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March 12 is an important day for the Indian freedom struggle as the day marks the beginning of civil disobedience movement with the Dandi March. It has been 90 years since Gandhi's powerful Dandi walk protesting the British salt tax.
This was not the first time that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi had decided to lead a march. Few of his older works among the indigo peasants in Champaran, Bihar in 1917 and among Kheda's peasants in Gujarat the following year. Both those roads led to the removal of the peasants' grievances within some six months.
Britain’s Salt Act of 1882 prohibited Indians from collecting or selling salt, a staple in their diet. Salt production and distribution in India had long been a lucrative monopoly of the British. Through a series of laws, the Indian populace was prohibited from producing or selling salt independently, and instead Indians were required to buy expensive, heavily taxed salt that often was imported. This affected the great majority of Indians, who were poor and could not afford to buy it. Indian protests against the salt tax began in the 19th century and remained a major contentious issue throughout the period of British rule of the subcontinent.
Salt March, also called Dandi March or Salt Satyagraha, major nonviolent protest action in India led by Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi, commenced from the ashram premises on the banks of the river Sabarmati, Ahmedabad, at 6.30 a.m. on March 12, 1930. Gandhiji, staff in hand, frail, but full of energy even at the age of 61, led the 78 satyagrahis. These represented a cross-section of the people from all over the country: Andhra, Bengal, Bihar, Bombay, Gujarat, Karnatak, Kerala, Cutch, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajputana, Sind, Tamiland, U.P.,Utkal and even Nepal. Besides Hindus, there were among them two Muslims, one Christian and two Harijans.
The long 386 km trek finally ended on April 5, 1930. Along the way Gandhiji and his companions had broken journey for the night at 22 places. The day began with prayers. After prayers, Gandhiji with his followers took a bath in the sea. Then at 8.30 a.m. he defied the Salt Law by picking up a lump of salt. Smt. Sarojni Naidu who was there, hailed him as a ‘law-breaker.’
No arrests were made that day, and Gandhi continued his satyagraha against the salt tax for the next two months, exhorting other Indians to break the salt laws by committing acts of civil disobedience. Thousands were arrested and imprisoned, including Gandhi himself in early May after he informed Lord Irwin (the viceroy of India) of his intention to march on the nearby Dharasana saltworks. News of Gandhi’s detention spurred tens of thousands more to join the satyagraha. The march on the saltworks went ahead as planned on May 21, led by the poet Sarojini Naidu, and many of the some 2,500 peaceful marchers were attacked and beaten by police. By the end of the year, some 60,000 people were in jail.
Raids in succession were also made on the salt depot at Wadala, a suburb of Bombay. On May 18, some 470 satyagrahis who sent out for the raid were arrested. But the most demonstrative raid came off on June 1st , when some 15,000 volunteers and spectators participated in the great mass action. The mounted police charged into the crowd, striking heads with clubs. Similar raids took place in Karnataka on Sanikatta salt works, in which some 10,000 raiders took away thousands of maunds of salt under the shower of lathis and bullets. George Slocombe , a British journalist, who witnessed the raid on the Wadala salt depot, wrote, “The imprisoned Mahatma, now incarnates the very soul of India.”
The arrest of Congress leaders in North-West Frontier Province led to a mass demonstration in Peshawar. Finally, Gandhi was arrested on the midnight of 4-5 May. The Satyagraha continued for a year until Gandhi was released from jail. Finally, Gandhi was released in January 1931 and began negotiations with Lord Irwin regarding the Satyagraha. Gandhi-Irwin pact was signed on 5th March 1931, this led Gandhi to attend the second round table conference in London.
As soon as Gandhiji started the march, the image of Mahatma leading the nation stirred the imagination of the entire nation. On 6th April 1930, by picking up a handful of salt, Gandhiji started the Civil Disobedience Movement, a movement that was to remain unprecedented in the history of the Indian national movement for the countrywide mass participation that it was able to weave together. Gandhiji’s non-violent means of protest began to be adopted all over the country. It expanded the social base of India’s struggle for independence, people from varied, caste, creed, religion, and region became part of the movement.
The march was the first act in an even-larger campaign of civil disobedience (satyagraha) Gandhi waged against British rule in India that extended into early 1931 and garnered Gandhi widespread support among the Indian populace and considerable worldwide attention.
