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Anti Partition Movement

British, who ruled India for nearly a hundred years stayed on in the idea to divide and rule India. The unity of India was destroyed by creating indifferences in political, cultural and religious grounds. Partition of Bengal was such a political idea of the British to divide and rule India.

They wanted to make problems in the name of religious sentiments. Lord Curzon divided the territories of Bengal in this way:

• Western part formed the Hindu majority area

• Eastern part formed the Muslim majority area.

The partition of Bengal ultimately took place on 16th October 1905. The group of protest movements that happened against the Bengal partition is called the anti-partition movement. The main features of the Anti-partition movement are:

a) Objections and gatherings

The people appealed to the government to change the decision in Bengal partition. The leaders of the Muslim organizations were of the opinion that the partition is neither necessary nor needful. Objection meetings were organized all over Bengal. Journalists of Bengal also launched a movement against the proposal for the partition of Bengal.

Leaders of Bengal travelled through the country and asked people the boycott of British goods. The boycott aimed at creating economic pressure on England. The Boycott movement spread all over Bengal. Students forced the shopkeepers to stop selling British goods through picketing. They boycotted government schools and colleges.

b) Swadeshi movement and overall participation of people

The boycott movements lead the way to the Swadeshi movement. The Swadeshi movement was to make Indians use Indian goods only. All classes of people participated in the movement. The entire national leadership was a part of it. The idea of British to create communal tension was lessened by the national spirit and patriotism.