Mahatma Gandhi: Dear Friend….I intend to break the Salt Law

On March 2, 1930 Gandhiji wrote a letter to the Viceroy, Lord Irwin. Apart from being  a testament to his moral stature, it  is absolutely brilliant in terms  of both communications and strategy: “ Dear Friend; I cannot intentionally hurt anything that lives, much less fellow human beings, even though they may do the greatest wrong to me and mine. Whilst, therefore, I hold the British rule to be a curse, I do not intend harm to a single Englishman or to any legitimate interest he may have in India.” He goes on to compare the income of the average Indian – two annas per day to the Viceroy’s daily take of Rs. 700/- i.e. “ much over 5,000 times India’s average income.”  Gandhiji then apologizes for using “a personal illustration to drive home a painful truth.”I beg you on bended knees to ponder over this phenomenon.”  A clear statement of intent follows: If the British are not willing to eradicate ‘evils,’ “I will undertake fresh civil disobedience and intend to break the Salt Law because it is the most iniquitous of all from the poor man’s standpoint.” Gandhiji   got the letter delivered by a young English friend who believed in non violence and the Indian cause.

Ref: www.mkgandhi.org

Pic : Still from the film ‘Gandhi,’ re shared courtesy: www.wordpress.com