“ it has reduced to politically to sertdom. It has sapped the foundations of our culture... it has degraded us spiritually”. This was Mahatma Gandhi complaining of the bad effect on Indians of which action/policy of the colonial government?

The quote is taken from Mahatma Gandhi's famous letter to Lord Irwin, dated March 2, 1930, written just before the commencement of the Salt Satyagraha. In this letter, Gandhi articulated the 'curse' of British rule, stating it had impoverished millions through exploitation and an expensive administration. He specifically complained that the colonial policy had 'reduced us politically to serfdom,' 'sapped the foundations of our culture,' and 'degraded us spiritually' [2]. Gandhi identified the salt tax as the most 'oppressive' manifestation of this rule because it burdened the poorest peasants and gave the state a monopoly over an indispensable household item [3]. This moral and spiritual critique served as the ideological foundation for the Second Civil Disobedience Movement, which began with the Dandi March to violate salt laws [1].

Sources

1. [1] Modern India ,Bipin Chandra, History class XII (NCERT 1982 ed.)[Old NCERT] > Chapter 15: Struggle for Swaraj > The Second Civil Disobedience Movement > p. 288
2. [2] THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART III, History CLASS XII (NCERT 2025 ed.) > Chapter 11: MAHATMA GANDHI AND THE NATIONALIST MOVEMENT > 3.1 Dandi > p. 296
3. [3] India and the Contemporary World – II. History-Class X . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 2: Nationalism in India > 3.1 The Salt March and the Civil Disobedience Movement > p. 39