Gandhi on the salt march
Mahatma Gandhi (1869 - 1948)
March 12th 1930: Salt March begins
On this day in 1930, the Salt March began in India as an act of protest against British colonial rule. The march was led by Indian activist Mohandas Gandhi, and saw thousands of protestors walk 240 miles from Ahmedabad to the Arabian Sea coast. It was one of the first major acts of civil disobedience in the movement for Indian independence from oppressive colonial rule. They were protesting the British monopoly on salt production and distribution that unfairly taxed Indian producers and consumers. When Gandhi initially embarked upon his march on March 12th he was accompanied by under one hundred followers. However as the march progressed it galvanised the local populations and thousands joined their cause. They reached the sea on April 5th, where the protestors defied the law by ‘producing’ salt when they picked up handfuls of salt on the shore. This exemplified the non-violent civil disobedience which characterised the Indian independence movement, as it was spearheaded by Gandhi. The salt protests resulted in the arrests of around 60,000 protestors across India - included Gandhi himself - which only spurred others to join the movement. On May 21st, the poet Sarojini Naidu led a march on a salt works which was broken up by police who brutally attacked the peaceful demonstrators. This violence was broadcast around the world, and drew international attention to the mistreatment of Indians under British rule. The salt marches led to Gandhi being included at a London conference on Indian policy, demonstrating that the British authorities had realised they could not ignore the independence movement. Indian independence was finally achieved in August 1947, after a long and hard fought battle for Indian freedom. Sadly, the leader of the salt marches - Gandhi - was assassinated in January 1948, only living to see a few months of his country’s long-awaited independence.
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