Previous Year Question
The name of the foreign journalist who reported about Satyagraha at Dharsana salt works was
Francis Louis
Mark Tully
Web Miller
Philip Sprat
Correct Answer: C
Detailed Solution
American journalist Webb Miller provided an eyewitness account of the Dharasana Salt Satyagraha of 1930. The question paper prints his name as “Web Miller,” while the commonly accepted spelling of his name is Webb Miller.
After the Dandi March, Gandhi planned a non-violent Satyagraha against the Dharasana Salt Works. However, before the action could take place, Gandhi was arrested on 5 May 1930 and taken to Yeravda Prison.
Leadership then passed to Abbas Tyabji. After his arrest, the Satyagrahis continued towards Dharasana under the leadership of Sarojini Naidu.
On 21 May 1930, about 2,500 unarmed volunteers advanced towards the Dharasana Salt Works. The police severely beat the Satyagrahis with lathis, while the protesters maintained non-violent discipline.
Webb Miller was an eyewitness to the incident. In his report, he described watching the Satyagrahis endure police blows without violent resistance and later personally seeing more than 200 injured persons in the temporary hospital.
His reporting brought wide attention outside India to the events at Dharasana and played an important role in bringing the non-violent character of the Civil Disobedience Movement and British repression before an international audience.