Question

How can you say that Swadeshi movement in Bengal was linked to politics of clothing in India?

Answer 1

(i) In 1905, Lord Curson decided to partition Bengal to control the growing opposition to British rule. The Swadeshi movement developed in reaction to this measure. People boycotted British goods of all kinds. Instead, they adopted Khadi, even though it was coarser, more expensive and difficult to maintain.
(ii) They also started their own industries for the manufacture of goods such as matchboxes and cigarettes. The use of khadi was made a patriotic duty.
(iii) Women threw away their silks and glass bangles and wear simple shell bangles. Rough homespun was glorified in songs and poems to popularise it.
(iii) Despite its limitations, the experiment with Swadeshi gave Mahatma Gandhi important ideas about using cloth as a symbolic weapon against the British rule.