It’s estimated that around 60,000 people were eventually arrested by the British, and Gandhi himself was hauled away while preparing for a non-violent raid on the Dharasana Salt Works in Gujarat. Polak, asked Gandhis thirteen-year old son, Manilal to fetch a book from the office. The success of the march inspired mass disobedience across the land, with millions of people following Gandhi’s example by breaking the salt laws. Raising a handful of salty mud in his hand, he declared: ‘With this, I am shaking the foundations of the British Empire.’ He calmly and deliberately broke the salt laws by evaporating sea water to make his own salt. Watch popular content from the following creators: Shuibingyue(shuibingyue01), Kerwin Rae(kerwinrae), Shuibingyue(shuibingyue01), Amboooo(yunganw), GirlieGore(girliegore).

The most famous moment would come when they finally reached Dandi. Discover short videos related to SUHAR STORY on TikTok. They were inspired by Gandhi’s words – his vocal ‘battle of right against might’ – but also by the sheer spectacle of the march itself, with the river of people stretching back for miles. Not only did villagers come to listen, but they joined the march too. Gandhi knew that recruiting the poor of India to the nationalist cause would be essential to the cherished aim of independence. Gandhi framed it as an issue of class as well as nationalism – a point of unity for all the oppressed masses of India. Gandhi enters, looks at the boy and in a loud voice commands, QUIT EATING SUGAR pauses for a moment for effect and then turns and begins to walk out. At long last they are admitted to his chamber. International journalists and filmmakers covered the march, while thousands of locals would gather at each stopping point to hear Gandhi deliver speeches against the salt laws. Two weeks later the woman and her son have made it back and once again are waiting for a meeting with Mahatma Gandhi. The epic walk took them from village to village, where Gandhi’s ever-increasing numbers of fellow marchers could rest each night. It would mean covering around 12 miles a day on foot, with the sprighty, 61-year-old Gandhi an instantly iconic figurehead with his stick and plain white robes.

Gandhi and an initial band of followers set out from his ashram in Ahmedabad on 12 March 1930, with the designated end-point being the coastal town of Dandi, over 240 miles away. The woman is confused and asks, Why did you. The boy has such respect for Gandhi that he stops and lives a healthy life. The British authorities remained unruffled, with the Viceroy of India writing, ‘At present the prospect of a salt campaign does not keep me awake at night.’ Gandhi says to the boy, you must stop eating sugar. ‘We are entering upon a life and death struggle, a holy war,’ he said. And, while non-violence was always at the heart of Gandhi’s philosophy, he clearly regarded the planned salt march as a kind of military campaign. But for Gandhi, this was a crucial matter, demanding the non-violent resistance he dubbed ‘satyagraha’ (or ‘truth force’).

Ghandi and the sugar story