The cloth that embarrassed an empire
In 1921, Gandhi asked Indians to burn imported British mill cloth in public bonfires. This was not symbolism. It was a calculated economic strike: Lancashire's textile mills depended on Indian cotton exported cheaply, processed in England, and sold back to Indians at a profit. The handloom, which British colonial policy had systematically dismantled through punitive tariffs since the late 18th century, became the instrument of refusal. Khadi was not a fabric. It was a declaration that Indian hands could clothe Indian bodies without the permission of an empire.
