Salt March
At midnight on the 31st of December 1929, the Indian National Congress raised a triple color flag on the banks of the Ravi River in Lahore. This act marked the public issuance of the Declaration of Sovereignty and Self-rule, known as Purna Swaraj. The declaration stated that India must sever its connection with Britain to attain complete sovereignty. It declared that if any government deprives people of their freedom, those people have the right to alter or abolish it. The British government had deprived Indians of these rights through economic exploitation and political oppression. Jawaharlal Nehru led this movement alongside Mahatma Gandhi. The Congress Working Committee gave Gandhi responsibility for organizing the first act of civil disobedience. They chose the 1882 Salt Act as the target because it affected every class of citizen. The tax represented 8.2% of the total revenue collected by the British Raj. It hurt the poorest Indians more than any other law.
On the 12th of March 1930, Gandhi and 78 trusted volunteers set out from Sabarmati Ashram. Their destination was the coastal village of Dandi in Navsari district. The journey covered 385 kilometers over 24 days. The marchers wore white Khadi cloth, earning the procession the name White Flowing River. On the first day they walked 21 kilometers to Aslali. There Gandhi spoke to a crowd of about 4,000 people. Volunteers collected donations and registered new participants at each stop. Thousands joined the line as it grew longer. By the end of the route, the procession stretched at least 3 kilometers. At Surat, crowds of 30,000 greeted them. When they reached the railhead at Dandi, more than 50,000 people waited. Foreign journalists and three Bombay cinema companies followed closely. They turned Gandhi into a household name across Europe and America. Time magazine named him Man of the Year at the end of 1930. The New York Times published front-page articles on the 6th and the 7th of April.
Foreign newsreels and newspaper reports transformed a local protest into a worldwide symbol of resistance. United Press correspondent Webb Miller sent telegrams from India that were initially censored by British operators. He threatened to expose the censorship before his story could pass through. His report appeared in 1,350 newspapers throughout the world. Senator John J. Blaine read the account into the official record of the United States Senate. Millions saw newsreels showing the march and the subsequent beatings. The coverage demonstrated the effective use of civil disobedience against social injustice. It gave impetus to the Indian independence movement globally. The British government felt shaken by the international attention. Nonviolent protest left officials confused about whether to jail Gandhi or not. John Court Curry, an Indian Imperial Police officer, wrote that he felt nausea dealing with Congress demonstrations in 1930. The media exposure forced the British to recognize their control depended on Indian consent rather than force alone.
Thousands of women emerged from seclusion to join Congress demonstrations and assist in picketing. This marked the first time women became mass participants in the struggle for freedom. Usha Mehta recalled how old aunts and grandmothers brought pitchers of salt water home to manufacture illegal salt. They shouted at the top of their voices that they had broken the law. A government report noted that thousands of them joined the fight despite police efforts to stop them. Their presence made the work required of the police particularly unpleasant. Salt sold illegally all over the coast of India. A pinch of salt made by Gandhi himself sold for 1,600 rupees. In reaction, the British arrested over sixty thousand people by the end of April. Unpopular forest laws were defied in Bombay, Mysore, and Central Provinces. Gujarati peasants refused to pay tax under threat of losing crops. Bengalis in Midnapore took part by refusing to pay the chowkidar tax. The movement grew almost spontaneously into a mass satyagraha across the subcontinent.
On the midnight between the 4th and the 5th of May 1930, District magistrates arrested Gandhi near Poona. He was held without trial while others planned a raid on the Dharasana Salt Works. Abbas Tyabji led the march with Gandhi's wife Kasturba at his side. Both were arrested before reaching the site and sentenced to three months in prison. Sarojini Naidu then took command of the remaining protesters. She warned them not to use violence even if they were beaten. Soldiers clubbed the unarmed satyagrahis with steel-tipped lathis. Webb Miller reported hearing sickening whacks on unprotected skulls. Those struck down fell sprawling unconscious or writhing in pain. Great patches of blood widened on their white clothes. Survivors marched on silently until struck down again. The police became enraged and began savagely kicking seated men in the abdomen and testicles. They dragged some men for hundred yards and threw them into ditches. Vithalbhai Patel watched the beatings and declared that all hope of reconciling India with Britain was lost forever.
Civil disobedience continued until early 1931 when Gandhi was finally released from prison. He held talks with Lord Irwin on equal terms for the first time. These discussions resulted in the signing of the Gandhi-Irwin Pact. The agreement allowed for the convening of the Second Round Table Conference at the end of 1931. Over 60,000 Indians had been jailed as a result of the Salt Satyagraha campaign. The British did not make immediate major concessions despite the pressure. The movement ended as official policy in 1934 when Congress leaders decided to stop satyagraha. Nehru and other members drifted further apart from Gandhi who withdrew to focus on his Constructive Programme. This included efforts to end untouchability within the Harijan movement. The pact marked a significant step toward recognizing Indian claims for sovereignty even without full independence.
More than thirty years later, American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. studied Gandhi's campaigns deeply. He became fascinated by the concept of Satyagraha which means truth force or love force. King saw the potency of nonviolent resistance in social reform after reading about the Salt March. The march influenced future movements including the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. It forced the British to recognize that their rule depended entirely on Indian consent. Sir Charles Innes admitted England could hold India only by consent rather than by the sword. A memorial museum dedicated to the event opened in Dandi on the 30th of January 2019. The route from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi was christened the Dandi Path and declared a historical heritage route. The Mahatma Gandhi Foundation re-enacted the march on its 75th anniversary with 900 registered participants from nine nations. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh greeted the marchers at the finale in Dandi. India issued commemorative stamps in 1980 and 2005 marking the 50th and 75th anniversaries.
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Common questions
What was the purpose of the Salt March led by Mahatma Gandhi?
The Salt March aimed to protest the British Salt Act and declare India's sovereignty through civil disobedience. The movement targeted a tax that represented 8.2% of total revenue collected by the British Raj and hurt the poorest Indians more than any other law.
When did the Salt March begin and how long did it take to complete?
Mahatma Gandhi began the march on the 12th of March 1930 from Sabarmati Ashram. He and 78 volunteers covered 385 kilometers over 24 days to reach the coastal village of Dandi in Navsari district.
How many people were arrested during the Salt Satyagraha campaign?
Over sixty thousand people were arrested by the end of April as part of the Salt Satyagraha campaign. Thousands of women emerged from seclusion to join Congress demonstrations and assist in picketing despite police efforts to stop them.
Who organized the first act of civil disobedience for the Indian National Congress?
Jawaharlal Nehru led the movement alongside Mahatma Gandhi while the Congress Working Committee gave Gandhi responsibility for organizing the first act of civil disobedience. They chose the 1882 Salt Act as the target because it affected every class of citizen.
What happened at the Dharasana Salt Works raid after Gandhi was arrested?
Sarojini Naidu took command of the remaining protesters after Gandhi was arrested near Poona on the midnight between the 4th and the 5th of May 1930. Soldiers clubbed unarmed satyagrahis with steel-tipped lathis, causing severe injuries and death among the marchers.
When did the British government officially end the policy of the Salt March movement?
The movement ended as official policy in 1934 when Congress leaders decided to stop satyagraha. The British did not make immediate major concessions despite the pressure and over 60,000 Indians had been jailed as a result of the campaign.