On this day, The Sun, published from Sydney, printed the news of cloth merchants in Calcutta boycotting British products.
“After weeks of persistent advocacy, Indian cloth dealers of Calcutta unanimously decided to boycott British goods till the end of the year,” it reported.
This came following the Salt March by Mahatma Gandhi and his Civil Disobedience Movement, but Gandhi had himself provided the impetus in Calcutta the previous year.
On March 4, 1929, Gandhi had addressed a meeting in Shradhdhhananda Park. A bonfire had been lit of foreign goods following this and Gandhi was arrested. He was released on bail the same night. The next morning he left for a tour of Burma.
On his return he was tried in Calcutta and sentenced to pay a fine of Re 1 on March 26.
Someone paid the fine without Gandhi’s knowledge and consent.
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