Describe briefly the Salt March undertaken by Mahatma Gandhi

CBSE Class 10 CBSE Class 10 Social Science
,
1

Describe briefly the Salt March undertaken by Mahatma Gandhi.

2
  • MAHATMA Gandhi found in salt a powerful symbol that could unite the nation.
  • On 31 January, 1930 he sent a letter to Viceroy Irwin stating eleven demands.
  • The most stirring demands was to abolish the salt tax.
  • Salt was one of the most essential food items consumed by the rich and poor alike and a tax on it was considered as an oppression on the people by the British government.
  • Mahatma Gandhiji’s letter was an ultimatum. If his demands were not fulfilled by 11 March, he had to launch a Civil Disobedience Campaign.
  • So, Mahatma Gandhi started Salt March accompanied by 78 of his trusted volunteers.
  • The March was over 240 miles, from Gandhiji’s ashram - Sabarmati to Dandi.
  • The volunteers walked for 24 days. Thousands came to hear Mahatma Gandhi wherever he stopped.
  • On 6th April, he reached Dandi and ceremonial violated the law, manufacturing salt by boiling sea water.
  • This was the beginning of the Civil Disobedience Movement.