Blue oceans give us a lot – our living atmosphere, water and of course, salt. As three borders of India are covered by seas, salt is not a problem to Indians. Through tides, when salt gets deposited in sea shores, we people collect it for our purposes. It was a freedom Indians were enjoying from ancient ages. If British try to impose duty on it, will Indians sit quiet? It happened in 1930 March 12^th and through this article let us all remember that great Dandi march done by Gandhiji and a group of freedom fighters to bring our rights back. This march is also known as ‘Salt March of 1930’ and as Gandhiji adopted his non-violence method, Salt Satyagraha is a milestone of India’s freedom struggle against British.

Tax for salt

India was under the direct rule of British. It was their business strategy to export raw materials from India and bring it back after processing and then sold in Indian markets at high prices. In those ships they used to import salt as well. It was done so to balance the ship. They played a trick that forced Indians to buy that salt brought from England. Their idea was to impose duty on salt. By doing so, Indians were not able to use readily available salt. When they were forced to buy salt from British, their business trick clicked easily.

New methods of protesting

Mahatma Gandhi identified the hidden trick behind the tax of salt and he decided to protest in his own means. He decided to break the law and along with 78 people, he started a march from Sabarmathi to Dandi. That historical event happened in 1930, March 12. It was a little adventurous to travel 300 km by foot and many people were suspected if Gandhi will be able to complete it at the age of 61. But Gandhiji proclaimed that he may die, yet won’t return back to Sabarmathi till the newly imposed law is cancelled.

The historic journey

Thousands of people crowded on either sides of the road to witness this historical journey. Gandhiji addressed many meetings on the way; he took rests too, yet completed his march in 24 days. Next day morning he took a bath from sea and he, along with his followers broke the British law by making salt. Then they tried to seize British Godowns and it ended in arrest of Gandhiji and his team of protestants. By this time, this incident got attention world wide and British had to finally give in. Salt Satyagraha and Dandi march belong to the Golden chapters of India’s struggle for freedom.         

Article Posted By : Sandhya Rani  On March 19, 2013lView All Articles

A follower of Gandhiji and his principles

Article Source :

http://www.veethi.com/articles/from-sabarmathi-to-dandi---the-salt-march-article-1804.htm

Keywords :
Sabarmathi to Dandi , The Salt March , salt satyagraha , dandi march