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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