Mahatma Gandhi:On bended knees I asked for bread and I have got stones instead

Lord Irwin’s reply was predictable. He spoke of the disturbance to law and order. Gandhiji remarked: “On bended knees I asked for bread and I have received stones instead.”  True to his word, he set about the practical task of organizing a pada yatra to protest the salt tax. Gandhiji, together with his team of satyagrahis, congress workers and supporters drew up a concrete action plan for the protest march. On March 12, 1930, Gandhiji, with 78 supporters, would march from Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmadabad to Dandi, a sea side village in Gujarat (a distance of 241 miles) and break the salt law. On March 11, Gandhiji addressed a group of about 10,000 people and said: “In all probability, this will be my last speech to you. Even if the government allows me to march tomorrow morning, this will be my last speech on the sacred banks of the Sabarmati. Possibly, these may be the last words of my life here.” Gandhiji had no illusions about what the government could do. He was determined to go through with the march even if it cost him his life. It was this kind of grit and sacrifice that mesmerized the ordinary Indian. As he spoke, so he acted.

Ref: www.mkgandhi.org

Pic: Still from the film ‘Gandhi is shared courtesy: www.staticmass.net