Namaste! Main, Anand Natrajan, aaj aapko Bharat ke swatantrata sangram ki
ek dastaan sunaane waala hoon. Is ghatana ka naam hai "Namak Satyagraha".

Hello! I am Anand Natrajan, and today I am going to relate to you an
incident from India's freedom struggle. The name of this incident is the
"Salt March".

The year is 1930. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi has recently returned from
South Africa where he led a peaceful struggle against racial
discrimination. In India, the Indian National Congress recognised Gandhi's
potential as a leader and made him president of the INC. Gandhiji's first
task was to unite the Congress which had been sharply split between the
moderates and the extremists. The moderates passed resolutions peacefully
against the British, who largely ignored them. The extremists, led by
Tilak, felt that stronger methods of protest were necessary. Mahatma
Gandhi, with his principle of satyagraha was the ideal man to unite these
factions.

Satyagraha encompasses non-violent struggle. Mahatma Gandhi believed that
one should attack evil principles, not the persons who believed in those
principles themselves. Gandhiji, lovingly called "Bapu" or "father", by
all, gave a new twist to the concept of fighting the enemy. Drawing from
Tolstoy and Christ, the face of this struggle would turn the other cheek
when confronted by a repressive and often brutal enemy.

First Person: I have great expectations of Gandhiji. I think he can lead the
	freedom struggle in a new direction.

Second Person: I am doubtful. How are we going to get common people involved
	in the struggle? Most people do not understand the resolutions passed
	by the moderates, and even if they do, do not see how those resolutions
	affect them. As for the extremists, I believe the common people of
	India abhor violence. Who wants to take a gun in his own hand and shoot
	a British officer?

First Person: Maybe you are right. But Gandhiji has done great work in South
	Africa and Champaran. He suggests non-violent struggle, but not passive
	struggle. Why, the recent non-cooperation movement itself was a
	success. Maybe he has some new direction for us.

Third Person (walking briskly in): Have you heard? Bapu has announced a Salt
	March!

Second Person: Salt March?! What on earth is that?

Third Person: Bapu plans to make salt. You see, salt is taxed by the British,
	and common people are not allowed to make it. Well, Bapu believes that
	that is wrong, and so he plans to make salt in defiance of the British.

First Person: I understand! By making salt, Gandhiji will defy the
	British empire. Let us see how they can stop a few million of us from
	making salt! Peacefully, moreover.

Second Person: I see... Symbolic as it is, the Salt March will involve the
	common people because they can understand the issue here. Maybe you're
	right... Mahatma Gandhi may be the man to lead us to freedom.

With the common people fired up over Gandhiji's new movement, the British
government began to feel uneasy.

First Officer: This Gandhi is stirring up the masses too much. Now he wants
	to make salt! What's the point? Who cares about salt? Why raise a
	ruckus about salt?

Second Officer: Millions of Indians are responding to his call for the Salt
	March. Clearly, they do care about salt. Maybe we should arrest him.

First Officer: No, that wouldn't do. At least with Gandhi we're certain
	that it will be peaceful. Besides, if we arrest him, someone else will
	take over. Nehru, Patel, Azad... how many can we arrest? Do you know
	what they are calling Gandhi these days? "Mahatma"! It means "Great
	Soul"!

Second Officer: Even great souls respond poorly to a lathi-charge and
	imprisonment. We'll see what Gandhi is made of.

The British government was wrong in its estimation of Gandhiji's
determination and people's loyalty to Gandhi. Amidst scenes of brutality,
the Salt Act was broken by thousands of people all over the country.

[Scene with rows of Indians walking up to soldiers to get beaten.]

First Person: Gandhiji has broken the Salt Act! Gandhiji has broken the Salt
	Act! Today, at Dandi, he made a pinch of salt in defiance of the
	British! Soon we will have freedom!!

The prophecy took 17 years in coming, but finally freedom was achieved
with minimal bloodshed. In later years, Gandhiji launched other movements
like the Civil Disobedience movement and the Quit India movement of 1942.
The increasingly forceful voice of the people, and international pressure
notably from the US, finally convinced the British government to grant
India freedom on August 15th, 1947.