Secret police reports on a leader's march to the seashore record him telling the upper castes at Wasna that those wanting Swaraj must serve untouchables. In which year was the march?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → 1930
Option (1) 1919 — Incorrect. 1919 is the year of the Rowlatt Satyagraha, an earlier all-India protest; it had no march to the sea.
Option (2) 1921 — Incorrect. 1921 falls within Non-cooperation (1920-22). That movement came before the Salt March and was not a march to the seashore.
Option (3) 1930 — Correct. The police reports follow Gandhiji's Salt March from Sabarmati to Dandi. He spoke at Dandi on 5 April 1930, so the march, and the Wasna speech on the way, belong to 1930.
Option (4) 1931 — Incorrect. 1931 is the year Gandhiji was released from jail and signed the Gandhi-Irwin Pact, after the march was over.
NCERT (2026-27): “3.1 Dandi … “The progress of Gandhiji’s march to the seashore can be traced from the secret reports filed by the police officials deputed to monitor his movements. These reproduce the speeches he gave at the villages en route, in which he called upon local officials to renounce government employment and join the freedom struggle. In one village, Wasna, Gandhiji told the upper castes that “if you are out for Swaraj you must serve untouchables. You won’t get Swaraj merely by the repeal of the salt taxes or other taxes. For Swaraj you must make amends for the wrongs which you did to the untouchables. For Swaraj, Hindus, Muslims, Parsis and Sikhs will have to unite. These are the steps towards Swaraj.” …” |