Ninety-one years after Mahatma Gandhi took out the Dandi March to break the salt law that shook the foundations of the British empire, 81 persons will embark on the same 386-km long foot-march on March 12 to celebrate the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence, the Gujarat government said on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the yatra from Sabarmati Ashram on Friday. It will re-enact Gandhiji’s historic march to Dandi in South Gujarat, the government said in a release.
It is part of the state government’s programme to mark ‘Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav’, it said.
The Salt March, which took place from March to April 1930, was an act of civil disobedience led by Mahatma Gandhi to protest the British rule in India.
Gandhi and 78 others had embarked on the Dandi Yatra on March 12, 1930 to break the law which had imposed tax on salt. After walking for 21 days, they reached Dandi on April 5 and broke the law.
The Salt Satyagrah made the entire nation stand behind Mahatma Gandhi and lakhs of people joined his civil disobedience movement and non-violent freedom struggle.
