SALT SATYAGRAHA THE DANDI MARCH

Salt Satyagraha, the Dandi March on March 12, 1930

• Salt March, also called Dandi March or Salt Satyagraha,  major nonviolent protest action in India led by Mohandas K. Gandhi in March–April 1930  and breaking the British salt laws about three weeks later at the seaside hamlet of Dandi. 

• This launched a mass struggle that filled the prisons and shook the foundations of the British Empire.The march was the first act in an even-larger campaign of civil disobedience (satyagraha) Gandhi waged against British rule in India that extended into early 1931 and garnered Gandhi widespread support among the Indian populace and considerable worldwide attention.

                   

• The Salt March is about a battle by an astute political campaigner to free his Country from the yoke of British colonialism. 

• Gandhi saw the march as a pilgrimage, as a living sermon. It was not merely about throwing out the mighty British Empire but to demonstrate what an ideal non violent society should look like and how ideal lives should be lived 

• The Dandi march was undertaken by Gandhiji and about 78 of his followers, starting from Sabarmati Ashram near Ahmedabad. 

• The Satyagrahis set out on foot, for the coastal village of Dandi, Gujarat, about 240 miles away. The walk lasted for 23 days and passed through 48 villages.

• The marchers were received with great enthusiasm and the support from the masses was very evident. During the course of the journey, thousands of Satyagrahis joined the walk, including leaders like Sarojini Naidu.

• The protestors arrived at the seashore on April 5. The following morning, on April 6, at 6:30 am, Gandhiji offered a prayer, raised some mud and salt, and declared, "With this, I am shaking the foundations of the British Empire." He then boiled it in seawater to make the commodity which no Indian could legally produce—salt. He encouraged his followers to start making salt wherever it was most convenient and comfortable to them.

• This symbolic act of salt making sparked the larger Civil Disobedience Movement across the nation. It had a significant impact on the British government and their attitudes towards Indians and India’s independence. 

• For the first time, a large numbers of common Indians joined the fight for independence, and it garnered worldwide attention.

• The British considered the Dandi March and the making of salt by Gandhiji as a breach of the salt laws. Consequently, he was arrested on the midnight of May 4, 1930. 

• The Satyagraha against the salt tax continued for almost a year, in which over 80,000 Indians were jailed.

• The movement ended after almost a year with Gandhi's release from jail and negotiations with Viceroy Lord Irwin. 

• While the movement did not result in any immediate concessions by the British, it marked a major milestone and turning point in India’s fight for freedom.