Gandhi's salt march reenacted

Chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi (C) walks with Congress Party members on the 75th Anniversary of the famous Salt March (Dandhi March) in Ahmedabad, in the western state of Gujarat, yesterday. PHOTO: AFP

The re-enactment of Gandhi's famous "salt march" of 1930 from Ahmedabad to coastal Dandi village in western Gujarat state, was flagged off amid much pomp and show by ruling Congress party president, Italian-born Sonia Gandhi.

Similar marches to mark the 75th anniversary of one of the first acts of defiance in India's fight for independence from Britain were to be held in 15 cities around the world including in Durban, South Africa where Gandhi took his first political steps.

Amid the burst of camera flashes and the blare of prayer songs, Sonia Gandhi led the first batch of marchers, walking with them for a distance of about five kilometers (three miles) on a freshly washed road strewn with flowers in this major Gujarat city.

Cries of "Long Live Mahatma Gandhi" broke the early-morning silence at Sabarmati Ashram, a cluster of huts on the banks of Sabarmati river which once served as Gandhi's hermitage and is now a museum.