Gandhi's Dandi

Starting a 75 week countdown to the country's 75th Independence anniversary "Azaadi ka Amrit mahotsav" , PM Modi flagged off a symbolic Dandi march from Ahmedabad today on the 91st anniversary of the historic episode of Indian history. Let's once go through what actually happened back then that led to this stupendous march and what happened later on.

What led to it The Congress led by Nehru declared Purna Swaraj on 26 January 1930 and entrusted Gandhi with the task of organising the first ever disobedience act against the British. Gandhi targeted the infamous 1882 Salt Act. The 1882 Salt Act gave the British the monopoly to manufacture and sell salt. Even though salt was freely available on the coasts of our country, Indians were forced to buy it from the colonial British only. Gandhi's decision was followed by many top leaders of the party showing lack if faith and potential in the idea and some even mocking it. A prominent newspaper wrote "It is difficult not to laugh, and we imagine that will be the mood of most thinking Indians. The then Viceroy Lord Irwin was least bothered and just ignored it the prospect of a campaign saying "At present the prospect of a salt campaign does not keep me awake at night." But Gandhi was very confident of salt as an inaugurating factor for Civil Disobedience. Standing by his choice, "Next to air and water, salt is perhaps the greatest necessity of life." he exclaimed.

How it began Gandhi wrote a letter to Irwin on 31st January 1930 stating 11 demands of which abolishing salt tax and British monopoly was the most prominent one. It was also an ultimatum, if the demands weren't met by March 11, then a civil disobedience campaign would be launched. But as mentioned, Irwin just heard it through one ear and let it off another. After he ignored the letter and refused to meet with Gandhi, Gandhi remarked, "On bended knees I asked for bread and I have received stone instead." Gandhi made preparations to conduct a Salt satyagraha through a 24 day march from March 12 to April 5 . An American media report wrote that "60,000 persons gathered on the bank of the river to hear Gandhi's call to arms. This call to arms was perhaps the most remarkable call to war that has ever been made." Emphasizing on Satyagraha, Gandhi said "Truth (satya) implies love, and firmness (agraha) engenders and therefore serves as a synonym for force. I thus began to call the Indian movement Satyagraha, that is to say, the Force which is born of Truth and Love or nonviolence, and gave up the use of the phrase "passive resistance" Gandhi chose 6 April to launch the mass breaking of the salt laws for a symbolic reason—it was the first day of "National Week" the begun in 1919 when Gandhi conceived of the national strike against the Rowlatt Act What started off at Sabarmati with 78 followers eventually had near to a lakh people participating as they reached Dandi, with people joining the march at various village stops where Gandhi daily used to give speeches throughout 24 days. The rich and the poor, upper and lower castes, Hindus and Muslims, one and all, vied with one another for this.

The Salt March was also called the White Flowing River because all the people were joining the procession wearing white khadi. And it was on April 6 morning when Gandhi raised a lump of salty mud and declared, "With this, I am shaking the foundations of the British Empire." He then ceremonially violated the law by boiling it in seawater, producing salt and calling for people across India to do the same wherever whenever possible.

What happened lateron This was just the beginning of the massive disobedience movement that was about to come. The illegal manufacture and sale of salt was accompanied by the boycott of foreign cloth and liquor. What started as salt satyagraha soon grew into mass satyagraha. Forest laws were flouted and many people refused to pay land taxes too. Gandhi became a household name in Europe and America as the march gained international media coverage. He was Times Magazine " Man of the year" for 1930." So massive was it's influence that more than thirty years later, American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr during his fight for civil rights for blacks said "Like most people, I had heard of Gandhi, but I had never studied him seriously. As I read I became deeply fascinated by his campaigns of nonviolent resistance. I was particularly moved by his Salt March to the Sea and his numerous fasts. The whole concept of Satyagraha was profoundly significant to me. As I delved deeper into the philosophy of Gandhi, my skepticism concerning the power of love gradually diminished, and I came to see for the first time its potency in the area of social reform."

Gandhi was called to the round table conference in London post his release from Jail and also a Gandhi Irwin pact was signed. The march was indeed a great impetus to the Indian Independence movement and was highly responsible for bringing all Indians together putting aside all differences.

Jai Hind!