Ros blackburn biography of mahatma gandhi

Gandhi in Britain in 1931
Follow-ups to the item in programme 1

Gandhi in Lancashire and Sussex
Making History received information about other sightings of Mahatma Gandhi while he was here in Britain.

He visited the UK and stayed for 12 weeks in 1931 attending the Round Table Conference. A listener who went to school in Lancashire also asked us about Gandhi's visit to Darwen near Blackburn.

As part of its encouragement of civil disobedience and non co-operation with Britain, the All India Congress Party led a boycott of British goods, especially cotton textiles, and encouraged everyone in India to use homespun and woven cloth.

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Lancashire's mass-produced textiles had destroyed the hand-loom industry in India. Britain even restricted imports of cotton goods from India. Gandhi therefore took the time to see what conditions were like for Lancashire cotton workers.

As ever, Gandhi was in sympathy with the working people, though not so with the mill-owners.

Diane Rushton, S