Lessons from Mahatma Gandhi’s Salt March

As we celebrate the 91^st anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's Salt March, we need to remember his methodological genius. Every day of the 24-day stretch from March 12 through April 6 is a day to reflect and act. Very much like the administration of 1930, today's administration views civil disobedience as a nuisance. Justice and progress are sacrificed at the altar of the "rule of law". It is only when negotiations fail that non-violent action comes to the fore. A non-violent movement is similar to farming in that way – it requires great patience, hard work and discipline. Hence, it is fitting that on this 91st anniversary, when the Republic is in duress, its farmers have taken up the mantle, writes ROHIT TRIPATHI. 

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THE irony of writing about the greatest civil disobedience movement in human history for a publication led by legal luminaries is not lost on me. The Mahatma was himself a lawyer, but his morality could not bear the burden of unjust laws. Inspired by Henry David Thoreau's essays on civil disobedience and putting the ideas therein into action in South Africa, he was ready for this epochal moment on the morning of March 12, 1930. With a million emotions and an unshakeable resolve, he left his home at Sabarmati Ashram with the vow of returning only after winning Swaraj, or independence, for India. He never returned.

The 241 miles that the 81 walkers ultimately covered changed not just the course of India's history, but gave the world a master class in civil disobedience on an unprecedented scale. The American Civil Rights movement, a few decades later, made it into a science.

RULE OF LAW

Every day of this 24-day stretch from March 12 through April 6 is a day to reflect and act. As a maturing, yet challenged democracy, India today need not look far to get its democracy back on track towards that ideal of Purna Swaraj. Very much like the administration of 1930, today's administration views civil disobedience as a nuisance in the best cases and sedition in the worst.

Hiding behind electoral victories, the demands for justice and progress are sacrificed at the altar of the "rule of law" by exercising outdated sedition laws and other equally broad legal mechanisms that offer no due process. I need not give a clarion call to the lawyers of India to defend the rule of law that is fundamentally committed to the freedom and dignity of every single Indian.

When authority ceases to have the humility to engage its citizens, it loses its moral presence. And it is then that citizens of conscience have a moral obligation to disobey unjust laws with non-violence as their anchor. The constructive mind can only truly function in a society where the moorings of justice are robust.

PROTESTS TO FEND OFF REGRESSION

The malaise of hierarchy and hubris is once again ruling India. Thus, the constructive mind has to prepare and exercise its agitational side through protests to fend off the pull of regression while progressing on the path of inclusion and justice. To those constructive minds, like me, who find themselves torn between enacting ideas to bring swaraj and progress collectively, but are also compelled to protest, Gandhi has shown the way to do both.

American activist and Baptist minister Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "Christ furnished the spirit and motivation while Gandhi furnished the method." It is highly instructive for all practitioners of non-violence, who realise its potency, to explore the methodological depth of the Gandhian method of nonviolent transformation as Dr. King did and which was perfected by the civil rights movement. Protests are important but is a small part of this transformation process. And transformation of an unjust reality must be the sole reason for the protest. It keeps our focus on the world we want to build and live in with everyone, including our adversaries.

LEADERSHIP TO LOOK UP TO

The Gandhian method starts by understanding issues from the viewpoint of all stakeholders: those who want to preserve the order, those who want to change it and those who have mutely accepted it. It then progresses to developing local leadership on the issues of importance.

A leadership that is knowledgeable, diverse, and has the ability to teach others. This leadership is also tasked with projecting a vision broader than just the issue at hand. This leadership, however, is required to offer a broad strategic action-driven plan to ensure the maximum possible engagement.

To that effect, Gandhi devised his Constructive Program (Rachnatmak Karyakram) that was published in 1941 (even though all elements of it were in action long before). The Constructive Program gave millions a way to be part of the independence movement in their own way while contributing to the overall goal of Swaraj. Champaran to Bardoli to Dandi was all set in that context.

The social, political, and economic reformation contained in the Constructive Program defined the context for independence and thus giving it a deeper meaning. The strategic momentum towards the ideal society galvanised numerous long overdue reforms like women's empowerment, the abolition of untouchability and many more issues that Gandhi felt we had to address to be worthy of independence.

MORAL FORCE OF SATYAGRAHA

Once a movement gains this level of clarity of mission and is able to engage those previously mute acceptors, it comes to life.  It then acquires the right to negotiate the changes it demands. It is only when these negotiations, done in good faith with due accommodations, fail that non-violent direct action comes to the fore.

The moral force of Satyagraha is then unleashed from the depths of our collective conscience. A non-violent movement is similar to farming in that way – it requires great patience, hard work and discipline. Hence, it is so fitting that on this 91st anniversary, when the Republic is in duress, its farmers have taken up the mantle.

My farmer elders, brothers and sisters, along with millions who protested the unjust CAA and fear the rupture of our social fabric, must be thorough, as the Mahatma, in their approach. The lure of agitation soothes our outrage but does not guarantee us getting closer to that transformed vision. It seems counter-intuitive to think about a transformed reality when we think we are in survival mode and fighting existential threats.

The agitational energies we summon are not sustainable in the absence of a broader objective that gives us an outlet to pursue progress. For instance, if we feel the CAA endangered India's secular character, then the response could not be limited to its repeal, but simultaneously include the reaffirmation of this ideal through community action, thereby putting forth a new vision–at the community, state and national level–to reimagine secularism in 2021.

BE FEARLESS

The Salt March reinvigorated the freedom movement and articulated a meaning of Swaraj beyond just political independence. We too must be fearless in articulating and acting on a vision of India and a world where human dignity is the ultimate barometer of our social health. Economic progress is not divorced from this endeavour, but is a crucial enabler of the same. Striving for politics that is democratic and tirelessly committed to human dignity must not cease.

Salt in 2021 is the symbol of resilience more than resistance. Resistance is a phase, but resilient we must always be. If a 60-year-old man can walk 241 miles in 24 days against the greatest colonial power humanity has known, then we can surely do our part.

The clarion call I resisted above is now irresistible. Those dreaming of a new society must pay heed to methodology and the discipline it needs to make transformation possible. Continue marching with purpose.

(Rohit Tripathi is based in Maryland, USA. He is the founder of Young India, Inc, a policy advocacy group. He's also a business strategist with a focus on innovation. The views are personal.)