it was the majority speaking language. On 8th April, 1900, the Government of Uttarpradesh accepted the proposal  and both Urdu and Himdi became the official languages. Muslims resented this order but Hindus supported the order
3. The origin of Hindu politics that helped the emergence in later years of the Hindu Mahasabha and the Rashtrita Swayam Sevak Sangha (R.S.S.) . The educated genertion of the Muslim community began imbibing the outlook of Islamic Revivalism
  

Hindu-Muslim Riot

At the early stages of the anti-Pasrtition movement it was supported by the Muslims of East Bengal. Even the Nawab of Dacca was at firts disposed to stand by the Hindu Zamindars. A Muslim zamindar of of Faridpur warned his co-religiousists not to believe that the partition would benifit the Mohammadans by creating a Mohammadan Province.Another Muslim zamindar cordially co-operated Aswini Kumar Dutta of Barisal. A. Rasul was a staunch Swadeshist and prisided over the Barisal Conference held in April 906, to which reference has been made above.Abdul Hamid Ghaznavi of Mymensingh, Abul Kassem of Burdwan, Liakat Hussain and many other prominent leaders among Muslims were enthusiastic supporters of the Swadeshi Movement. Even in Mofussil areas, particularly Barisal, the Muslim masses joined the Swadeshi movement and were inspired by the folk songs composed for the purpose. But Lord Curzon visited East Bengal in February 1904, and induced Nawab Salimullah of dacca to declare himself in favour of the partitionIn return for these political and public services the Government of India granted a loan of Rs. 14 lakhs to the Nawab of Dacca at a very low rate of interest.

Under the influence of the British Government insidious movements were set on foot to wean away the Muslims from the Hindu agitators. They arranged counter-demonstrations in suppot of Partition. As official report dated 20 Sept. 1906,expressed the fear that the Muhammadans , who have been sorely provoked , might cause some trouble.

         

In Dec 1906, A mohammadan Vigilance  Association came into being, in order to collect evidence of the oppression committed on the Muhammadans by the Swadeshi agitators.Reference has been made above to the anti-Hindu policy inaugurated by Sir Syed Ahmad at Aligarh.It culminated in the formation of the Muslim League, a rival organisation to the Congress , the foundation of which was done in Dacca on the last day of Dec 1906.   

Simultaneous Growth of Extremism and repression by the Government

The split that occurred in the Surat Congress (1907) gave green signal to the rulers to unleash a fresh wave of repression.The victims of these repressions were the Congressmen of both the factions, organisations, individuals and news papers.Before the Surat session the Viceroy issued in May, 1907, an ordinance empowering local authorities to prohibit public meetings, without prior permission.The ordinance was designed to place obstacles before all forms of legitimate political activities.
Many including the Secretary of State for India, Lord Morley, questioned desirability of such measures.
1.In 1908, the Press Act; to empower authorities to close down the publication of any newspaper and confiscate any printing press at the discretion of the District magistrate.
2.The explosives Act; enables deportation for 14 years of any person in possession of a bomb or the materials of a bomb or any person assisting any person in the making of bomb.
3. A third Act empowered the authorities to ban any organisation which they found to be functioning in a manner prejudicial to the law and order of the country and to imprison any person participating  in the activities of a banned organisation, and to confiscate any building, property, or material found to be used for the activities of such an organization.
In other words , the acts passed during this period was simply to curb the activities of political parties and organizations.
Even the moderates were victims of these acts.
A short table, published in the Statesman, showing how the sale and purchase of British clothes stored in the mofussil towns in September, 1905, compared with the previous year, is given below;
District.................Value goods purchased in.....Value of goods being purchased
..............................Sept., 1904. ........................in Sept. 1905
Jessore.................Rs. 30,000.............................Rs. 2,000
Bogra....................,,     1,700............................. ,,       200
Dacca....................,,     5,000..............................,,   2,000
Arrah......................,,    1,500..............................,,      200
Hazaribagh...............,, 10,000..............................,,       500
Nadia........................,,15,000...............................,, 2,500
Malda ........................,,8,000................................,,1,300
Burdwan.....................,, 6,000...............................,, 1,000
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Split of Congress-moderates and Extremists

The wavering policy of the Benaras Congress of 1905 in lending full-throated support to " boycott" and the mendicancy of the Moderates mirrored in their appeasement of Mr. Morley, the Liberal Secretary of State for India, in early 1906, increasingly hardened Extremism in Bengal. So long, Surendranath banerjee was the accredited leader of the movement, but from now on Bipin pal came to the fore-front.He found his close associate in Aurobindo Ghose whose whole-hearted plunge into Bengal politics from mid-1906 invigorated the movement to a considerable extent. The bureaucratic highhandedness to the Barisal conference (April 1906) as revealed in its prohibition of shouts of Bandemataram and manhandling of the leaders and delegates including Surendranath  Banerjee convinced the extremists of the need for a more vigorous policy vis-a-vis the Government. So they reorganised themselves into the New  Party or Nationalist Party as distinct from the Moderates.
The split took place chiefly on the political level. The demand of the Moderates was "graduated colonial self-Government' and that of the Extremists were Purna Swaraj or unqualified National Independence.The former wanted to advocated for their demand " boycott orpassive resistance" where as the extremists wanted to take "violent means to attain Complete Independence". There was a third trend introduced by Dr. Sumit Sarkar's viz., Rabindranath's constructive idea of Swadeshi.
Bipin Pal published in his own initiative and with a sum of about Rs. 500/- the English daily Bandemataram  and had set out extensive tour of Eastern bengal and Assam.This daily paper turned into a limited concern with the major financial assistance of Subodh Chandra Basu Mallick.under the able editorship of Aurobindo Ghose (1906-1908) as the greatest propaganda machinaryof the ideas of the movement.   
Under the able leadership of Pal-Ghose the Nationalist Party caused terror in the minds of the bureaucracy.

Swadeshi and Boycott

The most important propagators of Swadeshi and Boycott movement were the young men of Bengal coming vastly from the student community. It was they who, working under the banner of Bande Mataram. After the publication of the Government proclamation on Partition on 1 Sept., to be effective on 16 October , the Boycott-Swadeshi Movement gained a renewed zeal and fervour. The Samitis and their branches at various mofussil centres such as Bandhab Samity of Barisal, Surhid Samity of Mymensingh etc.and numerous volunteer organisations newly formed devoted themselves wholeheartedly to the task of propagation and implementation of of Swadeshi "even at a sacrifice". The members of the Dawn society (1902-1907)and those of the Bande matarram Sampradaya (1905-1907)were zealous prechears so far as Calcutta concerned. The Sampradaya formed for this very purpose strolled the streets of Calcutta and the suberbs every Sunday singing Bande Mataram in which many patrons, patriots, and poets also joined including Dwijendralal Roy and Rabindranath Tagore. Both Calcutta and Mofussils observed 16 October, the day of bengal Partition, as a daay of national mourning, wearing black badges  and performing A-Randhan ( no cooking)and Rakhi-bandhan, symbol for women participation and national unity. In the evening a solemn Proclamation, prepared by the aged and ailing leader Ananda Mohan  Bose, was adopted at a huge gathering on the of the present Federation hall, calcutta.    

A landmark in the march of the movement was reachesd in October , 1905 when the repressive Carlyle Circular (10 October)was issued threatening students with expulsionfrom schools and stoppage of scholarships or concessions for participation in swadeshi meetings and processions.As the mofussils students in  defiance of the Carlyle Circular joined inlarge numbers in meetings on 1 November to read the proclamation they stood face to face with expulsions and other punishments.To fight against the Carlyle Circular, a National School at Rangpuron 8th November, 1905 and formed a national Council of Education, Bengal (11 march 1906). A large number of schools were also established. A National College was established at 166 Bowbazar Street with Aurobindo Ghose as its Principal and Satish Chandra Mukherjee as Superintendant.  This was expressed in Jatiya Vidyalaya written by Rabindranath.