industrialists participation in civil disobidient movement

The following points analyse the role of merchants and the industrialists in the Civil Disobedience Movement:

1. During the First World War, Indian merchants and industrialists made huge profits and emerged as a powerful section. They opposed colonial policies that restricted business activities because they wanted to expand their business.
2. They wanted protection against imports of foreign goods and a rupee sterling foreign exchange ratio that would discourage imports.
3. The industrialists criticised colonial control over the Indian economy and supported the Civil Disobedience Movement at its first stage.
4. They gave financial assistance and refused to buy or sell imported goods.
5. Most industrialists thought ‘Swaraj’ as a time when colonial restriction did not exist in the business world, as a result, trade and business would flourish without constraints.