Marching to Freedom: The Saga of Salt Satyagraha

The salt satyagraha movement started in 1930 and marked the first major campaign of the struggle for Indian Independence, which laid a strong foundation for the whole independence struggle. We should know a short note on salt satyagraha, considered the most important movement, as it was the first movement that gathered large masses of people from all around and, most importantly, took out women from their homes and participated in the struggle.

Salt Satyagraha Movement

The salt satyagraha, also known as Dandi March or Salt March, was a significant and major movement of the Indian Freedom Struggle led by Mahatma Gandhi. On March 12, 1930, Gandhi initiated a march from Sabarmati Ashram to the coastal village of Dandi in Gujarat, commemorated in the National Salt Satyagraha Memorial.

Gandhiji believed in the philosophy of nonviolent resistance known as “Satyagraha”. He believed nonviolent protests could mobilise the masses and spread political consciousness in the country.

Gandhi Begins Salt March

Mahatma Gandhi started the salt satyagraha movement on 12 March 1930, along with his 70 chosen followers, who led the salt satyagraha movement with Gandhi from Sabarmati Ashram to the Dandi Coast. Large masses of people from various places, religions, and castes accompanied him. The salt satyagraha date they reached the coast of Dandi on 5 April 1930, after marching a distance of nearly 240 miles (approx. 380 km), and on 6 April 1930, he picked up a handful of salt and broke the salt law.

 The message of civil disobedience

The movement marked the beginning of the Civil Disobedience Movement in the salt satyagraha year, 1930, which Congress announced in retaliation to the failure of the British Government to accept the Nehru Report.

The idea of Civil Disobedience was very simple yet impactful. To mobilise a large number of people to protest peacefully and take part in the national freedom struggle against British Colonial Rule.

Gandhi Arrested

The reckless breaking of laws nationwide deeply enraged and agitated the colonial government. Retaliating against the movement, the British Government responded with a heavy hand and arrested many of the participants, including Mahatma Gandhi himself.

90,000 Satyagrahis, along with many Congress leaders, led the salt satyagraha movement with Gandhi.

They were apprehended in various regions of the country. The government declared the Congress illegal, and police firings and lathi charges resulted in many deaths and injuries. Due to the detainment of many leaders, there became a vacancy for leadership, yet the movement did not stop. The masses were still protesting to their best, keeping the nationalist spirit alive.

Aftermath of Salt March

On 9 April of the salt satyagraha year. Gandhi outlined the program, advocating salt production in every village and challenging salt laws across India during the movement. The movement rapidly spread across the whole country: north-eastern region, north-western region, south India, and central India. The movement surrounded masses from all walks of life and resulted in a national movement.

The news of the peaceful yet powerful resistance of India to the British spread all over the world and gained increasing attention and sympathy. The international attention made it more difficult for the British to maintain the salt tax and salt monopoly in India.

Background to Salt Satyagraha: The Salt of the Earth

The planning of the Salt Satyagraha movement was underway. The short note on salt satyagraha gives us many reasons that made up the background for organising the civil disobedience movement and conducting the salt march.

• By 1930, the Congress Party, during its annual session at Lahore in December 1929, presided over by Jawaharlal Nehru, had declared Poorna Swaraj or complete independence. The freedom struggle made this its sole aim.

• The then Viceroy, Lord Irwin, was given a warning. But he was hardly interested in the threat of a salt protest, and the government did not show any interest or take any steps to prevent the salt march.
• Indians made salt from seawater free of cost until the 1882 Salt Act was passed, which gave the British monopoly over the production of salt and also took the authority to impose a salt tax.

Features of the Struggle

The Salt March was a historic movement that marked various events for the first time in the country. The key features of the movement are as follows-:

• The shops selling foreign liquor and clothes were picketed.
• The country-wide Civil Disobedience Movement began, breaking the salt law across India.
• Nonviolent mass demonstrations.
• The masses stopped paying taxes.
• Lawyers gave up practice and boycotted going to the courts.
• Public servants resigned from their posts.
• Students and teachers stopped going to colleges and schools.

Government Reactions

The intensity of the movement was felt all over the world, and it gained a lot of limelight. The mass movement shook the government, and the satyagraha left the British confused. They faced a lot of criticism for their oppressive moves against the Satyagrahis.

• The government reacted violently to the peaceful struggle and started firings and lathi charges.
• Many Congress leaders were arrested, including Gandhiji and Jawaharlal Nehru.
• There was brutal repression on the Satyagrahis, where 90,000 were arrested, and many were reported to have been injured and even dead.

The Extent of Participation: A Nationwide Uprising

The movement marked its importance in many ways, one being the participation of people from every corner of India and every walk of life. Its impact reverberated across India, touching both towns and the most remote corners of the country.

From Urban Centres to Rural

• In the extreme north-western corner of India, Pathans, under the leadership of Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan, popularly known as Frontier Gandhi, pledged to non-violence and freedom struggle. They conducted mass demonstrations and nonviolent movements.
• Similarly, in the eastern corner of India, Manipur, Assam, and Nagaland all non-violently protested and participated in the civil disobedience movement and salt march.
• The movement spread in the southern part of India very rapidly, where the president of TNCC, C. Rajagopalachari, directed the Salt Satyagraha in Tamil.

Women and Youth

• Women and youth most actively participated in the salt satyagraha movement and helped in every possible way. The students stopped going to schools and colleges. Women played the most important part in picketing the liquor and foreign clothes shops.

Impact of the Agitation

The movement impacted a lot all over India, with the participation of farmers, men, women, and even children. The movement’s extensive reach had a profound impact, resonating across the nation and challenging the foundations of the British Empire in India.The most important were:

• The sale of foreign clothes and liquor fell drastically.
• The government revenues fell to the extent that the government nearly crashed down. The salt tax made up nearly 8% of the revenues of the British government.
• The elections of the next legislative assembly were boycotted by not participating in it at all.

The Course of Salt Satyagraha

The salt march was planned and executed by Mahatma Gandhi with a distinct vision and plan. The events of the Dandi March went as follows:

• Gandhiji informed Lord Irwin of his plan on 2nd March 1930, but he didn’t pay any attention to the breaking of salt law.
• He led a group of people from his Ashram at Sabarmati, and the salt satyagraha movement started in 1930. The salt satyagraha date was 12 March 1930, when they started walking through the villages of Gujarat.
• On reaching the coastal village of Dandi, where the salt satyagraha memorial is located, he made salt from seawater, breaking the Salt Act. Gandhiji started the march as planned with 80 of his followers, who were given strict instructions not to resort to any kind of violence.
• At the end of every day, Gandhiji addressed thousands of people and attacked the government in his speeches. Also, he used to invoke patriotism in the citizens.
• Gandhiji was in touch with foreign journalists and wrote newspaper articles on his way. He did it to ensure the spread of the Indian freedom struggle over the whole media. Gandhiji became the most talked about personality all over the West.
• At this time, about 60,000 people participated in the march with full enthusiasm and will to participate in the civil disobedience movement.
• On the morning of 6th April 1930, Gandhiji broke the salt law by making salt, and thousands of people followed him all over, thus making the struggle successful.

Effects of Salt Satyagraha

The effects of satyagraha were evident throughout the country from its inception to its conclusion. Beginning from the spread of the movement to government reactions, this movement saw distinct and important effects.

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During the Movement

During the movement, activists undertook radical efforts to achieve the ultimate goal of the freedom movement.These were:

• Other tax laws were also being defied, like the forest laws, the chowkidar tax, etc.
• C Rajagopalachari led a similar march on the southeast coast of Tamil Nadu, where authorities arrested him for making salt. Similar marches occurred across India, with illegal salt production in Assam, Orissa, and Andhra Pradesh.
• Similar marches occurred nationwide, producing salt illegally in places such as Assam, Orissa, and Andhra Pradesh during the movement.
• On May 21, 1930, Sarojini Naidu led a nonviolent protest against the Dharasana Salt Works.
  The police brutally lathi-charged the protestors, resulting in the deaths of 2 people and injuring many others. The movement shook the British government. Also, its non-violent nature made it difficult for the government to suppress it violently.

Long term Effects

Some effects of the movement had long-term consequences that marked the beginning of some events that helped India in its further freedom struggle. Some of such events were:

• It made the Indian freedom struggle into the limelight in Western media.
• It brought women and depressed classes in touch with the freedom movement and leaders.
• It proved that the Gandhian non-violent Salt Satyagraha movement could be a very effective way to fight imperialism.
• The Gandhi-Irwin Pact concluded the civil disobedience movement, permitting Indians to produce salt for domestic use. Lord Irwin agreed to release the arrested Indians and invited Gandhiji to the Second Round Table Conference in London.

Conclusion

The Salt Satyagraha was an iconic nonviolent movement that united millions of Indians, pressured the British Government, and also gathered vast international attention toward the Indian struggle all at once. From the event’s start, its planning, and the final break of the salt law, many people from every walks of life participated and supported Mahatma Gandhi in the movement. The government violently reacted to a peaceful agitation but ultimately had to accept the defiance of the salt law, agreeing to release all leaders and Satyagrahis arrested during the struggle. It remains a symbol of peaceful resistance and a movement to bring women out of their homes and participate in the mass movement and laid a strong base for the further freedom struggle.