About 60,000 people, including Gandhiji, were arrested by the British (File photo)
Gandhi found in salt a powerful symbol that could unite the nation. On January 31, 1930, he sent a letter to Viceroy Irwin making eleven demands. Among them was the demand to abolish the salt tax
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Salt March, also known as Dandi March or Salt Satyagraha, was a large non-violent protest in India led by Mahatma Gandhi in March–April 1930. It was the first act of the larger civil disobedience movement satyagraha that Gandhi started against British rule in India. It stretched into early 1931 and Gandhi received widespread support from Indians.
Gandhi found in salt a powerful symbol that could unite the nation. On January 31, 1930, he sent a letter to Viceroy Irwin making eleven demands. Among them was the demand to abolish the salt tax. Salt was consumed by both the rich and the poor and it was one of the most essential foodstuffs. Gandhi stated that the tax on salt and the government monopoly on its production revealed the most oppressive face of British rule in India.
In the letter, Gandhi wrote that if the demands were not met by March 11, Congress would launch a civil disobedience campaign. Irwin was unwilling to negotiate, which led to Gandhi starting the Salt March accompanied by 78 of his trusted volunteers.
The march was over 240 miles, starting from Gandhi’s ashram in Sabarmati to the coastal town of Dandi in Gujarati. The volunteers walked about 10 miles a day for 24 days. Gandhi urged everyone to peacefully defy the British. On April 6, he reached Dandi and ceremonially broke the law by manufacturing salt by boiling seawater.
Civil Disobedience Movement
About 60,000 people, including Gandhiji, were arrested by the British. The government tried to suppress the civil disobedience movement with more laws and censorship, and the Congress Party was declared illegal.
The colonial government began to arrest the congress leaders one by one, leading to violent clashes in several palaces. Peaceful satyagrahis were attacked, women and children were beaten and about 100,000 people were arrested. However, they continue the movement. In addition to the non-cooperative movement, Gandhiji continued the movement despite violent incidents in Calcutta and Karachi.
The Satyagrahis boycott foreign clothing, liquor stores were stolen. Farmers refused to pay revenues and chaukidari taxes, village officials resigned, and in many places forest dwellers violate forest laws – they go to Reserved Forests to collect wood and graze livestock.
On May 21, 1930, Sarojini Naidu led a peaceful non-violent protest against the Dharasana salt mines. The police brutally attacked the demonstrators, resulting in two deaths and others being seriously injured.
The move had shocked the British government. Its non-violent nature made it difficult for them to suppress it by force and it also brought India’s freedom struggle to the spotlight in Western media.
Gandhiji was released from prison in 1931. He met Lord Irwin who wanted to end the civil disobedience movement. Gandhi decided to call off the movement and on March 5, 1931, made a pact with Irwin. Through this pact, Gandhiji agreed to participate in a round table conference (the Congress had boycotted the first round table conference) in London and the government agreed. to release political prisoners.
In December 1931, Gandhiji went to London for the conference, but the negotiations broke down and he returned disappointed. Back in India, he found that the government had begun a new cycle of oppression. Ghaffar Khan and Jawaharlal Nehru were both in prison, the Congress had been declared illegal and a series of measures had been imposed to prevent rallies, demonstrations and boycotts. It was with great concern that Mahatma Gandhi relaunched the civil disobedience movement. The movement continued for over a year, but in 1934 it lost momentum.
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