UPSC Prelims 2023 Q83: National Handloom Day & Swadeshi — Explained
Consider the following statements:
Statement-I:
7th August is declared as the National Handloom Day.
Statement-II:
It was in 1905 that the Swadeshi Movement was launched on the same day.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
- Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is the correct explanation for Statement-I
- Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is not the correct explanation for Statement-I
- Statement-I is correct but Statement-II is incorrect
- Statement-I is incorrect but Statement-II is correct
Answer: (a) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is the correct explanation for Statement-I
Statement-wise explanation
- Statement-I: correct — In 2015 the Government of India declared 7 August of every year as National Handloom Day. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first National Handloom Day in Chennai on 7 August 2015. The Ministry of Textiles holds the main event each year, and 7 August 2026 was the 12th edition.
- Statement-II: correct — On 7 August 1905, a large public meeting at the Calcutta Town Hall passed the boycott resolution against British goods. This is taken as the formal launch of the Swadeshi Movement against the Partition of Bengal. The government chose 7 August for Handloom Day because the movement promoted Indian-made goods, especially handloom cloth, so Statement-II correctly explains Statement-I.
How to eliminate
You can only solve this by knowing the fact. Remember that the Swadeshi Movement was formally launched at the Calcutta Town Hall on 7 August 1905, and that 7 August was picked for National Handloom Day in 2015 to commemorate it. Two habits help with this format. First, judge each statement on its own before thinking about the link between them. Second, when a statement says something happened 'on the same day', the setter is usually pointing you to the reason a date was chosen. If you know Handloom Day is 7 August but are unsure of the 1905 date, ask what an older event could have to do with handloom. Boycotting Manchester cloth and reviving Indian weaving was the core of Swadeshi, so the link is likely to be an explanation and not a coincidence. Beware of mixing up the dates of 1905: the Partition was announced on 19–20 July 1905 and came into force on 16 October 1905. Neither of those is 7 August.
Know more
The Swadeshi Movement (1905–11) grew out of opposition to Lord Curzon's Partition of Bengal. The government announced the partition in July 1905 and it came into force on 16 October 1905. The plan to boycott British goods was formally adopted at the Calcutta Town Hall meeting of 7 August 1905. When partition came into force on 16 October, Bengal observed a day of mourning. Rabindranath Tagore led people in tying rakhis as a sign of Bengali unity, and 'Amar Sonar Bangla' became a rallying song.
| Aspect | Key facts |
|---|---|
| Methods | Boycott of foreign cloth and salt, bonfires of foreign goods, samitis (volunteer groups), national education |
| Congress | The 1905 Benares session (Gokhale) supported the boycott. The 1906 Calcutta session (Dadabhai Naoroji) adopted Swaraj, Swadeshi, boycott and national education |
| Institutions | Bengal National College (1906, Aurobindo Ghosh as principal), National Council of Education (1906), swadeshi enterprises such as Bengal Chemicals (P.C. Ray) |
| Spread | Tilak (Maharashtra), Lala Lajpat Rai and Ajit Singh (Punjab), V.O. Chidambaram Pillai (Madras) |
| Outcome | The 1907 Surat split weakened the movement. Partition was annulled in 1911 |
Why handloom? Cheap machine-made cloth from Manchester had ruined many Indian weavers in the 19th century. Swadeshi turned buying hand-woven Indian cloth into a political act, and Gandhi later built on this idea with khadi.
National Handloom Day today: It was declared in 2015, and the first edition was held in Chennai on 7 August 2015. The India Handloom Brand was launched at the same event. The Fourth All India Handloom Census (2019–20) counted about 35.22 lakh handloom weavers and allied workers, more than 70% of them women.
In the news
National Handloom Day comes around every 7 August, and the Ministry of Textiles held the 8th edition on 7 August 2022, less than a year before the 2023 Prelims. The government's push for 'vocal for local' and handloom made the date's link to the 1905 Swadeshi Movement a natural pick for a mixed static and current-affairs question.
NCERT Concepts to Revise
- Swadeshi movement: Statement-II rests on when and why the Swadeshi movement against the 1905 Partition of Bengal was launched.
- Vande Mataram: 'Vande Mataram' became the movement's slogan, and Swadeshi's call for Indian goods is what links it to handloom.