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History
SALT
MARCH : A SYMBOL OF NATIONAL RESOLVE
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Satya Prakash Malviya
Few
people know that Pandit Motilal Nehru had made an offer
to give his "Anand Bhawan" in Allahabad to the
nation during the Dandi March. The house was later renamed
as "Swaraj Bhawan".
On
the way to Dandi, Pandit Motilal Nehru had met Gandhiji
at Jambusar village alongwith Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and
Dr. Rajendra Prasad. It was here that Pandit Motilal Nehru
had shown his keenness to offer his house to the nation
and also to change its name as Swaraj Bhawan. Pandit Jawaharlal
Nehru had written elaborately about the meeting with Gandhiji
at Jambusar in his autobiography. The meeting on this topic
continued for hours.
It
was the morning of 6th April, 1930, that Gandhiji
made a pinch of salt at the Dandi sea shore and thereby
shook the British empire by violating the law which banned
the manufacture of salt or selling it by any Indian. Thus,
by breaking the Salt Law, Gandhiji had transformed this
act into a symbol of national disobedience.
To
protest against the atrocities of the British empire, Shri
Madan Mohan Malviya sat on a dharna overnight in the open
in the month of June, 1930 in Bombay and was later arrested.
The Salt Satyagraha continued for 12 months and ended with
the agreement between Gandhiji and Lord Irwin on 5th
March, 1931. Nearly after 17 years and four months after
the Dandi March India got independence and Gandhi lived
for only 51/2 months in Independent India.
In
1929, the 44th Session of the All India Congress
was held in Lahore which was presided over by Pandit Jawaharlal
Nehru. And on 31st December midnight the Congress
Session approved and resolved unanimously the decision of
a complete independence. On 26th January, 1930,
the people of India pledged for a complete independence.
After
this resolution, Gandhiji wrote a letter to Lord Irwin which
contained a 11-point charter of demands and indicated that
if the demands were not met he would be compelled to break
the British law. The 11-point charter of demands also included
a demand to abolish tax on salt. But Lord Irwin neither
replied nor acknowledged the receipt of the letter.
This
opportunity was a unique and gave Gandhiji a chance to start
his experiment with the salt satyagraha. Though Gandhiji
had earlier stated that, "I have no doubt that the
British government was a forceful government, but I also
have no doubt that satyagraha was the proper medicine (remedy)."
The
issue of Young India, dated 12th March, 1930
was released a day earlier on 11th March. The
issue contained the list of 79 people who would participate
in the Dandi March. On 11th March evening Gandhiji
addressed a meeting at the Sabarmati Ashram and said, "our
purpose is strong, our material is pure and God is with
us. I am praying for the battle which will commence tomorrow."
According to scheduled programme Gandhiji alongwith 78 of
his associates launched his 241-mile (385 km.) journey to
Dandi from Sabarmati Ashram on 12th March, 1930.
The whole of Ahmedabad converged at the Ashram. Gandhiji
was the eldest, aged 61 years, of the participants while
the youngest was a boy aged 16 years. Throughout the route
local people welcomed the marchers and the journey concluded
after 25 days on 5th April. The last camp was
at Saife Villa in Dandi. This was the house of the head
of a Bhora community. Gandhiji stayed here during the night
and he wrote a comment, "I wished the sympathy of the
world in this struggle of truth over power."
Dandi
is situated 16 kilometres by road from Navsari. Navsari
is 30 km away from Surat on the Delhi-Bombay mainline of
the Western Railway in Surat district.
Gandhiji
is not only the past but is the present and the future.
Like before he is relevant today. We all have to work together
so that we make India as was dreamt by Gandhiji. The India
that Gandhiji visualized is in his words, "I would
like to work for such an India so that even the poorest
of the poor feels that India is his, that their say was
effective in the making of that India. It will be an India
where there will be no classification of high and low castes.
It will be an India where people from all communities live
in harmony. There will be no possibility of untouchability,
women too will live in honour like their menfolk, and this
is what I dream my India to be."
(Writer
is a former Union Minister)
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