I) Protests and Violence: The partition of Bengal created a Muslim-majority province, the

East Bengal. The elite Hindus of West Bengal. who were collecting taxes from Muslim
peasants in east Bengal, would now lose their influence in the new province. They,
therefore, rejected the decision and launched a series of violent protests and
demonstrations against the partition. The tide of anger rapidly spread to other parts of
India. The reaction was so strong that it gave birth to the development of extremism. A
number of small extremist groups came into existence that launched attacks on the British
officials. They succeeded in killing a few ones. Lord Minto, the future viceroy, escaped an

assassination attempt. Many extremists were imprisoned for long time, but the

situation was alarming to the British. Finally. they had to bow down before the Hindu
agitation and thus revoked the Bengal partition.

2) Economic Reasons: The British reversed the partition of Bengal due to economic reasons
also. The Hindus of West Bengal started Swadeshi Movement, which also spread to other
parts of India. It was a massive campaign for boycotting the British goods and using home-
made products. The Hindus responded to the movement enthusiastically. The use of local
products became a matter of pride. Foreign clothes were thrown on bonfires. By 1908,
imports from Britain had fallen off significantly and sales of British goods in Indian markets
dropped drastically. So the British had to reverse the decision.

3) British Measures Failed: The British took several measures to bring the situation under
control but political unrest kept on growing. Restrictions were imposed on newspapers and
public ..._gatherings. Editors were imprisoned. The prisons were filled with revolutionary
activists. Tilak was also arrested in June 1908 and put behind the bars for 6 years. Apart
from repressive measures, the British turned to reconciliation also by introducing Morley-
Minto reforms in 1909 to win support of the Hindus, but the reforms also could not pacify
them. The situation was becoming difficult for peaceful administration and ultimately the
British had to move towards annulment of the partition.

4) The Swadeshi Movement

• This moment of 1905 started as an Anti-Partition agitation against the British

government's decision to partition Bengal. The protest movement demanded for boycott of
all British goods such as silk spices and clothes. British clothes were thrown on fire and
people started using locally produced goods. Workers denied going to British factories.
Soon the sale of British goods dropped dramatically.
The British decision of reverting back partition of Bengal helped the Muslims to realize the
importance of standing on their feet and to organize themselves politically. It also affirmed
the apprehension of Sir Syed that the Muslims might submerge in the majority of Hindus

Important developments occurred during the first decade of the 20th century like
annulment of the Partition of Bengal and Western aggression towards Muslim countries,
Balkan wars, Libya-• Italy war. Demolition of the mosque in Kawnpur (1913). etc.
weakened Muslim faith in the British. This led to a major drift in the Muslim League's
policy.

In 1913. the League changed its goals:

• Self government under the British Crown keeping in view the peculiar conditions in India.
Good relations with other communities' cooperation with any party working for similar
goals. This change brought the ML and Congress closer. In this way the era of cooperation
betweeii Hindus and Muslims set in. The role of the Quaid-i-Azam is highly noteworthy to
bring the Congress and the Muslim League to the table. He joined the Muslim League in
1913.

❖.

❖ He took an active role in disseminating the Non-Cooperation Movement's policies and

programs throughout the country. • He and other loyalists toured the country in an attempt
to rally public support and mobilize the masses in support of the movement. ❖ The
Khilafat movement and the Non-Cooperation movement were movements formed in 1919-
1922 to oppose British rule in India.

both mass

Gandhi led his nonviolent nationalist movement satyagraha in response to

government repressions, such as the Rowlatt Act of 1919 and the Jallianwala Bagh
Massacres of April 1919. O Gandhi supported the Khilafat cause and became a member of
the Central Khilafat Committee in order to gain Muslim support for his movement. • Gandhi
linked the issue of Swaraj (Self-Government) with the Khilafat demands at the Nagpur
Session (1920) of the Indian National Congress and adopted the non-cooperation plan to
achieve the twin goals.