Page 116 - SST Class 05

Movement in 1930. People were appealed not to obey the British orders. They also asked
people to not follow the British laws and rules, boycott foreign goods and avoid paying
taxes. The movement spread far and wide. Students and teachers boycotted schools;
advocates boycotted courts; and government employees did not attend the British offices.
The whole country was awakened with a flood of processions and demonstrations.

Dandi March : The Civil Disobedience Movement
started with the Dandi March under the leadership of
Gandhiji. He decided to march to Dandi to violate the
Salt Law . When on 12 March, 1930, Gandhiji left his
Ashram in Ahmedabad to Dandi, he had with him only

78 followers. As he walked on a 358-kilometre-long
march on foot, more and more people joined him in the
march. By the time he reached Dandi, there were
thousands of people with him. There he picked up a
Dandi March
handful of salt to break the Salt Law.

With this, people all over the country refused to pay taxes and obey the law. They
courted arrest peacefully. Over 90,000 people were put in jails. When one leader was
arrested, another came to take his place. Many leaders came forward. Different leaders
led the movement at different places, like Sarojini Naidu in Gujarat, Khan Abdul
Ghaffar Khan in the North-West Frontier Province and Rani Gidinlieu in Nagaland.

The British came down heavily on the agitators. They resorted to lathi-charges, firings,
brutal killings and imprisonments, but the movement grew from strength to strength.
The Congress was banned. The Martial Law was imposed in Sholapur. But the
movement continued unabated.

Seeing the popularity of the movement, the Swadeshi Movement
was also launched; in this people were encouraged to produce and
use Swadeshi goods and boycott the foreign goods. Gandhiji spun

cotton and encouraged people to use handlooms or khadi made with
a spinning wheel or charkha. People followed his example. This idea
struck the British business interests very hard.
Khan Abdul
Ghaffar Khan
Government of India Act of 1935
The British first tried to suppress the movement by putting people behind bars; but when
the situation remained very grave, they tried to pacify people. In 1935, Gandhiji and
other leaders were released from jail and the Government of India Act, 1935 was passed.

Under this law, people were given the right to vote for provincial assemblies. The
elections were held in 1937, in which the Congress participated. It won in 9 out of a

total of 11 provinces, and formed the government there.

116 Contemporary Social Science-5