________________
perhaps $750 dollars at the time. In reaction to this, the British government had incarcerated over sixty thousand people by the end of the month.*' On the night of May 4, 1930, Gandhi was sleeping on a cot under a mango tree, at a village near Dandi. Several Ashramites slept near him. Soon after midnight, the District Magistrate of Surat drove up with two Indian officers and thirty heavily-armed constables. He woke Gandhi by shining a torch in his face, and arrested him under a regulation of 1827.
The effects of the Salt march were felt across India. Thousands of people made salt, or bought illegally-produced salt.
This period of Dandi March is considered as the apex of Gandhi's political appeal, as the March mobilized many new followers from entire Indian society. Thus Dandi March came to the attention of the world. After his release from prison, he continued to work towards Indian independence.
Fear of a Divided India: Hindus, Muslims and Untouchables: 1931-41 On September 12, 1931, Gandhi went to London for a round table conference on caste and social politics in India. After returning from London, Gandhi met a highly educated man, Bhim Rao Ambedkar (1892-1956)" in Bombay. The meeting did not end cordially. However, Gandhi later explained to his secretary, "I did not know he was a Harijan (a word he coined for Shudras). I thought he was some Brahmin who took deep interest in Harijans and therefore talked intemperately."42 Gandhi only later realized that Ambedkar was from the untouchable class and was deeply motivated for political change out of his own experience.
Gandhi & Jainism
Pg.85