Gandhiji's Salt Satyagarha among most powerful protests

New York, Jun 29: India's Baapu, Mahatma Gandhi's salt satyagraha which began with the Dandi March on March 12, 1930 has been named among the 10 most influential protests in the world by America's prestigious Time magazine.

It was a campaign of nonviolent protest against the British salt monopoly in colonial India. Gandhiji led this 24-day march from his base, Sabarmati Ashram near Ahmedabad, to the sea coast near the village of Dandi. Gandhi and 78 satyagrahis set out on foot for the coastal village of Dandi along with many other followers.

The assembled throngs watched as he and dozens of others dipped into the sea to produce salt. The Salt Satyagraha campaign was based upon Gandhi's principles of nonviolent protest called 'satyagraha', which he loosely translated as "truth-force".

The campaign had a significant effect on changing world and British attitude towards Indian independence and caused large number of Indians to join the fight for the first time.

According to the magazine, Britain's centuries-long rule over India was, in many ways, first and foremost a regime of monopolies over commodities like tea, textiles and even salt.

Indians, under colonial law were restricted to extract and sell their own salt, and instead were forced to pay the far costlier price of salt manufactured and imported from the UK.

This march, due to which 80,000 Indians got arrested sparked years of mass civil disobedience that came to define both the Indian independence struggle as well as Gandhi himself.

OneIndia News