Truth alone triumphs

Truth (satya) implies love, and firmness (agraha) engenders and therefore serves as a synonym for force. I thus began to call the Indian movement Satyagraha, that is to say, the Force which is born of Truth and Love or non-violence, and gave up the use of the phrase “passive resistance”, in connection with it, so much so that even in English writing we often avoided it and used instead the word "satyagraha."

-- Mahatma Gandhi

"With this, I am shaking the foundations of the British Empire." - April 6, 1930

"I cannot withhold my compliments from the government for the policy of complete non interference adopted by them throughout the march .... I wish I could believe this non-interference was due to any real change of heart or policy. The wanton disregard shown by them to popular feeling in the Legislative Assembly and their high-handed action leave no room for doubt that the policy of heartless exploitation of India is to be persisted in at any cost, and so the only interpretation I can put upon this non-interference is that the British Government, powerful though it is, is sensitive to world opinion which will not tolerate repression of extreme political agitation which civil disobedience undoubtedly is, so long as disobedience remains civil and therefore necessarily non-violent .... It remains to be seen whether the Government will tolerate as they have tolerated the march, the actual breach of the salt laws by countless people from tomorrow." - As told to the reporter of the Associated Press, on April 5, 1930

Today marks the 79th year of the conclusion of the Dandi Yatra (march), which was led by Mahatma Gandhi, to oppose the British Salt Tax. It began on 12th March 1930, when Mahatma Gandhi accompanied by 78 satyagrahis, embarked on a journey, by foot, to the coastal village of Dandi in Gurjarat, some 390 kilometers (240 miles) from their starting point at the Sabarmati Ashram. My intention to make this post was to showcase the power of peace and its achievements, while also commemorating a very significant moment in Indian history! I'd like to conclude this post by quoting Martin Luther King Jr, who said the following about Mahatma Gandhi and the Salt Satyagraha.

"Like most people, I had heard of Gandhi, but I had never studied him seriously. As I read I became deeply fascinated by his campaigns of nonviolent resistance. I was particularly moved by his Salt March to the Sea and his numerous fasts. The whole concept of Satyagraha (Satya is truth which equals love, and agraha is force; Satyagraha, therefore, means truth force or love force) was profoundly significant to me. As I delved deeper into the philosophy of Gandhi, my skepticism concerning the power of love gradually diminished, and I came to see for the first time its potency in the area of social reform."

Footnotes

Inputs from Wikipedia

Images Courtesy - Wikipedia, as per original copyrights held by the Government of India & Peace Power - A journal of non-violence and conflict transformation

Suggested Reading - The Salt Satyagraha