In 1930 Mahatma Gandhi's demands were rejected by the British, as a result of which he launched the Civil Disobedience Movement. In this context, explain the following:

(a) Name the famous march undertaken by Gandhiji. Where did he begin this march? State two of its features.

(b) How was this Movement different from the Non-Cooperation Movement?

(c) Explain briefly how did Mahatma Gandhi try to promote Hindu-Muslim unity from the Rowlatt Satyagraha to the Third Round Table conference.

(a) The famous march undertaken by Gandhiji was the Dandi March.

1. On 12th March, Mahatma Gandhi began the historic march from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi, a village on the Gujarat sea coast.
2. A number of people followed him.
3. On the morning of 6th April, Gandhiji violated the Salt Law at Dandi by picking up some salt left by the sea waves.
4. According to the Salt Law, the government had the monopoly to manufacture and sell salt.
5. He had selected to attack the Salt Laws because the salt-tax affected all sections of society, especially the poor.
6. Gandhiji's breaking of the Salt Laws marked the beginning of the Civil Disobedience Movement.

(b) Civil Disobedience Movement was different from the Non-Cooperation Movement as the former involved non-payment of taxes and land revenue as well as violation of laws of different kinds in addition to non-cooperation activities.

(c) Mahatma Gandhi tried to promote Hindu-Muslim unity from the Rowlatt Satyagraha to the Third Round Table conference in the following ways-

1. Rowlatt Satyagraha — An important feature of the Rowlatt Satyagraha was Hindu-Muslim unity. This was the call given by Mahatma Gandhi, who always saw a unified India belonging to the people of all religions. He wanted that Hindus and Muslims should support each other in any just cause.
2. Khilafat movement — Gandhiji saw in the Khilafat Movement an opportunity for uniting Hindus and Muslims. He said that the Congress plea for Hindu-Muslim unity "would be an empty phrase if the Hindus hold aloof from the Muslims when their vital interests are at stake".
3. Non-Cooperation Movement — It fostered Hindu-Muslim unity which could be seen in the merger of the Khilafat issue with this Movement. It provided an opportunity to the Congress to bring the urban Muslims into the National Movement by convincing them that the nation was equally concerned with the problems affecting them.