Located in the coastal and sleepy village of Dandi, 23 km from Navsari in south Gujarat, the Villa hosted Mahatma Gandhi as he concluded his famous Dandi March or Salt Satyagraha, from Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, on April 5, 1930. Next morning, Gandhi picked up a fistful of salt a few metres out of Saifee Villa, symbolically defying the draconian Salt Law of 1882 which prohibited Indians from making salt from seawater and imposed heavy taxes on a common commodity. Gandhi’s symbolic act galvanised a nation, which rose in protest recorded in history as ‘Civil Disobedience Movement’.
Bapu’s First Challenge To Brits
“Dandi March is significant because it was the first time when Gandhiji openly challenged the British empire. The movement drew global attention to our freedom movement though the act of defiantly picking up a pinch of salt itself looked simple,” said Meghshyam Ajgaonkar, Gandhian and executive secretary at Mani Bhavan Gandhi Sangrahalaya where Gandhi stayed between 1917 and 1934.
Activist and Gandhi’s great-grandson Tushar Gandhi, who was involved in setting up National Satyagraha Memorial close to Saifee Villa, said the Mahatma knew he would be arrested and, therefore, had asked Congress leader and fellow traveller Abbas Taiyabji to lead the movement after his arrest.
Photos: Vijay Thakkar
“Taiyabji led the movement after Bapu’s arrest at Karadi village. When there was criticism saying it (the march) was avoiding Muslim villages, Bapu changed the route and visited Muslim villages, sending out a strong message of communal harmony and making it an inclusive movement,” Tushar Gandhi added.
“At Saifee Villa on April 5, 1930, Mahatma Gandhi stayed the night prior to the historic event of breaking the ‘Salt Law’ on the morning of April 6, thereby launching the Civil Disobedience Movement that ultimately shattered the foundations of British Rule,” reads a stone plaque in red on the Villa’s wall. The plaque adds that Syedna Taher Saifuddin requested Nehru to dedicate it to the nation “to be preserved as a national heritage”. Since then, it has been called Saifee Villa Gandhi Memorial Museum.
Raj Wasn’t Worried, At First
Accompanied by 80 other marchers, Gandhi began the trek on March 12, 1930, covered 387km in 24 days, and reached Dandi on April 5. Thousands joined in to oppose the oppressive tax on salt. Gandhi’s fellow freedom fighters, including Nehru and Sardar Patel, were initially skeptical about the plan. Even the British regime did not see the Salt Satyagraha as a threat. While Gandhi had called Dandi his ‘Haridwar’ and sought the world’s “sympathy in the battle of right against might”, then Viceroy Lord Irwin underplayed the movement in a missive to London: “At present, the prospect of a salt campaign does not keep me awake at night.”
But as thousands, including stalwarts like Sarojini Naidu, joined in, singing Gandhi’s favourite bhajan, ‘Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram’, beating drums and cymbals as they crossed village after village and the world press took note, the Satyagraha took on the shape of a mass movement and gave the Raj sleepless nights. So much so that Gandhi and many others were arrested on the night of May 4-5, 1930.
Gandhi’s incarceration at Yerwa da Jail in Pune ended nearly a year later, followed by the Gandhi-Irwin pact on March 5, 1931 which announced the cessation of the salt tax and allowed Indians to make salt for domestic use.
Bigger Memorial Next Door Now
Overlooking the sea, which has now receded by around half a kilometre, the Villa and its “dedication to the nation” by Nehru found mention in PM Narendra Modi’s address at the inauguration (Feb 10, 2013) of the new campus of Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah (The Saifi Academy) at Marol in Mumbai. The Academy promotes the learning, traditions and literary culture of the Dawoodi Bohra community.
Modi had also inaugurated ‘National Satyagraha Memorial’ on Jan 30, 2019, a few minutes’ walk from Saifee Villa towards the sea. Conceived as “an experiential journey recreating the spirit and the energy of the 1930 Dandi March,” the monument is spread over 16 acres and, through murals, a museum and a documentary film, visitors are able to visualise and understand the history of the iconic March and the methods of Satyagraha. To mark the historic moment, a machine also demonstrates the making of salt from seawater.
More To Dandi Than Gandhi
Back to Saifee Villa. Perhaps nobody in Dandi, a village of around 1,300 residents, many of whom are NRIs whose beautiful bungalows with gardens lie locked or are being looked after by caretakers, knows more about the Villa and Dandi March than Kalubhai K Dangar. The 58-year-old is a social scientist who visited Dandi in 2011 as a member of World Bank’s project on ‘Gandhian Values in Rural Development and Environment’. The project was implemented by Gujarat Ecology Commission and Gujarat Vidyapeeth.
“Dandi was one of the six villages chosen to spread awareness about cleanliness and environmental protection. I loved Dandi, but was saddened to see the surroundings of Saifee Villa, the nearby Gandhi statue, the village beach and its streets littered with garbage,” recalled Dangar. Next day, he picked up a broom to begin cleaning up the Villa, Dandi’s beaches and streets. In an interview to TOI (December 2, 2014), Dangar had said: “I started alone and took up cleaning of the beach, public roads of Dandi and Saifee Villa. Seeing me, people joined in and now we have a beach cleaning committee.”
Though the century-old, whitewashed Saifee Villa is structurally strong, on close inspection one can see plaster peeling off at some places. The first floor where Gandhi spent 10 nights is currently closed to visitors. An attendant told us it “is under maintenance”.
“Though the Villa is being managed by Gujarat Tourism, we have to take permission from Archeological Survey of India to do repair work on it. It takes time, but even the first floor will be opened for visitors once it is overhauled and its wooden stairs, which have suffered wear and tear, are fixed,” said Dangar.
For Dawoodi Bohras and others, the mausoleum called Maisaheba in Dandi village is another attraction. The tomb houses graves of Noor Bibisaheba and Fatema Bibisaheba, mother and sister, respectively, of Syedna Yusuf Najmuddin, the 24th Dai or spiritual head of Dawoodi Bohras. While returning from Haj, they were shipwrecked and washed ashore. Najmuddin was the first from India to head the Dawoodi Bohra community and his successor Jalal bin Hasan transferred the headquarters of the community from Yemen to India in 974 AH. Evidently, there are more reasons than one to visit Dandi.
