Salt Satyagraha (1930) in the District of South 24 Parganas of West Bengal: Revisit the Territorial Nature of the National Movement

People of 24 Parganas, an important district of west Bengal, participated in Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930 on Gandhi’s clarion call. This movement was also known as Salt Satyagraha. This large coastal area of West Bengal was geographically and naturally suitable place for producing salt. Kalikapur-Champahati, Nila-Diamond Harbor, Namkhana-Kakdwip were the significant places of Salt Satyagraha in South 24 Parganas. Here Salt Satyagraha reached a unique dimension because people from all walks of life, particularly women, participated in this movement. Civil Disobedience Movement was most intense in an area called Nila. Most of us do not know that, Ashutosh Dolui, a very young man from that place was the first martyr of this movement. Congress leaders from Kolkata keep them regularly updated about this place, and some of them even visited here as well. However, there are not much discussions among the scholars or historian about Salt Satyagraha of this place. So, the purpose of this article is to explore an authentic history about Salt Satyagraha took place in South 24 Parganas based on primary sources found in archives, newspapers, local annals and other resources.