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91st anniversary of the historic ‘Dandi March’ led by Mahatma Gandhi

  • Posted By
    10Pointer
  • Categories
    History & Culture
  • Published
    13th Mar, 2021

Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off a symbolic 386-kilometer ‘Dandi march’, following the same route to commemorate the historic salt march.

Context

Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off a symbolic 386-kilometer ‘Dandi march’, following the same route to commemorate the historic salt march.

About the Dandi March

  • Dandi March was a 24-day march from March 12 to April 5, 1930.
  • Objective: It was a tax resistance campaign against the British salt monopoly.
  • It marked the inauguration of the civil disobedience movement.
  • Principal: The march was based on Gandhi’s principle of non-violence or Satyagraha.
  • An organized movement: The Dandi march was the most significant organized movement against the British Raj after the non-cooperation movement of the early 1920s.
  • A group of 78 men, who were bona fide ashramites, accompanied him during the march.
  • There were thirty-one marchers from Gujarat, thirteen from Maharashtra, lesser numbers from the United Provinces, Kerala, Punjab, and Sindh, with Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Karnataka, Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa sending one man apiece.
  • The diversity was social as well as geographical, for among the chosen marchers were many students and khadi workers, several ‘untouchables’, a few Muslims and one Christian,”.
  • Even though women too wanted to be part of the march, Gandhi preferred to keep it restricted to men alone.
  • Significance: It is considered truly a turning point in the Indian Independence movement.
  • End of movement: In 1931, Mahatma Gandhi was released and met Lord Irwin who wanted to put an end to the civil disobedience movement.
  • As a result,the Gandhi-Irwin pact was signed, the civil disobedience movement was halted and Indians were allowed to make salt for domestic use.
  • Arrested Indians were also released.
  • The Second Round Table Conference was attended by Mahatma Gandhi in London.

Why did Gandhi call for the Dandi March?

  • To break the monopoly: The 1882 Salt Act gave the British a monopoly in the manufacture and sale of salt. Even though salt was freely available on the coasts of India, Indians were forced to buy it from the colonizers.
  • Symbol of unity: Gandhi saw salt as a symbol of unifying power as it was the most common element among all the individuals.

Some other similar initiatives at the time of Salt Satyagraha

  • Tax breaks: Apart from the salt tax, several other unpopular tax laws were also disobeyed including the forest laws, chowkidar tax, land tax, etc.
    • In Salt Satyagraha, thousands of women also participated, people boycotted foreign materials like clothes, Liquor shops were picketed. There were strikes all over.
    • Several marches continued and salt was produced illegally in Assam and Andhra Pradesh.
  • ·        In South India: Another similar march was started by C Rajagopalachari on the south coast from Trichy to Vedaranyam in Tamil Nadu.
    • He was also arrested for making salt.
    • In the Malabar region, K Kelappan led a march from Calicut to Payyanur.
  • ·        North Western Province: Another Satyagraha was organized in Peshawar, led by Mahatma Gandhi's disciple, Ghaffar Khan.
    • He was arrested in April 1930.
  • ·        On 21 May 1930, Sarojini Naidu led a protest against the Dharsana Salt Works by non-violent protestors.
    • To suppress the movement, Britisherslathi-charged the protestors which resulted in the deaths of two and several protestors were injured.

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