非暴力抗议(2)

It was usual for people to make their own salt. People also bought locally produced salt. It did not cost a lot of money.

The British government made it illegal for people in India to make their own salt. The government forced people to buy government approved and taxed salt.

They punished people who did not follow the salt laws. The police would take people's salt away. Police would even put people in jail for up to six months for breaking the salt laws.

Mohandas Gandhi did not think that this tax was fair. He wanted India to be its own country. He did not want to be ruled by the British government any longer.

But Gandhi did not want to use violence to gain freedom. He wanted to change people's minds. He wanted them to understand that India needed to be free.

He decided to do something about the problem. On March 2 1930, Gandhi sent a letter to Lord Irwin, the British colony leader of India.

He asked Lord Irwin to stop the salt tax. Gandhi said that if Lord Irwin did not listen, Gandhi would not pay the salt tax.