States) and ban on exports which led to dampening of the cotton price were some of the issues that came forward. But then this involvement in the cotton farmers’ issue was only at the level of discussion. The first actual struggle started only in the next year. After the assassination of Indira Gandhi on 31 October 1984, Rajiv Gandhi became the Prime Minister. On 6 June 1985 he announced new textiles policy. According to Joshi, it was aimed at encouraging synthetic fiber and against the interests of the cotton growers. Therefore he launched agitation against it from 2 October 1985. That was the formal beginning of SS struggle for cotton farmers. To explain the rationale behind this agitation Joshi wrote in Shetakari Sanghatak (20 September 1985): ‘Cotton has a special place in the history of India’s freedom struggle. It was mentioned that buying cotton at the lowest possible rate and selling the ready cloth at the highest possible rate was the hallmark of the British policy. The programme of boycotting foreign cloth and using swadeshi was implemented. Spinning Wheel became the symbol of the freedom movement. Rajiv Gandhi’s textile policy is exact opposite of the India Mahatma Gandhi had imagined. Our proposed agitation is a good example to illustrate my opinion that, it is the Shetkari Sanghatana which is actually carrying forward Mahatma Gandhi’s incomplete freedom struggle. Earlier there were restrictions on the use of synthetic yarn. It was mandatory for the textile mills that 80% of the yarn they used had to be cotton yarn. Despite of it cotton was not fetching good price. During the period in which cloth prices increased by 300%, the cotton prices only increased by 60%. Now the textile mills are permitted not to use any cotton at all. In that case how can cotton fetch good price?’ In town after town meetings were held. It was decided to boycott synthetic cloth and to put fire to it publicly. (Joshi always wore cotton clothes.) He personally spent several hours every day in preparing posters and slogans, in discussions with When White Gold Turned Red
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