Vedaranyam March
The Vedaranyam March (also called the Vedaranyam Satyagraha) was a framework of the nonviolent
Background
In response to a nationwide protest of the
A month later, Rajagopalachari was unanimously elected as the president of the
The march
As soon as the venue was finalised, Rajaji made further preparations for the march. A Government record pointed out that he was very much concerned about modeling the march on the lines of Gandhi's Dandi March. He estimated that a minimum sum of ₹20,000 was needed to organise the rally. He successfully managed to collect the funds with the help of Saurashtrians of Madurai and South Indians in Bombay and Ahmedabad. Rajaji had formulated an advance guard that consisted of T. S. S. Rajan, G. Ramachandran and Thiruvannamalai N. Annamalai Pillai. Even before the march took off, the guard traveled along the proposed route and met the villagers to ensure support from them. Rajan was in charge of fixing the halt points for the march and took care of food and accommodation at each stage. The promulgation of section 157 of the Indian Penal Code made it a difficult task for Rajan. J. A. Thorne, the district collector of Tanjore, issued a warning that those who provide food and accommodation to the marchers shall be punished. He tried his best by widely publicising his order throughout his jurisdiction.
The committee had received nearly 1000 applications for participating in the march. After scrutinising the applications, Rajaji selected a team of ninety-eight volunteers, most of them being young clerks, students and graduates. Out of the first batch, twenty-four were from
The march commenced on 13 April 1930, coinciding with the Puthandu (Tamil New Year), from Rajan's house in Trichinopoly Cantonment.[3][10][11] As soon as the marchers reached Tanjore, Rajaji avoided the usual route to Vedaranyam, and instead chose a "circuitous" route via Kumbakonam, Valangaiman, Semmangudi, Needamangalam and Thiruthuraipoondi as he hoped that the marchers would receive hospitality in these places. He had organised fifteen sub committees to ensure a smooth functioning of the march. The idea was to gather enough support among the people by drawing their attention. They planned to cover a stretch of 10 miles each day for a period of about 15 days, thus reaching the destination before the stipulated time.
The Madras Government took a series of measures to bring an end to the march. It ordered the district officers to organize public meetings to persuade people upon the "impracticability" of the march and issued orders to arrest the participants of the march. Other preventive measures included, censoring news items related to the march and taking actions against the editors of the nationalist newspapers. Parents were warned not to send their children to participate in the satyagraha. The telegrams of the volunteers were confiscated, and the Government servants were cautioned about the consequences of participating in the march.
Commencement of the march
The 98 volunteers assembled at Rajan's house in Trichinopoly on 12 April 1930, while Rajaji reached the venue on the previous day from
Right from the beginning of the march, the volunteers faced many disruptions. When they reached Koviladi, a small village on the banks of Kaveri, they were denied accommodation at a famous inn. However, they found alternative accommodation on the banks of the river, while Rajaji stayed at a private house.[3] Rajaji also had a code of conduct for the volunteers under which consumption of coffee and tobacco products, and smoking were prohibited.
As the marchers proceeded towards
On 25 April, the marchers reached Tiruthuraipoondi and had planned to stay at a choultry which was managed by Ramachandra Naidu, a close associate of Pillai. Despite the collector's warning, Naidu provided accommodation to the marchers at his choultry. His actions led to him being arrested by the police the following day. The arrest of Iyer and Naidu frightened the people. Pillai, however, convinced the people that they could provide food without being caught by the police. As a result, food packets were found tied to the branches of roadside trees, and when the group rested on the banks of Kaveri there were indicators where huge food containers were buried.[13] The policemen, who were deployed to suppress the marchers, suffered from starvation when local residents refused them food and water. The Indian staff who were employed by the British stopped performing their daily activities, while barbers and washermen refused to serve the government employees.[14]
During the march, Rajagopalachari and the marchers highlighted the importance of Civil Disobedience Movement as well as khadi and social issues like caste discrimination.[14] They socialised with the untouchables and refrained from entering the temples in which the former were denied entry. They also swept the streets of the villages and spoke up for the unity of Hindus and Muslims.[15]
Defiance of salt laws
Despite numerous obstacles, the group reached Vedaranyam on 28 April 1930, 15 days after setting out.
Aftermath
The following day, shops all over the province remained closed. Despite repeated arrests and the use of brutal force by the police, people continued to make salt at Vedaranyam. The collector, Thorne, who at first had been confident of his ability to prevent the march, was forced to report to his superiors: "If there ever existed a fervid sense of devotion to the (British) Government, it is now the defunct".
As a result of the
The march played a significant role in the political career of Pillai. In 1931, he was conferred with the title of "Sardar" at the Tamil Nadu Agriculturists and Labourers Conference held at Tirunelveli for his active role in the march.[21]
Re-enactment in 2015
Celebrating the 85th anniversary of the iconic march, the great grandson of Rajaji, C. R. Kesavan, and the grandson of the Sardar, A.Vedaratnam, along with volunteers held a march from Vedaranyam to Agasthiyampalli in 2015.[22]
Notes
- ^ Grover 1992, p. 603.
- ^ Gandhi, Gopalkrishna (5 April 2010). "The Great Dandi March—eighty years after". The Hindu. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g Gandhi 1997, chpt. Vedaranyam.
- ^ a b Sundararajan, Saroja (1989). March to freedom in Madras Presidency, 1916-1947. Lalitha Publications. p. 467. Archived from the original on 23 December 2016.
- ^ Gandhi 1997, pp. 117–119.
- ^ Kandaswamy 2001, p. 32.
- ^ Rajagopalachari, C. (1950). Andraya Ninaivugal, Vedaranyam Uppu Satyagraha Charithiram (in Tamil). pp. 223–224.
- ^ a b Roy 1999, p. 30.
- ^ "Special postage stamp on freedom fighters and social reformers". Press Information Bureau, Government of India. Archived from the original on 26 April 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
- ^ "Re-enactment brings back Vedaranyam memories". The Hindu. 26 April 2013. Archived from the original on 19 June 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
- ^ "The Vedaranyam March" (PDF). Vedaranyam Municipality. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
- ^ Gandhi 1997, p. 119.
- ^ a b c Gandhi 1997, p. 120.
- ^ a b c d e f "An epic march". The Hindu. 22 April 2001. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
- ^ a b Gandhi 1997, p. 121.
- ^ Gandhi 1997, pp. 121–122.
- ^ a b Gandhi 1997, p. 122.
- ^ Sezhiyan, Era (24 August 2011). "The government against satyagrahas, then and now". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 26 December 2013. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
- ^ Gandhi 1997, p. 123.
- ^ a b Kandaswamy 2001, pp. 32–35.
- ^ Varadarajan, R. (25 August 2000). "Sardar of the salt satyagraha". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 2 June 2017. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
- ^ Renganathan, L. (1 May 2015). "Salt satyagraha re-enacted" – via www.thehindu.com.
References
- Grover, Verinder (1992). Political Thinkers of Modern India: C. Rajagopalachari. Deep & Deep Publications. ISBN 978-81-7100-430-0.
- Roy, Kalpana (1999). Encyclopaedia of violence against women and dowry death in India. Vol. 1. Anmol Publications. ISBN 978-81-261-0343-0.
- Kandaswamy, P. (2001). The political career of K. Kamaraj: a study in the politics of Tamilnadu, 1920-1975. Concept Publishing Company.
- Gandhi, Rajmohan (1997). Rajaji: A Life. Penguin Books India. p. 492. ISBN 978-0-14-026967-3.