Mahatma Gandhi led the freedom movement using non-violent methods. With reference to the Gandhian movements, answer the following questions:
(i) Name the march led by Mahatma Gandhi to break the salt law. Which movement did this march lead to? In which year was that movement launched?
(ii) The movement which began with this march made a considerable impact on the social and political surroundings of the country.
Analyse this statement by mentioning any three such impacts.
(iii) Mention any four clauses of the pact which led to the suspension of this movement.
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(i) The march led by Mahatma Gandhi to break the salt law was the Dandi March, which he began from the Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi on the Gujarat coast. This march led to the Civil Disobedience Movement, which was launched in 1930.
(ii) The Civil Disobedience Movement made a considerable impact on the social and political surroundings of the country in the following ways:
- It widened the base of the freedom struggle, as a large number of social groups like merchants, shopkeepers, peasants, tribals and workers in different parts of the country were mobilised for the national movement.
- It brought women out of their homes to participate in politics and made them equal partners in the freedom struggle.
- It improved the social conditions of the depressed classes, who were given entry into temples and access to wells, which was earlier denied to them.
(iii) The movement was suspended by the Gandhi-Irwin Pact, signed in March 1931. Four of its clauses were:
- The Government agreed to withdraw all ordinances and end prosecutions.
- The Government agreed to release all political prisoners, except those guilty of violence.
- The Government agreed to permit the free collection or manufacture of salt by persons near the seacoast.
- The Congress agreed to suspend the Civil Disobedience Movement and to participate in the second session of the Round Table Conference.