📘 IAS Prelims 2025 — GS-I | Q.71 | Classroom Explanation

(Modern Indian History | National Movement)

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📌 Question

Q.71)

“Sedition has become my religion” was the famous statement given by Gandhiji at the time of:

(a) the Champaran Satyagraha
(b) publicly violating Salt Law at Dandi
(c) attending the Second Round Table Conference in London
(d) the launch of the Quit India Movement

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✅ Correct Answer: (b) publicly violating Salt Law at Dandi

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🧑‍🏫 Classroom Explanation

This question tests historical context + ideological evolution of Gandhiji, a classic UPSC favourite where quotations are linked to events.

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🔍 Historical Context

• The statement was made during the Civil Disobedience Movement (1930).
• It is directly associated with the Salt Satyagraha / Dandi March led by Mahatma Gandhi.

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🔍 Event Reconstruction (Chronological Clarity)

• 12 March 1930: Gandhiji began the Dandi March from Sabarmati Ashram.
• Walked ~375 km with 78 selected followers.
• Route villages witnessed:
  • Massive public mobilisation
  • Resignations by village officials
  • National and international media coverage
• 6 April 1930:
  • Gandhiji reached Dandi (Gujarat coast)
  • Picked up a handful of salt
  • Publicly violated the Salt Law

This act symbolised direct defiance of British authority.

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🔍 Statement Attribution

At Dandi, Gandhiji declared (essence):

“Sedition has become my religion… Ours is a non-violent battle… it is our dharma to see that the curse of this Government is blotted out.”

➡️ The quote explicitly links sedition with moral duty, redefining it as ethical resistance, not criminal offence.

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❌ Why Other Options Are Incorrect

• Champaran Satyagraha (1917) ❌
  • Focused on indigo cultivators
  • No such declaration on sedition
• Second Round Table Conference (1931) ❌
  • Constitutional negotiations in London
  • Diplomatic phase, not mass defiance
• Quit India Movement (1942) ❌
  • Famous for “Do or Die”, not this quote

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🧮 Logical Elimination (UPSC Style)

Option	Event	Match
(a)	Champaran	❌
(b)	Dandi / Salt Law	✅
(c)	Round Table	❌
(d)	Quit India	❌

➡️ Correct option: (b)

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🔑 High-Value Add-On Points (Exam Gold)

🔹 1. Conceptual Significance (Very Important)

Gandhiji redefined “sedition” from a criminal offence under British law to a moral and ethical obligation against unjust rule.

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🔹 2. Legal Context (UPSC Loves This)

• Salt Law was part of colonial economic exploitation.
• By breaking it, Gandhiji:
  • Challenged legitimacy of British laws
  • Asserted people’s sovereignty

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🔹 3. Movement Mapping

Movement	Signature Phrase
Non-Cooperation	“No cooperation with evil”
Civil Disobedience	“Sedition has become my religion”
Quit India	“Do or Die”

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🔹 4. UPSC Trap Alert 🚨

• Quotes ≠ Movements randomly
• UPSC often tests exact pairing of quote + phase

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📍 GS Mapping

• GS Paper I
• Modern Indian History
• Gandhian Mass Movements

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🎯 Final Exam Lock

Salt Satyagraha = Moral Sedition + Non-Violent Defiance

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