0

G
AND
HID
ECL
ARE
SNA
TI
ONW
IDEN
ON-
VI
OL
ENTS
ALTMA
RCH
.
C
ONG
RES
SRE
LA
UNC
HESI
T
SNO
N-
CO
OPE
RA
TI
ONC
AMP
AI
GN JI
NNA
HCO
NDE
MNSS
AL
TMA
RCH
D
UETOT
HRE
ATO
FHI
ND
UDO
MI
NAN
CE
P
EA
CE
FU
LPR
OT
ESTA
GA
IN
ST
U
NF
AI
RSA
LTL
AWS Muha mma d Al
iJinnah hasprovedtobea
greatMusl
im poli
tic
alle
aderbydis
approving
O
PPO
SI
TI
ONAN
DDISR
EGA
RD oftheSal
tMa rc
h. I
tisagre
atri
sktoMus l
ims,
OFB
RIT
IS
HPOL
ICI
ES astheywouldbethreat
enedfr
om bothsi
desif
themist
akeofjoini
ngthema r
chisma de
.
Morechaosensuesi nIndiaasMahat ma
Gandhileadsanothernon-cooperat
ion TheCongr essha snointe ntionofa llowi ngt he
campai
gn againsttheBrit
ish. Mus l
imsas epa ratee l
ec tora t
e ,put tingt he i
r
securi
tyf urthera tris
k.Thi si se v i
de ntf rom
TheCongresshasbeen f irm initsatt
empt s theNe hruRe por t,asitpr e
s ente dthei deaof
toslacken t
hecrown’ sholdon India,the
marchbei ngacont i
nuation of nos e
pa ratee le
c torate
sf ormi nor iti
e sa ndt he
non-cooperati
on causedbyi mmense Congr e
s sfailedt oa cceptJi nna h’spr oposa l
s
oppositi
on totheSimon Commi ssi
on and onbe halfoft heMus li
mswhi che nabl edthe m
theBritishrej
ection oft
heNehruReport . toha veas a yi nt hec ent rala nd pr ov i
nc ia
l
G
AND
HIL
EAD
INGT
HEI
NDI
ANS
. council
sa ndpr otectthems elvesf rom Hi ndu
oppression.Ji nna h de scribe dt hisa st he
Thef ocalpointofthemar c
hi sapparent
lyanat tackon “part
ingoft hewa ys”asi twa snow c ertain
Br i
tai
n’sunfairsal
tlawsinIndia.TheBrit
ish’
sluc rati
ve thattheCongr es sfai
ledt or ecogni set hene ed
tocoope ratewi ththeLe a guea ndc ons ideri ta
tradeofs al
twasadi r
ectresultofthepr ohi
bition of representativeoft heIndi anMus l
im popul a-
Indianus eofit
sowns al
tresources,
nowbe i
ngpr ote s
ted ti
on.
against
.
IfJinna h we ret oj oi
n Ga ndhii ntheSa l
t
Ma rch,itwoul dde epenhos t
ili
tybetwe e
nt he
Howe ver
,whi leitbe gan asa “ Sal t
”mar c h,iti s,in Briti
sha ndt heMus lims ,astheBr it
ishwe re
reali
ty,anoppor tunit
yf ortheI ndi anlocalstoe xpress theoreti
callyt he Mus lims ’only hope f or
disregardandut teroppos it
ion toBr i
tis
h policiesand gai
ni ngs eparatee l
ectorates.IftheCongr ess
rule.Gandhii sr unning severe pr otests
,pr ovoking weret osuc c
eedi na t
tainings el
f-r
ulefrom the
Briti
sh,t he Mus limswoul d be lef
ta tt he
Indian citi
zensto break everyl aw in a“ non- viol
ent” me rcyoftheHi ndus .Thel ac
kofMus l
im pro-
manne r as t
heyc an.Br iti
shc loths hops ar e being tec
tion ise videntt hroughoutI ndiaa st he
picketedandBr it
ish,schools,colleges,ands ervicesare Ma ha s
aba hsnotonl yr iotbutl it
termos ques
beingboyc ott
ed. andba ntheAz a an.The refore,Ji
nnahha sto
ma noeuv r
ehi swa yt or ightsforas epa r
ate
Mus lime lect
ora t
ei n ape aceful
,diploma ti
c
Thisisabsolute l
yunac ceptablefortheBr it
ishgove r
n- ma nne r
.
mentand t hisr epeate di nst
ance ofnon- cooperati
on
mustbe e nde d be f
or ef urtherc onsequenc esli
ke the
ChauriChaur ai nc i
de ntwhe rethei mpor tantlivesof
Bri
tis
hoffice
r swe relos tduet oapol i
ces t
ationbeings et
onfir
ear ereac hed.Itwi l
lnotbewr ongt os aythatthe
Congres
shass hotitsownf oot,asitwilll
ikelybebanne d
andmanyCongr essleade rswillbearrested.TheBr it
ish,
atnopoint,willgrantI ndiaself-
rule.
 0

I
ND
EP
END
ENT
VI
EW
POI
NT
SONT
HES
AL
TMA
RCH H
IN
DUV
I
EWP
OI
NT
Ani nternationalj ournali
stcover ingt heSalt TheSa l
tMa rch,a lsoknowna stheDa ndiMa rch,wa sa
Mar chmi ghthaves eenitasar emar kable signif
icanteventint heIndianindepende ncemov ementled
exampl eofnonvi olentresist
anceagai nst byMa hatmaGa ndhii n1930.I twa sanonv i
ole
ntpr otes
t
Br i
tis
hcol oni alrule.Theycoul dhave againsttheBr i
tishmonopol yons alt
,ac ommodi tyheavil
y
emphas i
zedt heuni quenes sofal eaderl ike taxedbyt hec olonialgovernme nt.Hi ndus,whof ormeda
ma jorpartoftheIndi anpopulation,playedacrucialr
olein
Gandhi ,hisphi l
osophyofnonvi olence,and
thismov ement,a nd the i
rpe rspecti
v e
sdur ing the Sal
t
thedet erminat ionoft hemar chers .The Ma rchwe reshape dbyac ombi na t
ionofr el
igi
ous,cul
tural,
journalistmi ghthavehi ghlightedt hegl obal andna ti
ona l
isti
cs enti
me nts.
signif
icanceoft heeventandi tspot ential
impactont hebr oadermovementf or Ma hatmaGa ndhi ,ade v outHi ndu,wa sas tronga dv oc a t
e
decolonization. ofnonv iolence( ahims a ).Hi sphi los ophyde epl yi nflue nc ed
theHi ndupa rticipa ntsi nt heSa ltMa rch.Hi ndusbe lie ved
ABr i
t i
shcol oni alof fi
cermi ghthavevi ewed inthepowe rofpe ace f
ulr e s
is tanc ea nds awt hema rc ha sa
theSaltMar chasachal lenget ot he wa ytoa ssertthe irr i
ght swi thoutr e sor t
ingt ov iolenc e .The
est
abl i
shedaut horityoft heBr iti
shEmpi re. spiri
tuala nde thi calpr inc iple sofHi ndui sm,a si nter pr eted
Theymayhaves eent hemar chersasagitator
s by Ga ndhi , be came t he gui di ng f or ce be hind t he
ands oughtt omai ntainor deranduphol dt he mov eme nt.
Hindus ,alongwi t
hpe opl eofot he rr e l
igions ,pa rticipa ted
exi
stingl aws ,vi ewingGandhi 'smovementas
intheSa ltMa rcht ode mons tra teuni tya ga ins tBr iti
s hr ule.
athreatt oBr i t
is hcontrol.Theof fi
cermight
Thema rchwa snotonl yapr ot esta ga i
ns tsa ltta xesbuta l
so
havebeent or nbet weenenf orcingcoloni
al as ymboloft hebr oa de rde ma ndf orI ndiani nde pe nde nc e.
poli
ciesandr ecogniz i
ngt hegr owi ngunrest Hinduss a wt he mov e me nta sa wa yt oe xpr esst he i
r
amongt heI ndi anpopul at ion. nationalis
ma ndwor kt owa rdsauni ted, i
nde pe nde ntI ndi a.
MU
HAMA
DAL
IJI
NNA
H
TheSa l
tMa rchha dr e l
igi ousunde rtone sf orHi ndus .Sa l
t
holds s ymbol ic s igni ficanc e i n Hi ndu r i
tua ls a nd
Ape asantfarmerinIndi ami ghthav eseentheSaltMar chasanoppor t
u- ceremoni es.Bybr eaki ngt heBr i
tis hs al
tl aws ,pa rticipa nts
nit
yt oexpressdis
sati
sfactionwi t
hoppr ess
iveBriti
shpolici
esthataf
fec
ted we renotonl yde fyingc ol oni ala ut hor it
ybuta l
soe nga ging
thei
rlivel
ihood.Theycoul dhav evi
ewe dGandhi'scal
l f
orself
-suf
fi
cie
ncyin in as ymbol ica ctwi thc ultur a la ndr eligiousr esona nc e.
Hinduss awt hema rcha sas ac r
e de nde avor ,linki ngt he i
r
sal
tpr oducti
onasame anst oallev
iateeconomi cburdens.Forthem,the
reli
giousv alueswi tht hepur s uitofpol iti
ca lfre edom.
mar c
h mi ghthav erepr esente
d ac hanceto acti
velypartic
ipat
ei nthe Ma ny Hi ndus ,pa rticula rlyt hos ei nr ura la rea s,f a ced
str
uggleforindependenc eandr ecl
aime conomicage ncy. economi c ha rdshi ps due t ot he oppr ess ives a l
tt axes
impos ed by t he Br itish.The Sa ltMa rc h pr ov i
de da n
oppor t
uni tyforHi ndust oe xpr es st he irgr ieva nc esa ga inst
Anur bani ntell
e c
tuali
nIndiamighthaveseentheSal tMarchasas ymboli
c
economi ce xploita t
ion. The ys ought s e lf-relianc e by
actchalle
ngi ngnotonl yBr i
ti
shrulebutals
os ocio-e
c onomicinequal
it
ies
. produc i
ngt he irowns alt, i
nl inewi tht hebr oa de rGa ndhi an
Theyc ouldhav ebeeninspir
edbyGandhi'sphilosophyofnonv iol
enceand visi
onofe conomi ci nde pe nde nc e.
ci
vildisobe di
e nce,se
eingitasapathtoamor ej ustande quit
ablesoci
ety
. TheSa ltMa rche mpowe redHi ndusf rom v a riouss ocia la nd
economi c ba c kgrounds . Ga ndhi 's e mpha sis on t he
The mar ch mi ghthav es y
mboliz
e dthe int
ellect
ual '
saspirati
on f
ora
involveme nt of or di na ry pe opl ei nt he s truggl ef or
mode rn,inde pendentIndia. independe nc er esona t
e dwi thHi ndus ,whos awt hema rch
asawa yt oa ctiv el
yc ont ribut et ot hel arge rmov e me nt .It
Ani ndi
vidualwhos t
ronglybeli
evedinthec ast
es y
stem mighthavehad helped br idge ga ps be t
we en di f
f e
re nt c las sesa nd
mixedfeelingsabouttheSaltMar ch.Ononehand,t he ymighthavesup- communi tieswi t
hinHi ndus oc i
e ty.
Ins umma ry,Hi nduspa r tici
pa ti
ngi nt heSa ltMa rchwe re
portedthef i
ghtagainstBrit
ishoppr e
ssi
on,butont heotherhand,they mot iva
te d by a c ombi na ti
on ofr eligious ,c ultura l,a nd
mighthav ebee nskepti
caloftheincl
usiv
enat ureofthemov ement.They nationalis
ts ent ime nt s.The pr inc i
pl es ofnonv iole nc e,
couldhavebe enconcernedaboutthepotent
ialdisr
upt i
onofsoci
alhier
ar- unity,a nd e conomi ci nde pe nde nc e,r oot e di n Hi ndu
chie
sandt hec hal
lengi
ngofe s
tabli
shednorms . values,pla yedac ruc ialr ol ei ns ha pingt he irpe rspe c ti
ve
during t hisi coni ce vent i n t he que stf or I ndi an
independe nc e.
Ay oungstudentac t
ivi
stmi ghthav eseentheSaltMarchasane mbodiment
oftheirgeneration'
scallforchange .Theycouldhavebe e
ni nspire
dbyt he
ide
aofnonv i
ol entres
istanceandGandhi anpr i
nci
ples.Themar chmight
havesy mboli
ze dhopeforaf uturewhe retheyouthcouldact
iv el
yshapethe
desti
nyoft he
i rnati
onandpar ti
cipateinthestr
uggleforfr
ee dom.

Insummar y,indivi
dualobserv
ersdur i
ngt heSal
tMar chhaddi v
e r
seper-
spect
ive
si nfl
uenced bytheirrol
e s,beli
efs,and expe r
ience
s.Thee vent
ser
vedasaf ocalpoi
ntforpeoplef
r om vari
ousbackgr oundstoengagewith
andinter
pretthecomplexit
iesofthemov eme ntf
orI ndianindependenc
e.