Dandi March or Salt March
Well, Gandhiji choose to violate the salt ordinance, but he did so through nonviolence rather than violence. As a result, this act falls under Gandhiji’s nonviolent civil disobedience action, which was started in response to the British government’s unjust policies.
The salt march was famously known as the Dandi March or the Dandi Satyagraha. It started on 12 March 1930 and lasts till 6 April 1930. It was a 24-day long march, which was a direct-action campaign of tax resistance, where people refused to pay tax for an essential item like salt for humans, and protested against the British salt monopoly. There’s also another reason to start the march was to inspire more people to fight for their rights and connect with the civil disobedience movement. The march was started by Gandhi Ji along with his 78 trusted volunteers. They started the march from the Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi. Which was an almost 239 miles long path. At that time, the place was Navsari, which is now part of the state of Gujarat. Slowly, a large number of people joined the march along the way. At last, Gandhi Ji broke the British Raj salt law on 6 April 1930, in the morning at 8:30. This act proved to be the stepping stone for the civil disobedience action, which was supported by millions of Indians. To break the salt law, Gandhi Ji encourages the people to make the salt themselves with the evaporation technique. For this, he started making salt by himself first. Along the way, he continued to meet people and encouraged them to participate in the civil disobedience act.
Originally, the Congress party had planned to stage the satyagraha at the place named Dharasana Salt Works, which was situated 25 miles south of Dandi. However, before the act could take place, Gandhi Ji got arrested. As a result, the Dandi movement drew the attention of people worldwide through the newspapers and many other sources. At this point, the satyagraha against the salt law continued for almost a year. And ended with negotiation with Viceroy Lord Irwin at the Second Round Table Conference, along with the release of Gandhi Ji from jail.
Why did Gandhiji choose to break the salt law?
The salt law was suggested in the year 1882, according to which, the British government has the monopoly on the manufacturing and collection of the salt. Because of this, the handling of the salt was limited to the depots governed by the British government, and the violation of the law was considered an act of criminal offense. Gandhiji choose to break the salt law, as according to him, it was a sinful act to tax the salt since it was an essential item for regular use and also for the health of the people in the country.
In this article, we will be discussing the main reasons, why Gandhi Ji choose to violate the salt law and how much it affected the civil disobedient movement, and overall the whole freedom struggle.