Salt Satyagraha

The abrupt withdrawal of the Non- Cooperation movement and the non- acceptance of the Nehru report by the British government led to the launch of the Civil Disobedience movement with Purna Swaraj as its goal. The Civil Disobedience movement was given a start by the breaking of the salt law .The March started at the Sabarmati Ashram with 78 followers on 12 th March 1930 and it ended with breaking of the salt law at Dandi Beach by covering a distance if 240 miles on 6 th March by raising some salt . The breaking of the law was a symbol of defiance to the British government and its law system . Gandhi popularly said that the British government is a curse on Indian society. The Dandi March is compared to the March to Paris by Napoleon.

Features of the struggle 

The key features given by Gandhiji for the movement are as follows-:

• Picketing of Foreign liquor and cloth shops.
• The country wide Civil disobedience movement should be started and the breaking of the salt law should be taken up .
• The masses should stop paying taxes.
• Lawyers to give up practice and the boycott of courts .
• Public servants to resign .
• Boycott of Schools and colleges.
• The most prominent and significant fact was to remain  non violent and to fight against the goal of swaraj.
• Further on the arrest of the prominent leaders like Gandhiji local leaders should come up and continue the movement and take it forward.

Salt Satyagraha

The main reason for selecting salt as the main symbols for the Satyagraha is the Salt Act of 1882. The salt Act gave the British government the power to collection ,manufacturer and handling of the salt to the government depot and levied a tax on salt and violation of which can lead to criminal offence .The matter if concern in levying a tax was that the people living in coast get salt freely due to the process of evaporation if the salty sea water but in accordance of this law they were not allowed to use that and where forced to purchase the same from the government.

Salt is a daily use item and selecting it as a symbol of resistance would help in integration of all sections of society irrespective of their caste and this will make a large section of population a part of the struggle. According to Gandhi , salt is used by everyone and hence can resonate with all classes of the society .

By choosing Salt as a means of the struggle Gandhi wanted to make a unified mass struggle.

Salt Satyagraha was a combined effort while Gandhiji started the March to Dandi the other Congress leaders made arrangements for the Satyagraha like the enrollment volunteers , collected funds and did a number of tours in villages to gain support.

The salt law was broken across the country post the Dandi Beach. Some of the areas are Tamil Nadu ,where C.Rajagopalachari was the lead and did a march from Trichinopoly to Vedaranniyam on the Tanjore Coast.In Malabar the leader K.Kelappan and in the North-East the group of satyagrahis went from Sylhet to assam to break the salt law.

Government reactions

• Major leaders of the movement were arrested like Gandhiji, Jawaharlal Nehru.
• The Congress working committee was sanctioned.
• Brutal repression on the Satyagrahis.

Extend of participation 

Women-The most prominent feature of the Salt Satyagraha was the participation of women from various fields .They picketed shops , boycott foreign goods and also went to jail.

Students- Popular student participation was also seen which picketed shops , school’s and colleges.

Muslim-The participation of the Muslim was way less than that during the Non- cooperation movement .Some section of middle class muslim did participate and ayed a significant role in area 

Businesses groups- The business groups like the ahmedabad mill owners and Bombay merchants supported by not importing foreign goods.

Tribals also contributed to the struggle in areas like the central provinces and Maharashtra.

Impact of the agitation

• Imports of foreign goods like clothes fell.
• Government crashed since the masses stopped paying tax on land and excise duties also went down.
• Elections to legislative assembly were boycotted.

Conclusion 

The salt Satyagraha was a march that shook the foundation of the British empire .It saw the participation of women on the forefront and students.The Satyagraha was a  340km long march that ended in Dandi with breaking the salt law. Around 80,000 Indians were jailed due to the Satyagraha.