The Salt March To Dandi
The Salt Tax
After proclaiming the Declaration of Independence
of India on January 26, 1930, Mahatma Gandhi came to an impasse in his political
career focused on freeing India from British rule. A new anti-government
campaign was imperative for achieving the secularization of India for its
people; it remained unclear, however, to Gandhi what form was most appropriate
for this campaign to take (Sheean 152; 156-7). During the period that
followed in which he could find "no light at the end of the tunnel,"; it
became apparent to Gandhi that non-violent civil disobedience would form
the basis for any ensuing protest (Sheean 152; 156-7).
Beginning in February 1930, Gandhi's thoughts swayed towards the British
salt tax, one of many economic improprieties used to generate revenue to
support British rule, as the focal point of non-violent political protest
(Ashe 301). The British monopoly on the salt tax in India dictated that
the sale or production of salt by anyone but the British government was a
criminal offense punishable by law (Ashe 301). Moreso than in more
temperate climates, salt was invaluable to the people of India, many of whom
were agricultural laborers and required the mineral for metabolism in an
environment of immense heat and humidity where sweating was profuse.
Occurring throughout low-lying coastal zones of India, salt was readily
accessible to laborers who were instead forced to pay money for a mineral
which they could easily collect themselves for free (Jack 235). Moreover,
Gandhi's choice met the important criterion of appealing across regional,
class, and ethnic boundaries. Everyone needed salt, and the British taxes
on it had an impact on all of India.
Led by an "inner voice" during this period of strategical uncertainty, Gandhi
used the British Government's monopoly of the salt tax as a catalyst for
a major "Satyagraha" campaign (Copley 46-8). One of Gandhi's principal concepts,
"satyagraha" goes beyond mere "passive resistance"; by adding the Sanskrit
word "Agraha" (resolution) to "Satya" (Truth). For him, it was crucial that
Satyagrahis found strength in their non-violent methods:
Truth (Satya) implies Love, and Firmness (Agraha) engenders and therefore
serves as a synonym for force ... that is to say, the Force which is born
of Truth and Love or Non-violence.... [If] we are Satyagrahis and offer Satyagraha,
beleveing ourselves to be strong ... we grow stronger and stronger everyday.
With our increase in strngth, our Stayagraha too becomes more effective,
and we would never be casting about for an opportunity to give it up. (Gandhi
87)
Choosing the salt tax as an injustice to the people of India was considered
an ingenious choice by critic Judith Brown (1977) because every peasant and
every aristocrat understood the necessity of salt in everyday life (Copley
46-8). It was also a good choice because it did not alienate Congress
moderates while simultaneously being an issue of enough importance to mobilize
a mass following (Copley 46-8).
The March
In an effort to amend the salt tax without breaking
the law, on March 2, 1930 Gandhi wrote to the Viceroy, Lord Irwin:
If my letter makes no appeal to your heart, on the eleventh day of
this month I shall proceed with such co-workers of the Ashram as I can take,
to disregard the provisions of the Salt Laws. I regard this tax to
be the most iniquitous of all from the poor man's standpoint. As the
Independence movement is essentially for the poorest in the land, the beginning
will be made with this evil.
On March 12, 1930, Gandhi and approximately 78 male satyagrahis set out,
on foot, for the coastal village of Dandi some 240 miles from their starting
point in Sabarmati, a journey which was to last 23 days (Jack 237).
Virtually every resident of each city along this journey watched the great
procession, which was at least two miles in length (Jack 237). On April
6th he picked up a lump of mud and salt (some say just a pinch, some say
just a grain) and boiled it in seawater to make the commodity which no Indian
could legally produce--salt (Jack 240).
Upon arriving at the seashore he spoke to a reporter: God be thanked
for what may be termed the happy ending of the first stage in this, for me
at least, the final struggle of freedom. I cannot withhold my compliments
from the government for the policy of complete non interference adopted by
them throughout the march .... I wish I could believe this non-interference
was due to any real change of heart or policy. The wanton disregard
shown by them to popular feeling in the Legislative Assembly and their high-handed
action leave no room for doubt that the policy of heartless exploitation
of India is to be persisted in at any cost, and so the only interpretation
I can put upon this non-interference is that the British Government, powerful
though it is, is sensitive to world opinion which will not tolerate repression
of extreme political agitation which civil disobedience undoubtedly is, so
long as disobedience remains civil and therefore necessarily non-violent ....
It remains to be seen whether the Government will tolerate as they have tolerated
the march, the actual breach of the salt laws by countless people from tomorrow.
I expect extensive popular response to the resolution of the Working Committee
(of the Indian National Congress). (qtd in Jack 238-239)
He implored his thousands of followers to begin to make salt wherever,
along the seashore, "was most convenient and comfortable" to them.
A "war" on the salt tax was to be continued during the National Week, that
is, up to the thirteenth of April. There was also simultaneous boycotts
of cloth and khaddar. Salt was sold, illegally, all over the seacoast
of India. A pinch of salt from Gandhi himself sold for 1,600 rupees,
perhaps $750 dollars at the time. In reaction to this, the British
government had incarcerated over sixty thousand people at the end of the
month (Jack 240-3; all of last paragraph).
On the night of May, 4 Gandhi was sleeping in a cot under a mango tree,
at a village near Dandi. Several ashramites slept near him. Soon
after midnight the District Magistrate of Surat drove up with two Indian
officers and thirty heavily-armed constables. He woke Gandhi by shining
a torch in his face, and arrested him under a regulation of 1827.
Aftermath
The effects of the salt march were felt across India.
Thousands of people made salt, or bought illegal salt. This period
is to be considered the apex of Gandhi's political appeal, as the march mobilized
many new follwers from all of Indian society and the march came to the world's
attention. After Gandhi's release from prison he continued to work towards
Indian independence, which was achieved in August, 1947, but Dandi
was a key turning point in that struggle.
Works Cited
Ashe, Geoffrey. Gandhi: A Study In Revolution. London:
Heineman Ltd., 1968.
Copley, Anthony. Gandhi: Against the Tide. Oxford: Basil
Blackwell Ltd., 1987.
Gandhi, Mohandas K. "Victory in South Africa." in The Essential Gandhi.
Ed. Louis Fischer. New York: Vintage, 1962. 84-111.
Jack, Homer A. The Gandhi Reader: A Source Book of His Life and
Writings. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1956.
Sheean, Vincent. Mahatma Gandhi: A Great Life In Brief.
New York: A. Knopf, Inc., 1955
Image sources:
http://www.nuvs.com/ashram/gallery/index.html
http://www.nuvs.com/ashram/gallery/02.html
Author: Scott Graham, Spring '98.
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