Dandi March – UPSC GS1

Dandi March: It was a 24-day march from March 12 to April 5, 1930. It was a tax resistance campaign against the British salt monopoly. The march was based on Gandhi’s principle of non-violence or Satyagraha.

Why did Gandhi call for the Dandi March? The 1882 Salt Act gave the British a monopoly in the manufacture and sale of salt. Even though salt was freely available on the coasts of India, Indians were forced to buy it from the colonizers. Hence, Gandhi decided to inaugurate the civil disobedience using salt.

On March 12, 1930, Gandhiji started the march from Sabarmati with 78 followers on a 241-mile march to the coastal town of Dandi on the Arabian Sea.

There, Gandhiji picked up a small amount of natural salt lying in a small pit. The act was symbolic but hugely covered by the press.

After that, Gandhiji planned to stage a satyagraha at the Dharasana Salt Works. However, Gandhiji was arrested just days before the planned action at Dharasana.

In Bengal, led by Satish Chandra Dasgupta and in Bombay led K.F Nariman walked with volunteers to prepare salt.

Further, the illegal manufacture and sale of salt were accompanied by the boycott of foreign cloth and liquor.

Forest laws were also flouted in Maharashtra, Karnataka, and the Central Provinces. Peasants in Gujarat and Bengal refused to pay land and chowkidari taxes.

Acts of violence too broke out in several states. But unlike what happened during the non-cooperation movement, Gandhi refused to suspend the civil disobedience movement this time.

The Dandi march was the most significant organised movement against the British Raj after the non-cooperation movement of the early 1920s.

The March was also a turning point in the Indian Independence movement. It received attention from the national, international media, and world leaders.