Eternal India Encyclopedia

FREEDOM MOVEMENT

Eternal India

encyclopedia

The effect of the Swadeshi movement

was remarkable as is evident from this

'States-

man'

chart showing comparative sales of

foreign textiles:

Place

Textile

sold

Sept. 1904

Textile

sold

Sept. 1905

Jassore

Nadia

Hazariabagh

Rs. 30,000

15,000

10,000

Rs22Rs. 2,000

2,500

500

The report also showed a gradual fall in

the demand for foreign cigarettes, soap,

perfumes, etc.

The boycott and Swadeshi movement

turned into an All India Movement before the

close of 1905; by this time it had spread to

23 districts (UP), 15 towns (MP), 24 towns

(of Bombay) 20 districts (of Punjab) and 13

districts (of Madras); the leaders of the

movement were Bal Gangadhar (Bombay),

Subrahmanya Aiyer and T. M. Nayar (Ma-

dras); They declared,

"This is the weapon of a

weak nation in a fight against a strong na-

tion”.

Thus the ideas of Boycott and Swadeshi

were brought about by the repressive meas-

ures which were adopted by the Government

to put down the Boycott movement, formally

inaugurated on 7 August, 1905, a red-letter

day in the annals of the struggle for India's

freedom.

"The agitation for boycott of Brit-

ish goods and the use of indigenous

products acquired a wider connota-

tion and influence in national life and

thought by transcending narrow eco-

nomic considerations. So the thin

stream of 1905, gradually widened

into a mighty river of struggle for

freedom to pour its waters into the sea

of independence. New streams poured

their water into the river between 1905

and 1947.... but the flow released by

the anti-partition movement from the

mountain peak, in its journey to the

goal was never hindered".

-R.C.M.

LAL, BAL, PAL

Lala Lajpat Rai, Bala Gangadhar Tilak

and Bipin Chandra Pal: popularly known as

“Lai, Bal, Pal’’

became the prominent trio-

leaders of the Indian Freedom Struggle.

Lala Lajpat Rai (1865-1928)

Lala Lajpat Rai was bom in a small village

of Ludhiana. He was also known as ‘Punjab

Kesari’. He studied law and obtained his degree

in Lahore (1880). He attended the Congress

Session of 1888 at Allahabad. Speaking about

the Indian National Congress he said,

“The

Congress movement was neither inspired by

the people, nor devised or planned by them .lt

was a movement not from within...the leaders

had neither sufficient political

..........

conscious-

ness nor faith....they had political-opinions

but not beliefs... ”

The British treatment of

Indian masses enraged him and he became a

fiery leader. He opposed the exploitation of

the British government. Lajpat Rai advocated

liberty from foreign control. He passionately

exclaimed,

“Can the wealth of the whole world

be put in the states over against liberty and

honour? A subject people has no soul, just as

a slave can have none... a man without a soul

is a mere animal. A nation without a soul is

only a herd of “dumb driven cattle”.

In 1905

he visited England along with Gokhale to

arouse public opinion on injustice done to

Indians. Later he was deported to Burma as a

consequence of his aggressive movement in

Punjab. He was a follower of Gandhi and took

active part in the movement against the Simon

Commission which visited India in 1928; he

took out a procession in Lahore against the

Simon Commission’s visit under Simon but

was lathi charged. He was injured and died of

his injuries shouting,

“Every blow aimed at

me is a nail struck in the coffin of the British

empire in India. ”

Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1856-1920)

Born to a school teacher and deputy in-

spector of education; became an orphan at the

age of 16. A self-reliant but physically weak

youth he studied B.A. and later took law

degree; started a school and two newspapers

to spread Western knowledge; offered his

help to start Deccan Education Society and

Fergusson College; purchased the

Lion,

Marathi weekly and renamed it as

Kesari

and

helped to edit its English counterpart,

The

B. G. Tilak

Mahratta;

he gave expression to his idea of

nationalism through

Kesari.

In 1885 he

wrote,

“We are, at present, gradually being

inspired by the spirit of patriotism. The birth

of patriotism among us is due to English rule

and English education has imparted to us

knowledge of ancient and modern history; it

has enabled us to know what were the fruits of

patriotism they became among the ancient

Greeks and Romans. We have also

learned....when they lost their patriotism, they

became subject to foreign domination and

became ignorant and superstitious. English

rule has made us realise the necessity of cul-

tivating patriotism in our national concerns...

Patriotism is not our national quality; it is the

product of the influences to which we have

been subjected after the introduction of the

British rule.”

He started the popular

“

Ganesha

” festival and celebration of Mara-

tha hero Shivaji to awaken the people of India;

The credit of leavening Indian politics with

national spirit belongs to Bal Gangadhar Ti-

lak. He was the first to emphasise the four

distinctive features of the nationalist move-

ment :

Sincere faith in the glory and greatness

of Indian culture.

Rely on own strength and assertion.

Political goals of India —

Swaraj

and

Awakening of political-consciousness

among the people and political-agita-

tion.

Tilak’s role during the terrible Bombay

famine (1896) was dominant; he undertook

the task of educating the people about the

provisions of the

Famine Relief Code

and

boldly demanded the facilities offered by it.

He made stirring appeals to the people;

through

Kesari

he said,

“When the Queen

desires that none should die; when the

Governor declares that all should live, will

you ’’

, he exclaimed

“kill yourself by timidity

and starvation ? If you have money to pay the

government...pay it...But if you have not...Can