On January 26, 1930, the Indian National Congress celebrated
January 26 as ‘Independence Day’ and called for ‘purna swaraj.’ The first step towards achieving this goal
was civil disobedience. Gandhiji chose the infamous salt tax as the issue they
would focus on. He said: “Next to air and water, salt is perhaps the greatest
necessity of life. It is the only condiment of the poor. There is no article
like salt outside water by taxing which the state can reach even the starving
millions, the sick, the maimed and the utterly helpless. The tax constitutes,
therefore, the most inhuman poll tax that the ingenuity of man can devise.”
Indian intellectuals made fun of Gandhiji.
They thought that he was misguided enough to think that the “King
Emperor can be unseated by boiling salt water in a kettle!” Gandhiji ignored
the barbs and set about making plans for the march to Dandi.
His mission statement is clear, concise, complete,
transparent and radiant with truth. Gandhiji did not believe in secrecy. Since
there was never any gap between his words and actions, what followed was a
foregone conclusion. No one completely understood the revolutionary impact it
would have. Very few foresaw that it
would go down as one of the greatest marches in world history.
