Gandhi Heritage Portal: Repository of Authentic Information on the life and thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi

Gandhi Heritage Sites - Writeups

Gandhiji at Sabarmati Jail
• Gandhiji was arrested on March 10, 1922, at 10 p.m. and was taken to Sabarmati Jail. This was Gandhiji’s first prison term in India.
• On the next day, Gandhiji was charged with promoting disaffection against Government through his writings in Young India. The printer of Young India Shankerlal Banker was co-accused. Both were brought before Assistant Magistrate at Circuit House, Shahibag.
• Gandhiji declared himself as ‘a farmer and weaver by profession’ and stated that he shall plead guilty when the proper time comes.
• Charges were framed on three counts under Section 124-A (Sedition) and the accused were committed to the Sessions Court. Gandhiji and Banker remained under-trial prisoners at Sabarmati Jail.
• Gandhiji told Ashram people to propagate peace and harmony among all communities.
• Indulal Yagnik, his associate and the publisher of Navjivan, met Gandhiji at Sabarmati Jail on March 11, 1922. His message for the country was only in one word: Khaddar.
• He gave another interview to some of the leading people of Ahmedabad including the Joint Secretary of the Mill Owners’ Association.
• Gandhiji’s letter writing continued from the jail. He gave a message to Bombay and told people not to mourn but rejoice in his arrest.
• In a letter to Maulana Abdul Bari on March 13, Gandhiji wrote ‘Just now I am enjoying myself in my house of freedom.In a letter to his friend C. F. Andrews on the same date, Gandhiji wrote, ‘At last I am having a quiet time. It was bound to come.’
• In a letter to Mathuradas Trikumji on March 13, Gandhiji wrote, ‘I enjoy boundless peace. Here it is as good as home. Till this moment I have not felt that I am in jail. But believe me, I shall enjoy even greater peace than at present when visitors stop coming and there are some jail restrictions. There should, therefore, be no grief on my account.
• As it was Gandhiji’s first prison term in India, he wrote to his secretary and close aide Mahadev Desai on March 17, ‘My real service begins here. I shall exert myself to the utmost to observe the jail rules with my whole being, to shake off likes and dislikes, and if I really become purer every day in jail, that will have its effects outside also. Today there is no limit to my peace of mind, but when I am sentenced and visits from people stop, I shall have still greater peace of mind.’
• On March 18, Gandhiji gave a detailed interview to Manchester Guardian on non-co-operation. The interview was conducted in the jail.
• Gandhiji and co-accused Shankerlal Banker were brought to the Sessions Court at the Circuit House, Shahibag from Sabarmati Jail on March 18. The Court sentenced six years’ simple imprisonment to Gandhiji, One year to Shankerlal Banker.
• After spending one more day at Sabarmati Jail, Gandhiji and Banker were removed from Sabarmati Jail to Yeravada Prison by a special train at midnight on March 20.
• Gandhiji spent a total of 10 days at Sabarmati Jail (from the night of March 10 to March 20 at midnight).
• After almost a decade, Gandhiji was brought to Sabarmati Jail upon his arrest on August 1, 1933, and was shifted to Yeravada Jail on August 2.