Why salt
Of all the wrongs of British rule, Gandhi picked the tax on salt. His own colleagues thought it was a strange choice. It turned out to be the most brilliant one he ever made.
The Civil Disobedience Movement (1930–1934) was India's second great mass struggle, after Non-Cooperation. Where Non-Cooperation asked Indians to withdraw from British institutions, Civil Disobedience asked them to actively break unjust laws and accept the punishment. It began with the Dandi March and the breaking of the salt law.
Deliberately breaking a law in a non-violent way, openly, and accepting the penalty — in order to show that the law is unjust. The aim is not disorder but moral pressure. This is what separates it from Non-Cooperation, which was a refusal to participate rather than an act of defiance.
The road to Dandi
With Jawaharlal Nehru presiding, the Congress declared Purna Swaraj — complete independence — as its goal, replacing the Dominion Status of the Nehru Report. The tricolour was hoisted on the banks of the Ravi on 31 December 1929, and 26 January 1930 was observed as the first Independence Day.
Gandhi placed eleven demands before Viceroy Lord Irwin, ranging from prohibition and reduction of military spending to release of political prisoners — and abolition of the salt tax. He set a deadline of 31 January 1930. Irwin did not respond.
Gandhi set out from Sabarmati Ashram with 78 followers, walking about 241 miles to the coastal village of Dandi. He informed Irwin in advance exactly what he intended to do. The march took twenty-four days, gathering crowds and press attention at every village.
Having reached Dandi on 5 April, Gandhi picked up a lump of natural salt from the seashore on 6 April and broke the salt law. Across India, people began making and selling salt illegally. The movement had begun.
Salt is used by everyone — rich and poor, Hindu and Muslim, north and south. The British held a monopoly on its manufacture and taxed it, so even the poorest family paid. Attacking the salt law therefore touched every household in India, was impossible to portray as a sectional grievance, and could be broken by anyone with access to the sea or a salt pan. A tax on a necessity of life was also indefensible in front of world opinion — which was exactly Gandhi's point when he said he wanted world sympathy in this battle of right against might.
How the movement spread
- Salt laws were broken all along the coasts — C. Rajagopalachari led a march from Trichinopoly to Vedaranyam in Madras, K. Kelappan led the Vaikom to Payyanur march in Malabar
- Dharasana Salt Works, May 1930 — satyagrahis led by Sarojini Naidu and Imam Sahib advanced in silent rows and were beaten down by police. The American journalist Webb Miller reported it worldwide, doing enormous damage to Britain's moral position
- In the North-West Frontier Province, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan — called the Frontier Gandhi — led the Khudai Khidmatgars, the Red Shirts. Peshawar saw the Garhwali soldiers refuse to fire on unarmed crowds
- Refusal to pay land revenue and chowkidari tax, boycott of foreign cloth and liquor, and forest law defiance by tribal communities in central India
- Women participated on a scale never seen before — picketing liquor and cloth shops, courting arrest. Sarojini Naidu, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, Kasturba Gandhi and Rajkumari Amrit Kaur were among the leaders. This movement marked the entry of Indian women into public political life
Gandhi-Irwin Pact and the second phase
| What each side agreed | Detail |
|---|---|
| Signed | 5 March 1931, between Gandhi and Viceroy Lord Irwin |
| The government agreed | To release political prisoners not convicted of violence, withdraw the ordinances, return confiscated property, and allow making of salt for personal use in coastal areas |
| Gandhi agreed | To suspend the Civil Disobedience Movement and to attend the Second Round Table Conference in London |
| Endorsed at | The Karachi session of the Congress, March 1931, presided over by Vallabhbhai Patel |
Karachi 1931 met days after Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were hanged, and there was deep anger at Gandhi for not securing their reprieve. The session nonetheless endorsed the Pact — and passed the historic Resolution on Fundamental Rights and the National Economic Programme, drafted largely by Jawaharlal Nehru, the first time the Congress spelled out what free India would guarantee its citizens.
- The Second Round Table Conference (1931) failed — Gandhi attended as the sole Congress representative and returned empty-handed
- The movement was resumed in January 1932 under the new Viceroy Lord Willingdon, who met it with mass arrests and severe repression
- It was suspended in 1933 and formally withdrawn in 1934
Non-Cooperation (1920–22) = withdraw cooperation: boycott schools, courts, councils, foreign cloth. Civil Disobedience (1930–34) = break the law: make salt, refuse taxes, defy forest laws. Non-Cooperation was withdrawn after Chauri Chaura because of violence; Civil Disobedience was suspended by negotiation through the Gandhi-Irwin Pact. Civil Disobedience also saw far greater participation by women, peasants and tribal communities.
Why did Gandhi choose the salt law as the point of attack in 1930?
Because salt was used by every Indian regardless of religion, region or class, and the British held a monopoly on its manufacture and taxed it, so even the poorest paid. Attacking the salt law touched every household, could not be dismissed as a sectional grievance, could be broken by ordinary people anywhere near the coast, and was indefensible before world opinion.
12 March start, 5 April arrive, 6 April break. Sabarmati to Dandi, 78 followers, 241 miles, 24 days. Then Pact 1931, resume 1932, withdraw 1934.
Everything on one look
The march, the spread, the pact and the end.
- The Lahore session of 1929 declared Purna Swaraj
- Gandhi placed eleven demands before Lord Irwin in January 1930
- The march began on 12 March 1930 from Sabarmati Ashram
- Seventy-eight followers set out with Gandhi
- The march covered about 241 miles to Dandi
- Gandhi broke the salt law on 6 April 1930
- Rajagopalachari led the Vedaranyam salt march in Madras
- Sarojini Naidu led the Dharasana Satyagraha in May 1930
- Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan led the Khudai Khidmatgars
- Women participated on an unprecedented scale
- The Gandhi-Irwin Pact was signed on 5 March 1931
- The movement was finally withdrawn in 1934
- The Dandi March began on 12 March 1930, and the salt law was broken on 6 April
- Gandhi set out with 78 followers, not with the whole Congress
- The march started from Sabarmati Ashram, near Ahmedabad
- Purna Swaraj was declared at Lahore in December 1929, before the march
- The first Independence Day was observed on 26 January 1930
- The Gandhi-Irwin Pact was signed on 5 March 1931 with Lord Irwin
- The Pact allowed salt-making for personal use, it did not repeal the salt law
- Gandhi attended the Second Round Table Conference alone for the Congress
- The movement resumed in 1932 under Lord Willingdon and ended in 1934
- Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan is the Frontier Gandhi, leader of the Red Shirts
- The Civil Disobedience Movement ran from 1930 to 1934
- Civil disobedience means openly breaking an unjust law and accepting the penalty
- The Lahore session of December 1929 declared Purna Swaraj
- Jawaharlal Nehru presided over the Lahore session
- The tricolour was hoisted on the Ravi on 31 December 1929
- The first Independence Day was observed on 26 January 1930
- Gandhi placed eleven demands before Viceroy Lord Irwin
- The demands included abolition of the salt tax
- The Dandi March began on 12 March 1930
- The march started from Sabarmati Ashram
- Seventy-eight followers accompanied Gandhi on the march
- The march covered about 241 miles over twenty-four days
- Gandhi reached Dandi on 5 April 1930
- Gandhi broke the salt law on 6 April 1930
- Salt was chosen because every Indian used it and the British taxed it
- C. Rajagopalachari led the Vedaranyam salt march in Madras
- K. Kelappan led the Vaikom to Payyanur march in Malabar
- The Dharasana Salt Satyagraha took place in May 1930
- Sarojini Naidu led the satyagrahis at Dharasana
- Webb Miller reported Dharasana to the world
- Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan is called the Frontier Gandhi
- The Khudai Khidmatgars were known as the Red Shirts
- Garhwali soldiers at Peshawar refused to fire on unarmed crowds
- Women participated in unprecedented numbers in this movement
- Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay and Kasturba Gandhi were among the women leaders
- The Gandhi-Irwin Pact was signed on 5 March 1931
- The Pact secured release of political prisoners not convicted of violence
- The Pact allowed making of salt for personal use in coastal areas
- Gandhi agreed to attend the Second Round Table Conference
- The Karachi session of March 1931 endorsed the Pact
- Vallabhbhai Patel presided over the Karachi session
- Karachi passed the Resolution on Fundamental Rights and National Economic Programme
- The movement resumed in January 1932 under Lord Willingdon
- The Civil Disobedience Movement was formally withdrawn in 1934