What did Gandhiji’s letter to Lord Irwin state? Why did Gandhiji march to Dandi?

Question

Read the source given below and answer the questions that follow: 

Mahatma Gandhi’s letter was, in a way, an ultimatum. If the demands were not fulfilled by 11 March, the letter stated, the Congress would launch a civil disobedience campaign. Irwin was unwilling to negotiate. So Mahatma Gandhi started his famous salt march accompanied by 78 of his trusted volunteers. The march was over 240 miles, from Gandhiji’s ashram in Sabarmati to the Gujarati coastal town of Dandi. The volunteers walked for 24 days, about 10 miles a day. Thousands came to hear Mahatma Gandhi wherever he stopped, and he told them what he meant by swaraj and urged them to peacefully defy the British. On 6 April he reached Dandi, and ceremonially violated the law, manufacturing salt by boiling sea water 

Q1. What did Gandhiji’s letter to Lord Irwin state? 

Q2. Why did Gandhiji march to Dandi? 

Q3. Gandhiji chose to defy salt tax in the civil disobedience movement. Substantiate the statement giving reasons.

Answer 1

1. The letter stated that if the demands were not fulfilled by 11thMarch, then the Congress would launch a civil disobedience campaign.

2. Lord Irwin was unwilling to negotiate and so Mahatma Gandhi started his famous salt march accompanied by 78 of his trusted volunteers. He walked from his ashram in Sabarmati to the Gujarati coastal town of Dandi and manufactured salt.

3. Mahatma Gandhi found in salt a powerful symbol that could unite the nation. Salt was something consumed by the rich and the poor alike, and it was one of the most essential items of food. The tax on salt and the government monopoly over its production, Mahatma Gandhi declared, revealed the most oppressive face of British rule.