THE SALT

SATYAGRAHA
A Case Study
 Timeline
T HE EVE NTS B EFOR E T HE SALT MAR C H

THE END OF 1928 1929 26 JANUARY

THE NON- End of December 1930

Began thinking of
COOPERATION re-entering politics Independence Day
• Opposed the Congress annual • Pace of politics
MOVEMENT session at Lahore
Simon picked up
Gandhi chose to Commission • National fl ag
focus on social • Peasant was hoisted and
reform work Satyagraha in patriotic songs
Bardoli were sung
Congress Session at Lahore

E LE C T ION OF NE HR U
AS PR ESIDE NT PURNA SWAR AJ
Complete Independence
Passing leadership to the younger
generation
Independence
Day
• Gandhi suggested ways to celebrate
• Declaration be signed at the same
time and celebrations to begin by
banging drums
• Hoist the fl ag, do productive work
• Established the people's right to
freedom
 Dandi March

• Led the protest against the state monopoly on salt

• Indicative of his tactical wisdom
• Viceroy Irwin ignored Gandhi's advance notice
• 12 March 1930: He began marching towards the
ocean from his ashram in Sabarmati
• Reached his destination three weeks later and
broke the Salt Law
The Response
• Parallel salt marches
• Numerous other streams of protests, like in the Non-
Cooperation movement
• Peasants breached forest laws
• Factory workers went on strike
• Lawyers boycotted courts and students refused to attend
institutions
• It encouraged Indians to manifest their discontent
• The British reacted by detaining almost 60,000 dissenters
Tracing the Salt March
SECRET REPORTS MADE BY THE POLICE
• Reproduced his speeches
• Called for local officials to renounce government employment
and join the freedom struggle
• In Wasna, clarified the meaning of Swaraj
• His meetings were attended by many and support grew as the
March continued

TIME MAGAZINE
• At fi rst, deeply sceptical of Gandhi reaching Dandi
• Changed this perception within a week and saluted Gandhi as a
'Saint' and 'Statesman' who had made the British extremely
anxious