Salt March
The Salt march, also known as the Salt Satyagraha, Dandi March, and the Dandi Satyagraha, was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India, led by Mahatma Gandhi. The 24-day march lasted from 12 March 1930 to 5 April 1930 as a direct action campaign of tax resistance and nonviolent protest against the British salt monopoly. Another reason for this march was that the Civil Disobedience Movement needed a strong inauguration that would inspire more people to follow Gandhi's example. Gandhi started this march with 78 of his trusted volunteers. The march spanned 387 kilometres (240 mi), from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi, which was called Navsari at that time (now in the state of Gujarat).[1] Growing numbers of Indians joined them along the way. When Gandhi broke the British Raj salt laws at 8:30 am on 6 April 1930, it sparked large-scale acts of civil disobedience against the salt laws by millions of Indians.[2]
Date
After making the salt by evaporation at Dandi, Gandhi continued southward along the coast, making salt and addressing meetings on the way. The Congress Party planned to stage a satyagraha at the Dharasana Salt Works, 40 km (25 mi) south of Dandi. However, Gandhi was arrested on the midnight of 4–5 May 1930, just days before the planned action at Dharasana. The Dandi March and the ensuing Dharasana Satyagraha drew worldwide attention to the Indian independence movement through extensive newspaper and newsreel coverage. The satyagraha against the salt tax continued for almost a year, ending with Gandhi's release from jail and negotiations with Viceroy Lord Irwin at the Second Round Table Conference.[3] Although over 60,000 Indians were jailed as a result of the Salt Satyagraha,[4] the British did not make immediate major concessions.[5]
The Salt Satyagraha campaign was based upon Gandhi's principles of non-violent protest called satyagraha, which he loosely translated as "truth-force".[6] Literally, it is formed from the Sanskrit words satya, "truth", and agraha, "insistence". In early 1920 the Indian National Congress chose satyagraha as their main tactic for winning Indian sovereignty and self-rule from British rule and appointed Gandhi to organise the campaign. Gandhi chose the 1882 British Salt Act as the first target of satyagraha. The Salt March to Dandi, and the beating by the colonial police of hundreds of nonviolent protesters in Dharasana, which received worldwide news coverage, demonstrated the effective use of civil disobedience as a technique for fighting against social and political injustice.[7] The satyagraha teachings of Gandhi and the March to Dandi had a significant influence on American activists Martin Luther King Jr., James Bevel, and others during the Civil Rights Movement for civil rights for African Americans and other minority groups in the 1960s.[8] The march was the most significant organised challenge to British authority since the Non-cooperation movement of 1920–22, and directly followed the Purna Swaraj declaration of sovereignty and self-rule by the Indian National Congress on 26 January 1930 by celebrating Independence Day.[9] It gained worldwide attention which gave impetus to the Indian independence movement and started the nationwide Civil Disobedience Movement which continued until 1934 in Gujarat.
Re-enactment in 2005[edit]
To commemorate the Great Salt March, the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation re-enacted the Salt March on its 75th anniversary, in its exact historical schedule and route followed by the Mahatma and his band of 78 marchers. The event was known as the "International Walk for Justice and Freedom". What started as a personal pilgrimage for Mahatma Gandhi's great-grandson Tushar Gandhi turned into an international event with 900 registered participants from nine nations and on a daily basis the numbers swelled to a couple of thousands. There was extensive reportage in the international media.
The participants halted at Dandi on the night of 5 April, with the commemoration ending on 7 April. At the finale in Dandi, the prime minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh, greeted the marchers and promised to build an appropriate monument at Dandi to commemorate the marchers and the historical event. The route from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi has now been christened as the Dandi Path and has been declared a historical heritage route.[90][91]
India issued a series of commemorative stamps in 1980 and 2005, on the 50th and 75th anniversaries of the Dandi March.[92]
Memorial[edit]
The National Salt Satyagraha Memorial, a memorial museum, dedicated to the event was opened in Dandi on 30 January 2019.
March Route[edit]
Day 1. Ahmedabad to Anslali: 12 March 1930
Day 2. Aslali to Navagam: 13 March 1930
Day 3. Navagam to Matar: 14 March 1930
Day 4. Matar to Nadiad: 15 March 1930
Day 5. Nadiad to Anand: 16 March 1930
Day 6. Rest Day in Anand: 17 March 1930
Day 7. Anand to Borsad: 18 March 1930
Day 8. Borsad to Kareli (Crossing the Mahi River): 19 March 1930
Day 9. Rest Day in Kareli: 20 March 1930
Day 10. Kareli to Ankhi: 21 March 1930
Day 11. Ankhi to Amod: 22 March 1930
Day 12. Amod to Samni: 23 March 1930
Day 13. Rest Day in Samni: 24 March 1930
Day 14. Samni to Derol: 25 March 1930
Day 15. Derol to Ankleshwar (Crossing the Narmada River): 26 March 1930
Day 16. Ankleswar to Mangrol: 27 March 1930
Day 17. Mangrol to Umracchi: 28 March 1930
Day 18. Umracchi to Bhatgam: 29 March 1930
Day 19. Bhatgam to Delad: 30 March 1930
Day 20. Rest Day in Delad: 31 March 1930
Day 21. Delad to Surat (Crossing the Tapi River): 1 April 1930
Day 22. Surat to Vanz: 2 April 1930
Day 23. Vanz to Navsari: 3 April 1930
Day 24. Navsari to Matwad: 4 April 1930
Day 25. Matwad to Dandi: 5 April 1930[93]