The end of the Salt March

April 5, 2023

Mohandas Gandhi’s Salt March ended on April 5, 1930. The 60-year-old man had walked 241 miles over the previous 3-1/2 weeks, loudly announcing at every opportunity his intention to break the salt laws that gave the British a monopoly in India. When asked by the press what he hoped to accomplish with his efforts, he responded, “I want world sympathy in this battle of Right against Might.”

The criminal act took place the next morning, carefully timed to correspond to the first national day of fasting in 1919. Surrounded by thousands and thousands of supporters, Gandhi waded into the sea as a symbolic purification, then stooped to pick up a muddy clump of natural salt. The crowd cheered.

This was the signal to the country. As if a dam had burst, a wave of popular support swept across the nation. Millions who had never questioned the status quo – the British control over this essential element of their lives – were driven into a frenzy with desire for their own salt. Across the coasts, women spread pans of salt water in the sun to evaporate. Children hawked the coarse grains in the streets. Men purchased them and defied police orders to surrender the native mineral, clenching the salt in their fists even when their fingers were broken open. By the end of April, nearly 60,000 arrests had been made.

Gandhi waited for his turn. He made salt again, and called for people to remain nonviolent when he was arrested. But still, he remained free. Gandhi made speeches; the Viceroy of India made it a felony for the press to report on civil disobedience. Finally, in May, he wrote the Viceroy a letter, announcing he would march on the government-owned salt works at Dharasana, and claim the piles of white crystals in the name of the people.

That night the police came for him. He was arrested, but not charged with any crime. A courtroom would have provided Gandhi a chance to speak publicly of the law’s injustice. Instead, a regulation from 1827 was used to detain him for as long as the government wanted. He was still behind bars when Time magazine declared him Man of the Year for 1930.

Can you think of an injustice that you support, just because it’s the status quo?