When the satyagrahis protested, the military personnel posted at the site started firing indiscriminately killing Sachindra.
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Sumer Singh of Naya Bans in Rohtak district gave his life for this cause during this movement.Har Samvand, Sept 2018, p12. In 2018, the Government of Haryana started to award INR10,000 per month pension to the Matribhasa Satyagrahis (Hindi language activists).Haryana to include Matribhasa Satyagrahis in Ayushman bharat scheme, UNI, 27 December 2018.
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The satyagrahis reached Vedaranyam on the east coast of India on 28 April, where they prepared salt illegally on 30 April.
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Naidu was aware that violence against the satyagrahis was a threat, and warned them, "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." On May 21, the satyagrahis tried to pull away the barbed wire protecting the salt pans . The police charged and began clubbing them.
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After their arrests, the march continued under the leadership of Sarojini Naidu, a woman poet and freedom fighter, who warned the satyagrahis, "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." Soldiers began clubbing the satyagrahis with steel tipped lathis in an incident that attracted international attention.Ackerman, pp. 87–90.
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The police stood silently watching as they were secretly instructed not to interfere. Gandhiji wrote in Young India, The Travancore authorities may, however, be respectfully told that the Congress cannot watch barbarity with indifference. The letting loose of the goondas on the devoted heads of the Satyagrahis, is bound to gather the Satyagrahis, the full weight of all-India public opinion. As a protest against atrocities, statewide agitation began.
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On 7 May 1930 Tyabji launched the Dharasana Satyagraha, addressing a meeting of the satyagrahis, and beginning the march with Gandhi's wife Kasturba at his side. An eyewitness remarked "It was a most solemn spectacle to see this Grand Old Man with his flowing snow-white beard marching at the head of the column and keeping pace in spite of his three score and sixteen years." p. 86-87. On 12 May, before reaching Dharasana, Tyabji and 58 satyagrahis were arrested by the British. At that point, Sarojini Naidu was appointed to lead the Dharasana Satyagraha, which ended with the beating of hundreds of satyagrahis, an event that attracted worldwide attention to India's independence movement.
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It was widely used as a mark of protest against the unwavering stance assumed by the British. Vinoba Bhave, a follower of Gandhi, was selected by him to initiate the movement. Anti-war speeches ricocheted in all corners of the country, with the satyagrahis earnestly appealing to the people of the nation not to support the government in its war endeavors. The consequence of this satyagrahi campaign was the arrest of almost fourteen thousand satyagrahis.
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At around 2-30 PM, a Bedford truck carrying nine arrested Satyagrahis from Katigorah was passing by the Tarapur railway station (present-day Silchar railway station). Seeing the fellow activists arrested and being taken away, the Satyagrahis assembled at the railway tracks broke out in loud protests. At that point the truck driver and the policemen escorting the arrested fled the spot. Immediately after they fled, an unidentified person set fire to the truck.
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The news was broadcast on Barlin Radio that there was no British rule in Chimur, as the troops were not able to reach Chimur due to the various roadblocks set up by the freedom fighters. Following this incident, the British government cracked down heavily on the freedom fighters and the people of Chimur. The British troops committed severe atrocities on the satyagrahis. Five satyagrahis were sentenced to death by Baburao Bhope to be hanged by the British government for their role in the 1942 freedom struggle.
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The non-violence was set as the centerpiece of Individual Satyagraha. This was done by carefully selecting the Satyagrahis. The first Satyagrahi selected was Acharya Vinoba Bhave, who was sent to Jail when he spoke against the war.
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Birendranath's was also involved in the movement. His followers took active part in organizing people. Satyagrahis came to Narghat and Pichhhaboni to break Salt Law by peaceful means. The Satyagraha assumed the form of a mass movement in the area.
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On 15 August 1955, the Portuguese police opened fire on the satyagrahis, killing thirty or so civilians. Goa was later annexed into the Indian union in 1961 through an army operation, codenamed 'Operation Vijay', that was carried out by the Nehru government.
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Tamil rioters avenged the Federal Party satyagrahis in Batticaloa, where a Sinhalese hotel was burnt. An employee of this hotel fired at acrowd that had gathered to watch the conflagration, killing 2. Tamils from Karaitivu had thrown stones at Gal Oya Board trucks.Tambiah, Stanley.
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Ackerman & DuVall, p. 90 American journalist Webb Miller was an eye-witness to the beating of satyagrahis with steel tipped lathis. His report attracted international attention: > Not one of the marchers even raised an arm to fend off the blows. They went > down like ten-pins.
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Some Congress leaders disagreed with Gandhi's promotion of a woman to lead the march.Tanejs, p. 128. Hundreds of Indian National Congress volunteers started marching towards the site of the Dharasana Salt Works. Several times, Naidu and the satyagrahis approached the salt works, before being turned back by police.
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He was followed nearly by 25,000 individual satyagrahis. The second Satyagrahi was Jawahar Lal Nehru. The third was Brahma Datt, one of the inmates of the Gandhi's Ashram. They all were sent to jail for violating the Defence of India Act, and many others were also later imprisoned.
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He was then arrested and sent to jail where he was tortured, bringing additional attention to the Satyagrahis. This drew Mahatma Gandhi to join the independence movement. In 1933, Gandhi, on his second visit to Chhattisgarh, went to Tamarind. There, he praised the leadership of Babu Chhote Lal.
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If the majority of Savarnas were willing to allow the roads to be opened to the Avarnas, it should be accepted. Third proposal was that of arbitration. The orthodoxy appoints a Pandit, Gandhiji would appoint a Pandit on behalf of the Satyagrahis. The Divan of Travancore would act as an umpire.
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Gandhi felt that this would bring the poor into the struggle for sovereignty and self-rule, necessary for eventual victory.Ackerman, p. 86. Thousands of satyagrahis and leaders like Sarojini Naidu joined him. Every day, more and more people joined the march, until the procession of marchers became at least two miles long.
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The movement gained all-India prominence and support came from far and wide. The Akalis of Punjab lend their support by setting up kitchens to provide food to the Satyagrahis. Even Christian and Muslim leaders came forward for support. This was shunned by Gandhiji who wanted the movement to be an intra-Hindu affair.
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The first day's march of ended in the village of Aslali, where Gandhi spoke to a crowd of about 4,000. At Aslali, and the other villages that the march passed through, volunteers collected donations, registered new satyagrahis, and received resignations from village officials who chose to end co-operation with British rule.Weber, pp. 143–144.
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Any way, the Guru did not issue any statement to counter Gandhiji's writings in Young India. It was never the Guru's technique to argue and win. He expressed through actions what he had to say. He offered his Vellore Mutt near Vaikom for the use of the Satyagrahis and Head Office was set up there.
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Mohandas K. (later Mahatma) Gandhi and other residents of Tolstoy Farm, 1910 Mohandas Karamchand (later Mahatma) Gandhi set up a cooperative colony called Tolstoy Farm near Johannesburg, South Africa, having been inspired by Tolstoy's ideas. The colony comprising was funded by the Gandhian Herman Kallenbach and placed at the disposal of the satyagrahis from 1910.
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Gandhi proposed a series of rules for satyagrahis to follow in a resistance campaign: # Harbour no anger. # Suffer the anger of the opponent. # Never retaliate to assaults or punishment; but do not submit, out of fear of punishment or assault, to an order given in anger. # Voluntarily submit to arrest or confiscation of your own property.
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Assam police resort to lathicharge on the satyagrahis at the Tarapur railway station (now, Silchar railway station). On 19 May, the dawn to dusk hartal started. Picketing started in the sub-divisional towns of Silchar, Karimganj and Hailakandi from early in the morning. In Karimganj, the agitators picketed in front of government offices, courts and railway station.
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On 3 December 1941, the Viceroy ordered the acquittal of all the satyagrahis. In Europe the war situation became more critical with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the Congress realized the necessity for appraising their program. Subsequently, the movement was withdrawn. The Cripps' Mission and its failure also played an important role in Gandhi's call for The Quit India Movement.
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Baikuntha Shukla was born in 1910 in village Jalalpur in Muzaffarpur District (now Vaishali). He got his elementary education at his village and became a teacher in a lower primary school in village Mathurapur. He took active part in Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930 and was imprisoned in Patna Camp Jail. He was released along with other Satyagrahis after the Gandhi Irwin Pact.
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The very next day after the matriculation exams, a satyagraha was being organized at the Tarapur railway station in Silchar demanding Bengali as the medium of education. Sachindra joined the satyagraha. The rail blockade programme passed off peacefully in the morning. However, in the afternoon at around 2-30 PM, a truck carrying arrested satyagrahis were passing by, when suddenly it was set on fire.
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On 5 June 1956 a group of Tamil activists and parliamentarians, led by Chelvanayakam, staged a satyagraha (a form of non-violent resistance) against the Sinhala Only Act on Galle Face Green opposite the Parliament. The satyagrahis were attacked by a Sinhalese mob as the police looked on, and ITAK MPs E. M. V. Naganathan and V. N. Navaratnam were thrown in Beira Lake.
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The satyagrahis were attacked by a Sinhalese mob as the police looked on, and Navaratnam and E. M. V. Naganathan were thrown in the lake. Following the 1958 riots ITAK and the Jathika Vimukthi Peramuna (National Liberation Front) were banned. ITAK's leaders, including Navaratnam, were arrested on 4 June 1958 as they left Parliament and imprisoned . Navaratnam played a leading role in the 1961 satyagraha campaign organised by ITAK.
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Nityanand Chatterji became a household name when he hurled a bomb at a European club. In Alfred Park in 1931, Chandrashekhar Azad died when surrounded by British police. The Nehru family homes, Anand Bhavan and Swaraj Bhavan, were centres of Indian National Congress activity. During the years before independence, Allahabad was home to thousands of satyagrahis led by Purushottam Das Tandon, Bishambhar Nath Pande, Narayan Dutt Tiwari and others.
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The satyagrahis were attacked by a Sinhalese mob as the police looked on, and Naganathan and V. N. Navaratnam were thrown in the lake. Following the 1958 riots ITAK and the Jathika Vimukthi Peramuna (National Liberation Front) were banned. ITAK's leaders, including Naganathan, were arrested on 4 June 1958 as they left Parliament and imprisoned. Naganathan played a leading role in the 1961 satyagraha campaign organised by ITAK.
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The farm was used to run Gandhi's famous Tolstoy Farm that housed the families of satyagrahis. Kallenbach himself named this farm after Leo Tolstoy as he was deeply influenced by Tolstoy's writings and philosophy. Abandoning the life of a wealthy, sport-loving bachelor, he adopted the simple lifestyle, vegetarian diet and equality politics of Gandhi on this farm. Henry Polak was another close friend and follower of Gandhi.
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In January 1929, Joshi participated in a strike called by Gujarat college students and this marked as his first association with ongoing National movement in India. On 26 December 1929 in Lahore sessions, congress declared that Purna Swaraj as their mission. Gandhi and Purna swaraj declaration inspired Joshi to become a Satyagrahi. In April 1930, Joshi joined Viramgam satyagraha camp as a Satyagrahi. British officials arrested him along with other Satyagrahis in November 1930.
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Ahead of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, LSS organised a movement in 1955 to secure the transfer of Bengali-speaking areas of Bihar into West Bengal. The party organized a march of satyagrahis by foot from Pakbirah village (Manbhum District) to Calcutta, a 480 km walk. The march lasted 16 days, gathering some 1,000 participants. When reaching the vicinity of the West Bengal government headquarters, the march was broken up by police and participants arrested.
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In the meantime a compromise between Congress and British government was done and all the political prisoners were let off a week before the scheduled date of the annual conference of Indian National Congress in Kolkata. After the conference was over Dr. Hardikar selected four Satyagrahis for UP, Ram Prasad Nautiyal was one of them. They were sent to Hugli for six months for training. After his training was over he was sent to Lahore.
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The British ordered troops of 2/18 battalion of Royal Garhwal Rifles to open fire with machine guns on the unarmed crowd, killing an estimated 200–250.Habib, p. 56. The Pashtun satyagrahis acted in accord with their training in nonviolence, willingly facing bullets as the troops fired on them. One British Indian Army Soldier Chandra Singh Garhwali and troops of the renowned Royal Garhwal Rifles, refused to fire at the crowds.
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Gandhiji had to do something about it. He wrote to W. H. Pitt, then Police Commissioner of Travancore put an end to goondaism. Pitt being a European, was in a better position to intervene and bring an honorable settlement between Government and Gandhiji. Pitt agreed to influence the Government to remove all barricades and withdraw the prohibitory orders, on condition that Gandhiji instructed the Satyagrahis not to cross the point where the prohibitory board was.
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Ibrahim Suhrawardy (Odia : ଇବ୍ରାହିମ୍ ସୁହରାୱାରଦୀ, Bengali : ইব্রাহিম সোহরাওয়ার্দী) was an Indian educationist, author and linguist from Balasore, Odisha. He is credited to have written the first English grammar books in Odia for the native students. He achieved high distinction in English studies in British India and taught many generations of students and scholars how western languages could be pursued to great educational advantage. He was one of the active Satyagrahis during the Inchudi Satyagraha movement in 1930.
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Dharasana Satyagraha was a protest against the British salt tax in colonial India in May, 1930. Following the conclusion of the Salt March to Dandi, Mahatma Gandhi chose a non-violent raid of the Dharasana Salt Works in Gujarat as the next protest against British rule. Hundreds of satyagrahis were beaten by soldiers under British command at Dharasana. The ensuing publicity attracted world attention to the Indian independence movement and brought into question the legitimacy of British rule in India.
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Following his release in 1933, he was re-arrested and detained in the Belgaum Jail. It was during this time in prison that he wrote Gita According to Gandhi which was posthumously published in 1946. He also played a role in organising people's movements in the princely states of Rajkot and Mysore in 1939 and was put in charge of selecting satyagrahis during the Individual Satyagraha of 1940. Desai's final prison term followed the Quit India Declaration of 8 August 1942.
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At his premises on Field Street, he gave a rousing speech arguing the honour of India was threatened. Despite his stay in Transvaal prisons, Rustomjee insisted on joining a group of resisters from the Phoenix Settlement (to which he had been a major financial benefactor). This included Kasturba Gandhi, who had started the third phase of the satyagraha on 15 September 1913. The fifteen satyagrahis crossed the border at Transvaal and were sentenced on 23 September to three months with hard labour.
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In 1932, she was hailed as the "Third Dictator" of the Congress, and led the Satyagrahis to boycott foreign cloth. A thorough Congresswoman, she was part of the Managing Committee of the Hindi Prachar Sabha from 1934 to 1938. She did a lot of propaganda work for Hindi. As part of her activities with the Hindi Prachar Sabha, she attended the All-India Congress Session in Bombay in 1934. She stayed at Wardha Ashram with Gandhi from November 1934 till January 1935.
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While returning from a Prabhat-Pheri from ChunaDhar (a little ahead of Dogadda) all the Satyagrahis were chanting pro-freedom slogans, suddenly came deputy commissioner of the police Ibbotson with his team. Ganga Singh Tyagi a class 9th student was holding tri-color in his hand and shouted, "Bharat Mata ki Jai", "Vande Matram". This made Ibbotson very angry, he started flogging the child. Ganga Singh fell unconscious, even at this Ibbotson came off his horse and started booting the child.
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On 23 January 1949, Sharma was sentenced to eight months' imprisonment for violating restrictions on public meetings; some other satyagrahis were also arrested. Later, the political detainees were released and on 30 April 1949 the Nawab signed an Instrument of Accession to the Dominion of India. The state of Bhopal was taken over by the Union Government of India on 1 June 1949 and was declared a "Part C" state, to be governed by a Chief Commissioner appointed by the President of India.
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He also authored his own Autobiography titled The Pen As My Sword Kotamaraju Rama Rao (9 November 1896 – 24 May 1953) was an Indian editor, freedom fighter, and a member of Rajya Sabha. He was the first editor of The National Herald (India). He was jailed in August 1942 by the British government for his editorial titled "Jail or Jungle" criticizing the torture of Satyagrahis in Lucknow camp jail. He was elected to the first Rajya Sabha from the state of Madras in 1952.
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As a result of which Mount Abu remained part of Rajasthan, however, some other parts of district were transferred to Gujarat. He fought for empowerment of backward class He was awarded Padma Bhushan award by the Government of India in 1971. and the Jamnalal Bajaj Award for Constructive Work, in 1982 He was arrested during the emergency for his vocal protest of emergency. In the jail he started satyagraha with other satyagrahis and people like Professor Kedar, Ujjwala Arora, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and others.
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The successful annexation of Dadra and Nagar Haveli provided the dormant Goa anti-colonial movement with renewed vigour and motivation to continue the anti-colonial struggle. On 15 August 1954, hundreds of people crossed the Portuguese Goan borders, defying a ban by the Indian government on participating in Satyagrahas. The Portuguese responded to the action by injuring and fatally shooting many Satyagrahis. The Portuguese responded to the Satyagrahas, which continued throughout 1955, by sealing Goa's borders in an attempt to curb the growing support for the movement.
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At an early age, Mridula came under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi. As a child of ten, she worked with the Vanara Sena ("Monkey Army" - a group of child activists organised by Indira Gandhi) of the Congress and carried messages and water for the satyagrahis. Influenced by Jawaharlal Nehru, who was to become her lifelong friend and mentor, she helped with the organization of the Youth Conference in Rajkot in 1927. She joined the Congress Seva Dal during the Salt Satyagraha and organized the boycott of foreign cloth and British goods.
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Tolstoy rejected the state (as it only exists on the basis of physical force) and all institutions that are derived from it—the police, law courts and army. Tolstoy influenced Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi who set up a cooperative colony called Tolstoy Farm near Johannesburg, South Africa, having been inspired by Tolstoy's ideas. The colony comprising was funded by the Gandhian Herman Kallenbach and placed at the disposal of the satyagrahis from 1910. He also inspired similar communal experiments in the United StatesErnest Howard Crosby was a notable Tolstoyan in the United States.
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On 5 February 1961, the Cachar Gana Sangram Parishad was formed to agitate against the imposition of Assamese in the Bengali-speaking Barak Valley. On 14 April, the people of Silchar, Karimganj and Hailakandi observed a Sankalpa Divas in protest against the injustice of the Assamese government. On 24 April, the Parishad flagged off a fortnight long padayatra in the Barak Valley, in the regions surrounding Silchar and Karimganj to raise awareness among the masses. The satyagrahis who took part in the padayatra walked over 200 miles and covered several villages.
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During the Quit India Movement, Balaji Raipurkar and Babulal Zire were killed when the British troops opened fire on the satyagrahis. Following this incident, The Government Rest House at Chimur was burnt down by an angry mob in which the Subdivisional officer, Tehmuras Darashaw Doongaji, was killed along with Jarasand some other police officers. This incident occurred on August 16, 1942, on Nagpachmi thithi, therefore, there is a Nag statue as smarak. After this incident, for about 3 days, there was no British rule and the Indian flag was raised.
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Agitations against the Nawab broke out in December 1948, leading to the arrest of prominent leaders including Bhai Ratan Kumar Gupta and Shankar Dayal Sharma, the future president of India on 5 & 6 January 1949 respectively. Sharma was sentenced to eight months imprisonment for violating restrictions on public meetings; some other satyagrahis like Ram charan Rai, Biharilal Ghatt, Thakur Lalsingh, Laxminarayan Sinhal were also arrested. Amidst the Vilinikaran Andolan, many were shot dead by the Nawabi police, including the martyrs of Boras. Sardar Patel took the situation seriously, sent V P Menon for the Merger Agreement negotiations on 23 January 1949.
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Hence, in order for India to avoid NATO involvement in Goa, the Indian government was impeded from speaking out against Portugal's response to satyagraha protest actions. In 1954, the Goa Vimochan Sahayak Samiti (All-Party Goa Liberation Committee), was formed with the aim of continuing the civil disobedience campaign and providing financial and political assistance to the satyagrahis. The Maharashtra and Gujarat chapters of the Praja Socialist Party assisted the liberation committee, motivated by an agenda for independent Goa to merge into Maharashtra state. The liberation committee and the Praja Socialist Party collaboratively organised several satyagrahas in 1954–55.
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Despite the low turnout, a small group managed to cross the Goan border to successfully occupy the Terekhol fort overnight. With the exception of a small number of satyagrahas and the activities of the All-Goa Political Party Committee, lacking the support of the national Indian government, the anti-colonial movement lost its momentum. Pro-independence advocacy actions were sporadic and few were willing to involve themselves in the movement. On 18 June 1954, Satyagrahis infiltrated Goa and hoisted the Indian flag; however, the demonstrators and suspected sympathisers were arrested, and anti-colonialist activists Dr. Gaitonde and Shriyut Deshpande were deported to Portugal.
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Lal represented Kumaon along with Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant in the Convention of the United Provinces Congress in November 1920, prior to the Nagpur session during which it was decided that the propaganda for Non-cooperation movement would also be carried out in Kumaon. Lal represented Garhwal. Mukandi Lal was the legal counsel of the soldiers of 39 Garhwal Rifles accused of mutiny during the Peshawar Incident (Qissa Khwani Bazaar massacre) in 1930, when they refused to open fire against unarmed satyagrahis of Khudai Khidmatgar protesting the unlawful arrest of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan. He is credited for saving the 'Hero of Peshawar' - platoon commander Chandra Singh - from death-penalty.
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Kamaraj conducted a vigorous campaign throughout the state asked people not to contribute to war funds when Sir Arthur Hope, the Madras Governor, was collecting contributions to fund for the Second World War. In December 1940 he was arrested again at Guntur, under the Defence of India rules for speeches that opposed contributions to the war fund, and sent to Vellore Central Prison while he was on his way to Wardha to get Gandhi's approval for a list of Satyagrahis. While in jail, he was elected as Municipal Councillor of Virudhunagar. He was released nine months later in November 1941 and resigned from this post as he thought he had greater responsibility for the nation.
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Many Indian national schools were established during this period under Thakur Pyarelal's supervision, including the Madhyamik School in Rajnandgaon. His father, Mr. Dindayal Singh was Deputy Inspector of Schools for Rajnandgaon, Kawardha, and Chuikhadan. In 1923, the Flag Satyagrah Movement was announced by Congress, and Thakur Pyarelal led this movement in various regions of Chhattisgarh (formerly known as Madhya Pradesh). Innumerable satyagrahis from all over the state joined him in generating public awareness. In 1924, a second mill workers' strike in Rajnandgaon led by Thakur Pyarelal Singh saw violent demonstrations against the British Government resulting in further concessions to the workers. In 1924, Thakur Pyarelal Singh resumed his legal career in Raipur.
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Original footage of Gandhi and his followers marching to Dandi in the Salt Satyagraha On 12 March 1930, Gandhi and 78 satyagrahis, among whom were men belonging to almost every region, caste, creed, and religion of India, set out on foot for the coastal village of Dandi, Gujarat, over from their starting point at Sabarmati Ashram. The Salt March was also called the White Flowing River because all the people were joining the procession wearing white khadi. According to The Statesman, the official government newspaper which usually played down the size of crowds at Gandhi's functions, 100,000 people crowded the road that separated Sabarmati from Ahmadabad.Weber, p. 140.The Statesman, 13 March 1930.
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The change could have been significant because a fourteen-year sentence was de facto equivalent to one of life imprisonment: government review and permission for release was required once the sentence was complete. As events turned out, and after facing further charges in May 1932, resulting from the deliberations of the Delhi Conspiracy Commission and later abandoned, Yashpal served six years before being among those released under an amnesty agreement for political prisoners that was brokered by the newly formed Congress government in the United Provinces. As far as Congress were concerned, there was no difference in status between people who had been imprisoned for non- cooperation (the satyagrahis) and those serving sentences for revolutionary activities. His release came on 2 March 1938, without any requirement for him to renounce his past activities.
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Mahatma Gandhi and other satyagrahis during the Dandi March At the historic Lahore session of the Indian National Congress on 26 December 1929 in which Purna Swaraj was declared, a passing reference was made to the infamous and oppressive salt law and resolved that a way should be found to oppose it. In the first week of March 1930, Gandhi wrote to Lord Irwin apprising him of the prevailing social, economic and political conditions in the country. On 12 March 1930, Mahatma Gandhi embarked on a sathyagraha with 79 followers from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi on the Arabian Sea coast. This march, known as the Dandi March, was sensationalized by the international press; film clippings and pictures of Mahatma Gandhi were relayed to distant corners of the world.
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On 5 June 1956 a group of Tamil activists and parliamentarians, led by S. J. V. Chelvanayakam, staged a satyagraha against the Sinhala Only Act on Galle Face Green opposite the Parliament. The satyagrahis were attacked by a Sinhalese mob as the police looked on, and Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) MPs E. M. V. Naganathan and V. N. Navaratnam were thrown in the lake. The mob had been led by Rajaratne. Rajaratne resigned from the government and left the parliamentary group because of Bandaranaike's refusal to ban ITAK's march to Trincomalee in August 1956. On 1 October 1956 an election judge ruled that the 1956 parliamentary election in Welimada was void because Rajaratne had been disqualified from being a Member of Parliament for three years following his 1955 conviction.
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Gandhi stoops to pick up grains of salt as an act of nonviolent protest. In 2008, Lewis earned a grant to retrace the steps of Mahatma Gandhi’s infamous 1930 Salt March: a nonviolent protest to the salt tax , which had provided a British monopoly resulting in extreme pricing of salt to colonial Indians, who were prohibited to manufacture salt on their own. Gandhi, who started with 80 followers called satyagrahis, or “truth-force,” walked 241 miles from his home (the Harijan Ashram) to the coastal city of Dandi, where Gandhi picked up some grains of salt, thereby sparking the civil disobedience movement which eventually led to India's independence. According to an article in Pulse (a Cincinnati newspaper which has since gone out of print), Lewis ran the heritage trail in 10 days, averaging just over 20 miles per day.
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