# The £3 Tax explained — The Story of My Experiments with Truth

> Chapter companion for The Story of My Experiments with Truth by Mahatma Gandhi.

## What happens

Gandhi describes the Natal Government's attempt to impose a heavy annual tax on indentured Indian laborers, the reduction from £25 to £3 due to opposition, and the long struggle to ultimately repeal the tax, highlighting the injustices faced by Indians in South Africa.

## Themes in this chapter

### Social Justice and Anti-Colonialism

Gandhi's campaign against the £3 tax exemplifies the fight against colonial exploitation and racial discrimination.

### Service and Community Leadership

Gandhi and the Natal Indian Congress organize a fierce campaign to protect indentured Indians.

### Truth and Self-Experimentation

Gandhi reflects on truth triumphing through suffering and unflinching faith in the struggle against the tax.

## Character check-ins

### Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Organizes opposition to the £3 tax and leads the Natal Indian Congress campaign.

### Balasundaram

His case brought Gandhi into contact with indentured Indians.

### Gopal Krishna Gokhale

Mentioned as the breach of faith with him became the occasion for the final campaign.

### Dada Abdulla

Referenced as the late Sheth Abubakar Amod, first among Indian merchants in Natal.

## Key lines

> To levy a yearly tax of £12 from a family of four—husband, wife and two children—when the average income of the husband was never more than 14 s. a month, was atrocious and unknown anywhere else in the world.

Imposing a £12 annual tax on a family of four, whose breadwinner earned at most 14 shillings monthly, was cruel and unprecedented globally.

_Gandhi emphasizes the harshness of the tax on poor indentured families._

> Had the community given up the struggle, had the Congress abandoned the campaign and submitted to the tax as inevitable, the hated impost would have continued to be levied from the indentured Indians until this day, to the eternal shame of the Indians in South Africa and of the whole of India.

If the community had surrendered and accepted the tax, it would have persisted indefinitely, bringing lasting disgrace to all Indians.

_Gandhi underscores the necessity of persistent resistance._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_story_of_my_experiments_with_truth_se/chapters/part-ii-xxi-the-3-tax
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_story_of_my_experiments_with_truth_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_story_of_my_experiments_with_truth_se/chapters