Mahatma Gandhi and the Nationalist Movement
The Salt Satyagraha
Trace the march through police reports and the press.
At the Lahore session of the Congress in December 1929, with Jawaharlal Nehru as President, the Congress declared that its goal was Purna Swaraj (complete independence). 26 January 1930 was celebrated as Independence Day across the country.
Soon after, Gandhi announced a march to break the salt law. Why salt? The state had a monopoly on making and selling salt, which every household used; and the tax on it was at times fourteen times its value. Breaking this unpopular law would show the people's discontent.
From 12 March to 6 April 1930, Gandhi and his followers marched from his ashram at Sabarmati to the coast at Dandi, where he made salt from seawater. Across the country, people broke the salt law; nearly 60,000 Indians were arrested.
On the way, at Wasna, he told upper-caste people that if they were fighting for swaraj, they must serve 'untouchables'. Police reports recorded huge crowds listening to him wherever he went.
The world took notice. The American magazine Time, which at first mocked Gandhi's thin body, soon began calling him a 'Saint' and a 'Statesman'. A common grain of salt became a national cause.
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