This report by Webb Miller was recorded in 1,350 newspapers around the
world. Why was this an important success for Gandhi's movement?
* 1 point
Note: Madame Sarojini Naidu was a well-known Indian poetess who was to take Gandhi's place should he
be arrested. The author of this document, Webb Miller, was a foreign correspondent present at both
the raid and the hospital where the wounded (320 injured and two dead) were taken afterwards. This
is the report he filed.
The Dharasana Salt Works, 150 Miles North of Bombay, India (May 21, 1930)
Mme. Naidu called for prayer before the march started and the entire assemblage knelt. She
exhorted them: "Gandhi's body is in jail but his soul is with you. India's prestige is in your hands. You
must not use any violence under any circumstances. You will be beaten but you must not resist; you must
not even raise a hand to ward off blows." Wild, shrill cheers terminated her speech....
In complete silence the Gandhi men drew up and halted a hundred yards from the stockade
[surrounding the Dharasana Salt Works].... Suddenly, at a word of command, scores of native police rushed
upon the advancing marchers and rained blows on their heads with their steel-shod [clubs]. Not one of the
marchers even raised an arm to fend off the blows.... The survivors without breaking ranks silently and
doggedly marched on until struck down.... The blankets used as stretchers were sodden with blood.
At times the spectacle of unresisting men being methodically bashed into a bloody pulp sickened
me so much that I had to turn away. The Western mind finds it difficult to grasp the idea of nonresistance.
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