Correct answer: A. Breaking the Salt Law
Explanation: The direct answer is A: the Civil Disobedience Movement began symbolically with the breaking of the Salt Law. To understand the sequence, Mahatma Gandhi led the Dandi March in 1930 from Sabarmati Ashram to the coastal village of Dandi. At Dandi, he made salt, defying the British monopoly and salt law. Salt was used by everyone, including poor people, so the act became a powerful and easily understood symbol of resistance. Option A is correct because breaking the Salt Law marked the beginning of the movement. Option B, the Surat Split, happened in 1907 within the Indian National Congress and was an internal division; it was not the starting act of Civil Disobedience. Option C, the Ilbert Bill, concerned the judicial authority of Indian judges and occurred in the 1880s, long before this movement. Option D, starting the railway, was a colonial infrastructure development and not an act that began Civil Disobedience. Keep the chain clear: Gandhi, Dandi March, salt making, Salt Law, Civil Disobedience Movement. The common mistake is to connect any famous nationalist event with the wrong movement.