Gandhi led a non-violent march with thousands of Indians from March to April 1930 to protest the British salt tax. They walked 240 miles from Ahmedabad to the coast. On April 6th, Gandhi broke the law by making salt from the sea, sparking widespread civil disobedience across India. Nearly 60,000 people, including Gandhi, were arrested for disobeying British laws. This Salt March helped ignite the Indian independence movement.
2. In December, 1929,the Indian National Congress declared
that total independence for India was its avowed objective
and to that effect January 26,1930 , was celebrated as
Independence Day throughout the country. People
everywhere enthusiastically pledged themselves to fight
for “Purna Swaraj”. Again this background, Gandhiji
under the authority of the Congress took the first step and
launched the civil disobedience movement known as the
Salt Satyagraha. This was considered as civil
disobedience by the British as producing salt was their
monopoly.
3. The March was intended to
protest against the nefarious
provisions of the Salt Tax
imposed by the British.
The March, in effect, was the
spark that ignited the flames of
the Freedom Movement and
caused the idea of mass civil
disobedience to spread like
wildfire across the nation.
It was based on non violent
Satyagraha. Gandhian ideas were
widely followed.
It was an open challenge to the
British rule. The people openly
disobeyed laws.
4. Gandhiji led a march on foot
from Sabarmati to Dandi. He
broke the Salt Law at Dandi
and inaugurated the
Movement.
Followed by an entourage of
seventy nine Ashramites.
On 6th April 1930, Gandhi
with the accompaniment of
seventy nine satyagrahis,
violated the Salt Law by
picking up a fistful of salt
lying on the sea shore. They
manually made salt on the
shores of Dandi.
5. The program of the Civil
Disobedience Movement
(also known as Dandi
March) incorporated besides
the breaking of the Salt
Laws, picketing of shops
selling foreign goods and
liquor, bonfire of cloth,
refusal to pay taxes and
avoidance of offices by the
public officers and schools
by the students.
Even the women joined
forces against the British.
6. Rich Peasants- Depression
and fall in prices affected
them badly. They demanded
reduction in land revenue.
Poor peasants- Depression
affected them badly. They
demanded reduction in rent.
Business Class- They
demanded protection
against the import of foreign
goods.
Industrial Workers- They
were poorly paid.
Conditions of work were
miserable.
7. In the March of 1930,
Gandhi met with the
Viceroy, Lord Irwin and
signed an agreement known
as the Gandhi-Irwin Pact.
The two main clauses of the
pact entailed; Congress
participation in the Round
Table Conference and
cessation of The Civil
Disobedience Movement.
The Government of India
released all Satyagrahis
from prison.
8. The Salt March, which took place from March to April
1930 in India, was an act of civil disobedience led by
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) to protest British rule in
India. During the march, thousands of Indians followed
Gandhi from his religious retreat near Ahmedabad to the
Arabian Sea coast, a distance of some 240 miles. The
march resulted in the arrest of nearly 60,000 people,
including Gandhi himself. India finally was granted its
independence in 1947.
