UPSC CAPF AC 2019 Paper

The Swadeshi Movement had its genesis in the antipartition movement which was stated to oppose the British decision to partition Bengal. The Anti-Partition Movement was the work of the entire national leadership of Bengal and not of any one section of the movement. Its most prominent leaders at the initial stage were moderate leaders like Surendranath Banerjee and Krishna Kumar Mitra; militant and revolutionary nationalists took over in the later stages.
The Movement was initiated on 7 August, 1905. On that day a massive demonstration against the partition was organised in the Town Hall in Calcutta. From this meeting delegate dispersed to spread the movement to the rest of the province. The partition took effect on 16 October, 1905. The leaders of the protest movement declared it to be a day of national mourning throughout Bengal. It was observed as a day of fasting. There was a Hartal in Calcutta.