Gandhi Nonviolent Movement Analysis

Dandi March:

The Britishers had arrived as East India Company traders in India at the start of the seventeenth century. By the end of the seventeenth century, strategically, they had very firmly rooted themselves on the Indian soil, and started ruling the people of India. It was only in the 1857 that the First Mutiny happened when the Indians started rebelling towards the British Rule. This act was followed by many more ; of which most influential was the concept of nonviolent movement initiated by Mahatma Gandhi. His key approach to standing up against the British Rule was not through arms or ammunitions, but through nonviolence. The Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore bestowed the title of “Mahatma” meaning “great soul”on Gandhi in 1915 while

These sources are reflected in his words to his followers like, “ let there be not a semblance of breach of peace even after all of us have been arrested. We have resolved to utilize all our resources in the pursuit of an exclusively nonviolent struggle. Let no one commit a wrong in anger. This is my hope and prayer. I wish these words of mine reached every nook and corner of the land.” Then there is, “ No one who believes in nonviolence, as a creed, need, therefore sit still....wherever possible, civil disobedience of salt should be started.” Towards the end of the speech there is an open mention by Gandhi that all what he has said and explained in his speech may be taken as his will , and that there ought not to be any suspension or postponement of plans in case he is arrested.

On studying the aftermath of the Salt March from various reliable sources, we know that the news spread like a wildfire all over India. The impact of the Salt March was considerably significant. According to The Gandhi Reader: A Sourcebook of His Life and Writings, 1994 , “Dandi salt march break out into mass civil disobedience movement, many Indians broke the law by making or illegally trading the salt....The salt march also inspired, Ghaffar Khan led non-violent movement against the British

The speech reflects an immense clarity of his thought and purpose. Gandhi employs use of simple and direct words in the execution of the process of Swaraj. There seems to be a method and transparency to delivering his intentions and plan to the INC leaders as well as masses. Readers, as also mentioned before, can see that his authority is evident throughout his speech. They can feel the depth of purpose or seriousness of the matter in Gandhi’s speech. He claims, in many places in his speech, of going to jail or even considers the prospect of these being his last words of his life; reflecting that he has a do or die kind of attitude for this purpose. Readers get the feel of the strong core values, which also seem to be the spine of Gandhi’s means for attaining Swaraj. He does not want to compromise with them, as is evident throughout his speech. He, time and again, emphasizes on the importance of adherence to truth, nonviolence and peace; even upon his arrest or death, which gives the reader an impression that Gandhi holds these values very dearly to his heart. He employs words like “this is my hope and prayer”, “pledge”, and “ take it is as my will” to convey his views to the masses regarding the importance of these values; generating also much pathos. Gandhi seems to be clear about what kind of people should or should not participate in this movement. He