PEOPLES REACTION

The leaders of protest movement declared it a day of national mourning thought

Bengal . it was observed as a day of fasting there was hartal in Kolkata , people
walked barefooted ,bathed in ganga in the early morning hours
The streets of Kolkata were full of cries of vande matram which became the
theme song of national movement.
Rabindranath Tagore composed a song AMAR SONA BANGLA for the occasion
which was sung by the huge crowds parading the street
The ceremony of rakha bandhan was celebrated in a new way . Hindus and
Muslim tied rakhis (yellow thread) on one and anothers wrists as the symbol of
unity of bengalis and the two halves of
In the afternoon there was a great demonstration when there veteran leader
ananda mohan bose led the foundation of a federation hall to match the
indestructible unity of Bengal all gathered there to take the vow to follow the
swadeshi movement
Aims and programme
The movement was aimed at ecominic self reliance for the Indians . it thaught
the Indians that economic independence was a corollary to political freedom .
The boycott movement supplied the driving force to the mills and industries of
the country .
Public meetings and processions emerged as forms of popular expression
numerous meetings were held, in which boycott was preached. Samatis or
voluntary association was setup. Samitis like the swdeshi sangha , vande
mataram sanpradaya took the swadeshi message to villages through lectures
and songs .
Traditional folk threatre forms such as jatras were used for spreading the
swadeshi message
The province of Bengal was too large to be efficiently administered by a
single provincial government. The scheme was prepared to divide Bengal
to 2 provinces- Bengal which included the western districts of Bengal
proper, Bihar and Orissa was separated from eastern Bengal which
included Assam. Eastern part was dominated by Bengali Muslims and the
province of West Bengal was dominated by non-Bengali population.

According to nationalists, Bengal was the nerve centre of Indian

nationalism and the British wanted to break the solidarity. British wanted
to reduce the Bengalis to a minority in Bengal itself and curb the influence
by placing them under two separate administrations. The British wanted
to divide the Muslims and Hindus on the basis of religion. But the
nationalists realised the true reason behind the partition and therefore
started the Anti-Partition Movemen