— Dr Ranjit Sabhapandit On March 12, 1930, a 61 year old man with 78 supporters set out on a long walk to the ocean. When people asked where he had been going, Mohan Das replied, ‘I am going to ocean to get some salt.’ Soon thousands followed him on a trip that lasted for months and became famous as Salt March, or Salt Satyagraha evoked enormous patriotic sentiments among the Indians and over 90,000 went to jail. This mass participation shocked the British. It produced a great impact on world opinion so much so that Gandhi was nominated Time magazine’s ‘Man of the year’ in its first issue of the year 1931. The salt Satyagraha was one of Gandhi’s planned events which was launched most carefully. Why did Gandhi choose salt? Why did he decide to undertake the march and select Dandi as his destination under the programme of Civil Disobedience Movement. To understand the dynamics behind the event some important questions usually come to our mind.
The Lahore session (December 1929) of the Indian National Congress declared complete independence as its goal and the session took decision to undertake civil disobedience activities against the British government. After the session of the Congress Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose proposed Gandhi to form a parallel government while Ballabh Bhai Patel proposed to march to Delhi. At the same time AB Bhabe suggested a countrywide breaking of land law as an alternative. Gandhi discarded all their suggestions because had the plan and perspective of a movement in which mass people could be mobilised. He thought that British would pounce on the ideas like – march of Delhi, parallels government or breaking of land law. For him independence was more than a mere political emancipation. He thought civil disobedience meant regeneration of Indians. It would bring consciousness on social, economic and moral autonomy which were his vision of Swaraj. Moreover Gandhi targeted to unite the fragmented groups of Indian society.
In the first declaration of Independence (on January 20, 1930), Gandhi mentioned about injustice done to Indians through the salt tax. Next the same was included in the letter to Lord Irwin (Viceroy of India) in the form of a list of eleven demands. Here salt was placed in the 4th of the list where he demanded the abolition of protective tariff on salt and foreign clothes . On February 15, (24 days before the march) he signaled out the nationwide civil disobedient movement by breaking the salt law.
In those colonial days, Indians protested against the unjust salt tax many times. The Surat Riot of 1844 which was against the salt tax took place nearly one hundred years before Gandhi’s salt Satyagraha. It is most interesting to note that the British imposed salt tax was vehemently criticised by the second session of INC held at Kolkata in Dwecember 1885. Again Dada Bhai Naoraji and GK Gokhale condemned the tax and asked Indians to mobilise campaign against it several times. During the Swadeshi movement SN Banerjee appealed the Indians to boycott the Surat salt. Even Gandhi wrote against the tax from South Africa. Therefore it was clear that Gandhi’s focuss on salt was not anything new, the novel thing was that Gandhi made the sentiments popular among the Indian masses. Gandhi became a hero as he handled the issue most successfully. But there is something behind why Gandhi selected salt.
By choosing salt Gandhi wanted to fulfil several purposes at one stroke. Because salt is essential for human existence. All people irrespective of caste, creed and religion use salt. It was sure to offer for both Hindus and Muslims a common platform for joint struggle on political issue – for poor it was a symbol of exploitation and for rich it was against the salt law. On the other hand it gave a scope for exploiting the sympathy of the world on human ground and attracting support of world public opinion. History says that there was a strong resurgence on salt tax in Europe since the French Revolution.
Though Gandhi had decided to take salt, yet he understood that there must be a dramatic appeal when people would rally around him. So, he decided to launch a march which would be a live drama for the people and the press. Because march had a place in Indian tradition. In the western and Indian mythology marches were considered as weapon to get legitimate right through secrifice and determination. For example Jesus Christ led his followers to Jerusalam. Rama left home to honour his father’s promise. Gautam renounced royal charm in the quest for enlightment. Gandhi felt that if he simply take train to some place of the coast, the plan he prepared would be simple and probably futile. He understood that marches needed no special skill and it would ease the participation of the ordinary people.
The salt Satyagraha was finalised in less than one month which conceived in mid February and conducted in mid March. The decision to march to Dandi in Surat district was taken by Gandhi after close discussion with Kalyanji Mehta (a trusted friend of Gandhi). They gave importance on the following practical points. First – Dandi was strategically ideal because Surat district had the strongest network of Congress workers at that time. Secondly penal code, particularly in the Dandi coastal areas was not so severe and therefore large number of Indians would be persuaded to participate without fear and harsh punishment. Thirdly – salt law might be broken on various ways – by capturing the manufactured salt, buying prepared salt, selling of salt, exhorting people to capture salt factories etc. The most important point was that if march to Dandi was conducted peacefully there would be no break of salt law.
A group of 79 participants accompanied by Gandhi himself was formed. Muslims, Christians, high and low caste Hindus, represented all the provinces of India in that group. Abbas Tyabji and Sorojini Naidu were selected as leaders next to Gandhi (if Gandhi was to be arrested) by which Gandhi could draw support and confidence from Muslim and Christians. His decision to stay at Muslim house during the day of march was noteworthy. Again his decision to send letter to Viceroy Lord Irwin about the intention of breaking salt law through Reginald Reynolds, an English social worker, in India was noteworthy. It signified that he was fighting against British administration but not against the British. This made an impact on western mind by which he succeeded to get support and sympathy from the British and Europeans.
The salt march started on March 12, 1930. After 24 day long walking the march reached Dandi on April 5. During the total 26 day programme, Gandhi visited 40 villages. At each village he had to face crowd of not less than 5 lakh. Gandhi delivered speeches where he revealed that salt was one of the items by which the British were exploiting the Indians. He exhorted people to break the salt law.
Gandhi was well aware of the power of the press. He made print media active before and after the march. He wrote articles in Young India and Navajivan which were distributed by Congress workers from place to place, and village to village. He made contact with the world press through foreign journalists to publish his scheme and success before and after the march. As a result, the British government tried to counter the Satyagraha by blocking roads to Dandi.
Why did the salt issue become so much popular among the masses? Through song and writings, cartoons, picture on papers salt Satyagraha could be brought nearer to the people, yet the real credibility among the ordinary people to respond to Gandhi’s appeal on salt issue was due to the fact that the British Government did not supply this essential item up to their requirement. It was very costly for the people. By choosing salt Gandhi made all efforts to mobilise people on the economic front. So when Gandhi started salt satyagraha people joined it quickly. ASSAM TRIBUNE
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