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Chap 3.2-Civil Disobedience Movement (Letter to Irvin (Gandhiji sent a…
Chap 3.2-Civil Disobedience Movement
Letter to Irvin
Gandhiji sent a letter to Viceroy Irwin with 11 demands
Some demands were of general interest, some were specific demands from different classes - from businessmen to peasants
He hoped that the wide ranging demands would unite the country
The most important demand was the abolition of salt tax
Salt is an essential item of food & consumed by both the rich & the poor
Gandhiji wanted the abolition of salt tax and get rid of the monopoly of the government to manufacture salt
He stated that if the 11 demands were not met in a specified period, the Congress would start the CD movement
Irvin did not agree to the demands
Salt March/Dandi March
Gandhiji started the CD movement with the Salt march
He started from his
Sabarmati ashram
with
78
of his volunteered and marched to the coastal town of
Dandi in Gujarat
On his way, he stopped to talk to thousands of people and he requested them to fight peacefully for swaraj
This distance of 240 miles was covered in 24 days, walking 10 miles a day
On reaching Dandi, he boiled sea water and made salt violating the existing salt law
Nationwide Spread of CDM
Thousands of people in different parts of the country broke the salt law, made salt & demonstrated in front of government salt factories
As the movement spread, people boycotted foreign goods& picketed liquor shops
In the villages, pesants refused to pay revenue & chaukidari tax & in many places tribal people violated the forest laws - going into reserved forests to collect firewood & graze cattle
Government's reaction to CDM
Government started arresting Congress leaders one by one.
First Abdul Gaffar Khan, Ghandhiji's trusted follower was arrested
This led to violent clashes in many places
A month later, Gandhiji was arrested
This led to more attacks on government buildings & officials
The government retaliated by attacking peaceful protesters, beating women & children & arrested around 100,000 people
Gandhi-Irwin Pact
According the Gandhi-Irwin pact, Gandhiji agreed to participate in the Second Round Table Conference in London- the Congress had boycotted the first one
In return, the government agreed to free the political prisoners
Gandhiji attended the second round table conference but it was a failure
When he returned to India, he found that Gaffar Khan & Nehru were both in jail, Congress had been declared illegal, there were bans on meetings, boycotts & demonstrations
Gandhiji relaunched the CD movement