The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : The satyagrahis are worth their salt

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 13, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

The satyagrahis are worth their salt

By Syed Muthahar Saqaf

Rajaji and other satyagrahis who participated in the Tiruchi-Vedaranyam salt march in April 1930. (File picture)

TIRUCHI, APRIL 12. One of the powerful weapons of Gandhiji against the British was the Dandi salt march. Its effects were instantly felt across the country and thousands followed suit, organising similar agitations. This protest created panic and the freedom struggle gathered momentum.

In Tamil Nadu, the Congress undertook a march to Vedaranyam for breaking the salt law. It began on April 13, 1930 from Tiruchi, which played a significant role in the freedom movement and was a hotbed of political activity. Rajaji led the march.

Police orders defied

Defying police orders, 100 men and women including Congress leaders Rukmini Lakshmipathi, Mattapparai Venkataramaiyar, A.N. Sivaraman, G. Ramachandran and Padmanabhan participated. They covered eight km in the morning (from 5 to 7 a.m.) and eight km in the evening (5 to 7 p.m.). Before the commencement of the march the participants were served plantain, milk or curd. The satyagrahis took meals only two times a day - at 9 a.m. and 4-30 p.m.

Meetings were held every day. The afternoons were devoted to village works such as sanitation, prohibition and visits to localities where untouchability was practised.

The satyagrahis stayed in camps at Srirangam and Thiruvalarcholai (April 13), Grand Anicut and Koviladi (April 14), Thirukkattupalli and Sattanur (April 15), Tiruvadi and Thanjavur (April 16), Thanjavur and Nidar (April 17), Ayyampettai and Valuthoor (April 18), Papanasam and Sundaraperumalkoil (April 19), Kumbakonam (April 20), Kumbakonam and Valangaiman (April 21), Alangudi and Needamangalam (April 22), Puvanur and Mannargudi (April 23), Adichapuram (April 24), Vilakkudi and Thiruthuraipoondi (April 25), Tagattur (April 26), Marudur and Ayakkarambalam (April 27) and Vedaranyam (April 28).

The participants underwent harrowing experience throughout the 242- km route, what with the British unleashing repression. The police issued a stern warning against anyone providing shelter or food to the satyagrahis. The activities of local leaders were under surveillance. Those who defied the order were booked under stringent sections.

Sardar Vedarathinam Pillai played a crucial role for the success of this march. He arranged for supply of food and drinking water through women and young children without the knowledge of the police.

Villagers inspired

The 15-day march inspired the villagers, who defied the government orders to provide the satyagrahis food and shelter and courted arrest. In some places, the locals tied food pockets to tree branches and the information was passed on to the satyagrahis by women in the guise of passersby.

The volunteers reached Vedaranyam on April 28 and they observed a fast and silence throughout the day on April 29. According to A. Vedarathinam, grandson of Sardar Vedarathinam Pillai, his grandfather made secret arrangements for Rajaji to reach the Agasthiampalli saltpans without the knowledge of salt officers and the police before daybreak on April 30, when he was arrested.

The salt satyagraha continued for the next few days, with one leader leading the protest every day. Sardar Vedarathinam Pillai led the agitation on the seventh day. Rajaji was imprisoned for a year for leading the march. The government not only imprisoned Pillai for supporting the agitation but also confiscated his property, besides imposing a fine.

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