Consider the following statements regarding the salt satyagraha

1. Salt was chosen for the protest because Gandhi considered the Salt tax as an unjust tax.

2. There was a state monopoly over the salt production.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Solution

· Statement 1 and 2 are correct: The British government passed the Salt Act in 1882. · This act prohibited Indians from marketing salt and created a government monopoly on the manufacture and sale of salt. Salt could be manufactured and handled only at official government salt depots, with an imposition of tax. • Indian citizens under this act were forced to purchase salt from British traders. These traders also charged a heavy tax on salt. • Gandhi believed that Salt tax was not only unjust but Salt was a basic essential part of food and because of its universal importance, the effort to remove the salt tax would win the support of all classes of the Indian population . • The salt tax represented 8.2% of the British Raj tax revenue, and hurt the poorest Indians the most significantly. Explaining his choice, Gandhi said, "Next to air and water, salt is perhaps the greatest necessity of life.