The Salt March of Turkey

1930- THE SALT MARCH

Around 1920-40 there was a big protest in India led by Mohandas “Mahatma” Gandhi (1869 – 1948). In 1930 there was a march called “The Salt March”.To protest at the government’s salt tax, Gandhi proposed a 240-mile march from Ahmedabad to the coastal town of Dandi. The reason for this march was: salt tax charging the Indian people for a basic human necessity and preventing them making their own salt. Gandhi said “My ambition is no less than to convert the British people through nonviolence, and thus make them see the wrong they have done to India.”

When the marchers reached the sea, they started making salt from the sea-water, thus breaking the law. This gesture led to civil disobedience breaking out in many parts of India. 60,000 people were arrested.

The second stage of the campaign was to try and take over the salt works at Dharasana. Volunteers marched towards the salt works and, as policemen struck them down with heavy sticks, more volunteers came forward to take their place. Although thousands more arrests were made, the Viceroy decided it was a stalemate and he held talks with Gandhi, which resulted in the Salt Acts being interpreted more humanely and in an agreement that Gandhi could represent his Congress Party at the 1931 Round Table Conference in London. The Conference led nowhere but the salt march gave Indians self-respect and confidence that they could gain independence.

Gandhi wanted to bring independence to India. He wanted to free his country from the British. The salt march was one of the important protest he made to achieve his goal. India finally became independent in 1947.

2013- GEZİ PARKI

The gezi parkı protests started with the government saying that they

wanted to cut down all the trees and build a shopping mall in the middle of the Gezi Parkı. Only a small group of people went to the park and started to protest. They tried to stop the trucks from cutting the trees and smashing the walls. And for a while they were able to. But then the police came and tried to send the protestors away, when they couldn’t they started to use violence. When other civilians saw this they came to help the protestors. More and more protestors came. The police used live ammunition, tear gas, water cannon, plastic bullets. They beat the protestors. There were lots of injured people and many deaths. When the police violated human rights on a scale this big and the news didn’t show any of this, protestors from all around Turkey started to protest. This spread really quickly with the help of social media.

Even people from outside Turkey learned about these protest and wanted to help. These problems between the government and the citizens haven’t been solved yet.