A Journal of Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya

they were in the past. His book “Swadeshi
Movement and Boycott” contains an article
“How the English ruined our Trade and
Economy.” Going through the book, one
is repeatedly reminded of Dadabhai
Nauroji’s “Poverty and un-British rule in
India”and Sakharam Ganesh Devaskar’s
“Desher Kotha”. In his book, Sapreji has
proved how in the 18th and 19th Century,
the British with a diabolical intention and
in a callous manner ruined and destroyed
India’s Cottage Industries, Art and Craft
reducing it to an agricultural colony of
Industrial England whose function was to
supply raw material to Britain.
The causes and consequences of 1857
revolt have been discussed on a large
scale. The loot and plunder of India by
the British was one of the causes leading
to the revolt. Keeping in mind that the
trade policy of Britain was based on
economic exploitation of India the Swadeshi
Movement and Boycott may be considerd
a trade war. He writes, “No weapons are
required in this struggle. What is necessary
is firm determination, strong unity and
deep unflinching devotion to the country.”
The greater the degree of success in this
battle, the richer the harvest. One of
Madhav Rao Sapre’s eminent articles “An
investigation of National Awakening” was
published in “Maryada” in September, 1915.
Although this article was based on another
one, published in the ‘Indian Review’ in
1912, Sapreji has expressed his deep
understanding of National Reawakening.
Initially, using the word ‘revival’, he
replaced it with ‘rebirth’.
Analyzing the mental development of
the people during the middle ages, he
says :
“Due to lack of confidence in their
intellectual ability, mental strength and
skill, they were unable to initiate and
accelerate national development and
growth. Hence, they reverted back to
conservatism, resorting to orthodox
practices and dogmatic beliefs, thus
stultifying the thinking and reasoning
process, of the people, consequently
Casteism flourished, and caste barriers
became insurmountable”. According to
Sapreji, later on, with the spread of western
education, and western culture, a liberal
outlook developed and assimilation of new
ideas began – bringing out unprecedented
changes in the society. Elaborating his
point further, he writes:- “Our ancient ideas,
thoughts and beliefs were jostled with the
new ones flowing in, questioning old values,
customs and beliefs. This dynamic process
of transformation once set in motion was
not to be cowed down by an ostentatious
display of words, and provided ample scope
for examination and thereby giving a clarion
call to the people to assert newly discovered
truths and ideologies with conviction. The
spirit of Nationalism was born under these
circumstances. The principal signs of
Nationalist spirit was a growing feeling
of Swadeshi, which included devotion to
16 :: January-March 2012