The Swadeshi Movement

AN Anglo-Indian contemporary points out with evident glee, that in the course of the evidence given by Indian witnesses before the Industries Commission, there is no reference made to the Swadeshi Movement as a factor of industrial development. Obviously our contemporary has misunderstood the real meaning of the word Swadeshi and the general sense of the public who advocate it. It expresses a love of Indian-made goods and a preference to buy and use the same instead of foreign-made goods. At one time the zeal of Swadeshi promoters in some places out-ran their discretion; and it is equally true that official suspicion and suppression of unhealthy ideas went beyond limits. Industrial backwardness on one side and official over-zeal on the other have rendered the movement almost inactive at present. Nevertheless, we believe, it is not wholly barren of abiding results.

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