Context: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off a march from the Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi to kick off celebrations of the 75th year of Independence.

Details:

• The Prime Minister would inaugurate cultural and digital initiatives as part of the celebrations and address the gathering at the Sabarmati Ashram.
• The march from the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad to Dandi in Navsari, a distance of 241 miles, would take the 81 marchers a period of 25 days.

Dandi March:

• Salt March(Dandi March or Salt Satyagraha) was led by Mohandas Gandhi in March–April 1930.
• Salt production and distribution in India had long been a lucrative monopoly of the British. Through a series of laws, the Indian populace was prohibited from producing or selling salt independently, and instead Indians were required to buy expensive, heavily taxed salt that often was imported.
• In early 1930 Gandhi decided to mount a highly visible demonstration against the increasingly repressive salt tax by marching from his ashram at Sabarmati to the town of Dandi (near Surat) on the Arabian Sea coast.
• He set out on foot on March 12, accompanied by several dozen followers.
• On the morning of April 6, Gandhi and his followers picked up handfuls of salt along the shore, thus technically “producing” salt and breaking the law.
• Thousands were arrested and imprisoned, including Jawaharlal Nehru in April and Gandhi himself in early May after he informed Lord Irwin (the viceroy of India) of his intention to march on the nearby Dharasana saltworks.
• The march on the saltworks went ahead as planned on May 21, led by the poet Sarojini Naidu, and many of the some 2,500 peaceful marchers were attacked and beaten by police. By the end of the year, some 60,000 people were in jail.
• Gandhi was released from custody in January 1931 and began negotiations with Lord Irwin aimed at ending the satyagraha campaign.

https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/pm-to-flag-off-march-to-dandi-today/article34048561.ece

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