The Indian National Movement: From Swadeshi to Quit India

Throughout India’s history, there have been many disturbances and attacks by the outside world. There were numerous incursions from the boundaries of the northern wall, especially after the coming of Islam, many Persians, Arabs, and Turkish at the beginning of the 8th century. Eventually, many of them stayed, and most of India was under Muslim rule. Later, after the arrival of the Vasco da Gama, India was exposed to external influences by sea, giving access to Britishers to India, who later ruled the country for 100 years.

The direct rule of Britishers in India began in 1858. Before that, it was an East Indian Company that had established itself in India by obtaining permission from local authorities. Once they established their footprints in India and the Britishishers saw how profitable it was, they showed more and more interest, and eventually, they established control. After that, India was under the Britishers, they were paying taxes to the British for their land. Soon, the people of India realized they needed to get their land back and the war of independence began.

Swadeshi Movement

It was in the year 1905, Indians were against the partition of Bengal. In response to that, a Swadeshi movement was started to promote Indian goods and curb foreign goods. This movement gained momentum when the rich Indians contributed their wealth to the cause. The movement was comprehensive and it lasted 6 years. The movement got official recognition when the Congress party incorporated the Swadeshi ideology into its objectives of Swadeshi Swaraj. The movement brought back the cultural recognition of rich history, like paintings and folk music culture.

Later, the movement got a huge boost with its integration with the boycott movement. While Bal Ganga Dhar Tilak called this movement “Bahishkar Yoga”, he, along with Lala Lajpat Rai, recognized the Swadeshi movement as training for self-determination, self-help, and self-reliance. The movement soon spread from Bengal to other parts of the country. This movement later acted as a hallmark of the Gandhian movement as well.

Moreover, there was a huge impact of this movement, which boosted the Indian economy, and made Indians a little less reliant on Britain for money. Moreover, it brought the people of India together, there was this sense of unity and pride that Indians developed. These things are about Indian states, different languages, and the different religions they follow. They had become like a huge family. The movement not only made people political but also gave them their confidence back.

Thereafter, many important movements such as the formation of the Muslim League, the Ghadar party movement, and the Home Rule movement took place. All these were important developments in the history of the Indian freedom struggle.

Civil Disobedience Movement

It was in the year 1930, that the civil disobedience movement started under the leadership of M. K Gandhi. It was the salt satyagraha movement that led to this huge event. Indians, especially Mahatma Gandhi, wanted to stand against the British government’s salt tax. Against this, Mahatma Gandhi launched salt satyagraha from his Sabarmati ashram from Dandi. The movement was supposed to be a peaceful protest against the Britishers. At that time, Britishers had a monopoly over the production of salt and thus imposed a huge tax on it.

Later, looking at the development of the movement which was gaining huge recognition, Britishers started arresting congress leaders, which led to many violent clashes in the country. Looking at that situation, Gandhi ji felt that it had become important for him to call off the movement to curb the chaos.

Quit India Movement

Aimed to end British rule in India, the Quit India movement was launched by Mahatma Gandhi at the All India Congress Committee in Mumbai. It was following this movement that the slogan “Do or Die” was given by Mahatma Gandhi at Gowalia Tank Maidan, however, the slogan “Quit India” was coined by Yusuf Mehrally. The Quit India movement was caused by the failure of the Cripps Mission. Under Stanford Cripps, the mission was sent to complete the making of the Indian Constitution. The mission had failed miserably because the mission provided for dominion status for India and not complete independence.

On the other hand, Britishers expected India’s unconditional support for them during World War II. This expectation of them did not go well with the congress party. Following all this, anti-British sentiments were on the rise, and the vigor to gain independence also gained British popularity. Though the movement was crushed by the British in 1944, it definitely created a way for independence for India.

During World War 2, the British were losing resources and could not handle their colonies any longer. At that time, Indians were setting up their own parallel government, which further built the pressure on the British government to leave India. The new British government that was formed after Independence was determined to give India its independence. Now the question was, how to leave India on its own, because the “Viceroy of India” at that time, Louis Mountbatten, made the partition of India. India was to be divided between two nations based on religion; India and Pakistan. The date of the partition was set on 15 August 2024 and that was the same day that India got its independence.