Ankola Salt Satyagraha, Karnataka: Historic Salt March taken place - Colonial India

Ankola Salt march, KA kwtankola.com

Historic Ankola Salt march, KA .
newindianexpress.com

A historic moment in India’s freedom struggle had taken  place on April 13, 1930 in  the quiet coastal town of Ankola in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka in which lots  of patriots and protesters, courageously participated to register   discontent over  British monopoly on salt. 

Led by Congress leader M.P. Nadkarni, the protesters marched to the seashore near Pujegere, 1.5 km from Ankola, and collected seawater and salty sand. The inspiration  came  from Gandhiji's' salt  march/  Salt Yatra, a 387 km walk from Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad to the  coastal Dandi in Gujarat. On April 6, at Dandi beach, Gandhi broke the salt law by boiling salt water.  

The protesters to  Ankola, on their  return  to the village, set up a traditional three-stone stove, and began boiling the water to produce rock salt. After producing  salt, they didn't keep quite, they put  up the  first bag of  homemade salt  for auction. A local  resident Honnappa Devi Naik purchased it for Rs 30. It was a symbolic beginning of the Salt Satyagraha in Karnataka.

The idea of launching the Satyagraha from Ankola was not a spontaneous one. It  was not  launched  in a hurry. Before  the planned salt  Satyagraha, the Congress leader Hanumantha Rao Koujalgi in 1929  had carefully  surveyed potential sites and finally chose  Ankola  as an ideal site, because  of its proximity to the coast, apart the villagerss  high  spirited  commitment  Though most leaders from Ankola were from the Nadavar community with modest means and little forma l education, they displayed remarkable resolve. The date chosen was April 13  as it commemorated the anniversary of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre that took place in 1919  in Amritsar in the Punjab province. The mass killing was executed by a ruthless British Brig. General Reginald Dyer  in collusion  with  the Governor  of  Punjab Michael O'  Dwyer, ICS. Historians view  them as prominent figures of  ''Imperial  Terrorism''.

In consideration of Gandhiji's salt march to Dandi and as a mark of solidarity with the  national  leaders across India, many frontline figures across Karnataka supported the movement. These included  Dr. Hardekar, K.A Venkataramaiah, M..C Mathanda, Tekur Subramanya, Gudgeppa Halikeri, and K.T Bashyam. 

Despite police crackdowns-like the sealing of Ramakrishna Bhat’s house where leaders had gathered, and arrests on April 11- the movement pressed on. Local resident Shyam Rao Shenvi offered an alternative venue under a wedding pandal, ensuring the protest could proceed.

The Sathyagraha continued for 45 days. Salt Sathyagraha was held in nearly 30  centers like Mangalore, Kundapur, Udupi, Puttur, Padubidre, etc., in Karnataka. Students daringly came out in large numbers to prepare salt and sell it from house to house.

The British authorities were rattled by the mobilization. A customs officer named Steel reportedly told police officer Collins that no government could survive such civil resistance. The movement soon expanded to include the Jungle Satyagraha, where locals entered reserved forests at Baleguli in defiance of British laws restricting access to firewood. The Ankola Salt Satyagraha thus ignited a wave of defiance across Karnataka, becoming a cornerstone of the southern freedom movement.

On  the same  day - April 13, 1930, in the Madras Presidency 98 Satyagrahis under the Congress leader Rajaji (C. Rajagopalachari) started their journey from  Trichy Cantonment to coastal Vedarayyam facing the Bay of Bengal (now in Nagapatinam  District,TN) . They were arrested  by the police after  picking up salt.

https://indianculture.gov.in/digital-district-repository/district-repository/salt-satyagraha-ankola

https://sanchika.ciil.org/items/4ec0566c-9286-4a85-92db-b78079396534/full

https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/2021/Aug/15/ankola-proud-of-its-rolein-salt-satyagraha-2344899.html

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/95-years-later-the-salt-march-lives-on-in-tamil-nadu-but-the-memory-slips-away/articleshow/120741094.cms

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ankola