Why did Mahatma Gandhi choose to break salt law? Explain the course of Dandi March by Mahatma
Gandhi as a part of civil disobedience movement.
Answers
Explanation:
British had the monopoly over salt manufacturing and selling. The Namak Satyagrah was in protest against the steep tax the British levied on salt. It was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India to produce salt from seawater, as it had been practised by the Indian people. The British officials deemed such production illegal and forced the people to buy it at expensive rates.
Although salt was not the main problem Indians were facing under British rule, it was chosen to symbolize the start of civil disobedience movement because salt was deemed as something on which each Indian had the basic right. Also, salt could be made free of cost from the ocean instead of paying hefty taxes on its purchase from the British
The Salt March, also known as the Salt Satyagraha, Dandi March and the Dandi Satyagraha, was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India led by Mahatma Gandhi. The twenty four day march lasted from 12 March 1930 to 5 April 1930 as a direct action campaign of tax resistance and nonviolent protest against the British salt monopoly. Another reason for this march was that the Civil Disobedience Movement needed a strong inauguration that would inspire more people to follow Gandhi's example. Gandhi started this march with 78 of his trusted volunteers.[1] The march spanned 240 miles (390 km), from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi, which was called Navsari at that time (now in the state of Gujarat). Growing numbers of Indians joined them along the way. When Gandhi broke the British Raj salt laws at 6:30 am on 6 April 1930, it sparked large scale acts of civil disobedience against the salt laws by millions of Indians.