The second National Handloom Day was celebrated all over the country, on August 7, 2016. 7th August was notified by the Government of India as National Handloom Day 2015 with the objective to generate awareness about the importance of handloom industry and its contribution to the socioeconomic development of the country in general and to promote handlooms, increase income of weavers and enhance their pride in particular.
FACTS AND FIGURES
The date August 7 has been chosen due to its special significance in India’s freedom struggle; it was on this day in 1905 that the Swadeshi Movement was formally launched, at a massive meeting in the Calcutta Town hall. The Swadesh Movement had its genesis in the anti-partition movement which was stated to oppose the British decision to partition Bengal. October 16, 1905, the day the partition formally came into force, was observed as a day of mourning throughout Bengal. The methods adopted were petitions to the Government, public meetings, memoranda, and propaganda through pamphlets and newspapers such as Hitabadi, Sanjibani and Bengalee.
The objective of nationalists were to exert sufficient pressure on the Government through an educated public opinion in India and England to prevent the unjust partition of Bengal from being implemented.
The movement involved revival of domestic products and production processes. The Government of India has declared August 7 as National Handloom Day every year, in memory of this.