Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
 |
| Mohanchand Karamchand Gandhi |
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi pronunciation (pronounced: [2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), commonly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was the preeminent leader of Indian nationalism in British-ruled India. Employing non-violent civil disobedience, Gandhi
led India to independence and inspired movements for
non-violence, civil rights and freedom across the world.
The son of a
senior government official, Gandhi was born and raised in a Hindu Bania community in coastal Gujarat, and trained in
law in London. Gandhi became famous by fighting for the civil rights of Muslim
and Hindu Indians in South Africa, using new techniques of non-violent civil
disobedience that he developed. Returning to India in 1915, he set about
organising peasants to protest excessive land-taxes. A lifelong opponent of
"communalism"
(i.e. basing politics on religion) he reached out widely to all religious groups.
He became a leader of Muslims protesting the declining status of the Caliphate. Assuming leadership of the Indian National
Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide
campaigns for easing poverty, expanding women's rights, building religious and
ethnic amity, ending untouchability,
increasing economic self-reliance, and above all for achievingSwaraj—the
independence of India from British domination.
Gandhi led Indians
in protesting the national salt tax with the 400 km (250 mi) Dandi Salt March in 1930, and later in demanding the British to
immediately Quit India in 1942, during World War II. He was imprisoned for that and
for numerous other political offenses over the years. Gandhi sought to practice
non-violence and truth in all situations, and advocated that others do the
same. He saw the villages as the core of the true India and promoted
self-sufficiency; he did not support the industrialization programs of his
disciple Jawaharlal Nehru. He lived modestly in a self-sufficient residential community and wore the traditional Indian dhoti and shawl, woven with yarn he had hand spun on a charkha. His chief political enemy in Britain was Winston Churchill, who ridiculed him as a "half-naked fakir." He was a dedicated vegetarian, and undertook long fasts as means of both self-purification and political
mobilization.
In his
last year, unhappy at the partition of
India, Gandhi worked to stop the carnage between Muslims and Hindus
and Sikhs that raged in the border area between India and Pakistan. He was
assassinated on 30 January 1948 by a Hindu nationalist who thought Gandhi was
too sympathetic to India's Muslims. 30 January is observed as Martyrs' Day in India. The honorific Mahatma ("Great Soul") was applied to him by
1914. In India he was also called Bapu ("Father").
He is known in India as the Father of the
Nation; his
birthday, 2 October, is commemorated there as Gandhi Jayanti, anational holiday, and world-wide as the International
Day of Non-Violence. Gandhi's philosophy was not theoretical but one
of pragmatism, that is, practicing his principles in real time. Asked to give a
message to the people, he would respond, "My life is my message."
Early life and background
 |
| Gandhi in his earliest known photo, aged 71876 |
Mohandas
Karamchand Gandhi was born on 2 October 1869 in Porbandar, a coastal town which was then part
of the Bombay Presidency, British India. He was born
in his ancestral home, now known as Kirti Mandir. His father, Karamchand Gandhi (1822–1885), who
belonged to the Hindu Modh community, served as the diwan (chief minister) of Porbander state, a small princely salute state in the Kathiawar Agency of British India. His grandfather was Uttamchand Gandhi, also called
Utta Gandhi. His mother, Putlibai, who came from
the Pranami Vaishnava community, was Karamchand's fourth wife, the first three wives having
apparently died in childbirth.
The Indian
classics, especially the stories of Shravana and king Harishchandra, had a great impact on Gandhi in
his childhood. In his autobiography, he admits that they left an indelible
impression on his mind. He writes: "It haunted me and I must have acted
Harishchandra to myself times without number." Gandhi's early self-identification
with truth and love as supreme values is traceable to these epic characters.
In May 1883, the
13-year-old Mohandas was married to 14-year-old Kasturbai Makhanji (her first name was usually shortened to "Kasturba",
and affectionately to "Ba") in an arranged child marriage, according to the custom of the
region. In the process, he lost a year at
school. Recalling the day of their marriage,
he once said, "As we didn't know much about marriage, for us it meant only
wearing new clothes, eating sweets and playing with relatives." However,
as was prevailing tradition, the adolescent bride was to spend much time at her
parents' house, and away from her husband. In 1885, when Gandhi was 15, the couple's first child
was born, but survived only a few days. Gandhi's father, Karamchand Gandhi, had
also died earlier that year.
Mohandas
and Kasturba had four more children, all sons: Harilal, born in 1888; Manilal, born in 1892; Ramdas,
born in 1897; and Devdas, born in 1900. At his middle school in Porbandar and high school
in Rajkot,
Gandhi remained a mediocre student. He shone neither in the classroom nor on
the playing field. One of the terminal reports rated him as "good at
English, fair in Arithmetic and weak in Geography; conduct very good, bad
handwriting." He passed thematriculation exam at Samaldas College in Bhavnagar,
Gujarat, with some difficulty. Gandhi's family wanted him to be a barrister,
as it would increase the prospects of succeeding to his father's post.
English barrister
 |
| Gandhi and his wife Kasturba (1902) |
In 1888, Gandhi
travelled to London, England, to study law at University College
London, where he studied Indian law and jurisprudence and to train
as a barrister at the Inner Temple. His time in London was influenced by a vow he had made to his mother upon
leaving India, in the presence of a Jain monk, to observe the Hindu precepts of
abstinence from meat and alcohol as well as of promiscuity. Gandhi tried to adopt "English" customs,
including taking dancing lessons for example. However, he could not appreciate
the bland vegetarian food offered by his landlady and was frequently hungry
until he found one of London's few vegetarian restaurants. Influenced by Henry Salt's writing, he joined the Vegetarian Society, was
elected to its executive committee, and started a local Bays water chapter. Some of the vegetarians he met were members of the Theosophical Society,
which had been founded in 1875 to further universal brotherhood, and which was
devoted to the study of Buddhist and Hindu literature. They encouraged Gandhi to join them in reading the Bhagavad Gita both in translation as well as in the original. Not having shown interest in religion before, he
became interested in religious thought.
Gandhi
was called to the bar in June 1891 and then left London for India, where he
learned that his mother had died while he was in London and that his family had
kept the news from him. His
attempts at establishing a law practice in Bombay failed because he was too shy to speak up in court.
He returned to Rajkot to make a modest living drafting petitions for litigants,
but he was forced to close it when he ran afoul of a British officer. In 1893, he accepted a year-long contract from Dada
Abdulla & Co., an Indian firm, to a post in the Colony of Natal, South Africa, then part
of the British Empire.
Civil rights movement in South Africa (1893–1914)
 |
| Purported photograph of Gandhi in South Africa (1895) |
Gandhi was 24 when
he arrived in South Africa to work as a legal representative for the Muslim
Indian Traders based in the city of Pretoria. He spent 21 years in South
Africa, where he developed his political views, ethics and political
leadership skills.
Indians in South Africa were led by wealthy Muslims, who employed Gandhi as a
lawyer, and by impoverished Hindu indentured laborers with very limited rights.
Gandhi considered them all to be Indians, taking a lifetime view that
"Indianness" transcended religion and caste. He believed he could
bridge historic differences, especially regarding religion, and he took that
belief back to India where he tried to implement it. The South African
experience exposed handicaps to Gandhi that he had not known about. He realised
he was out of contact with the enormous complexities of religious and cultural
life in India, and believed he understood India by getting to know and leading
Indians in South Africa.
In South Africa,
Gandhi faced the discrimination directed at all coloured people. He was thrown
off a train at Pietermaritzburg after refusing to move from the first-class. He
protested and was allowed on first class the next day.[26] Travelling farther on by stagecoach, he was beaten by
a driver for refusing to move to make room for a European passenger.[27] He suffered other hardships on the journey as well,
including being barred from several hotels. In another incident, the magistrate
of a Durban court ordered Gandhi to remove his turban, which he
refused to do.
These events were
a turning point in Gandhi's life and shaped his social activism and awakened
him to social injustice. After witnessing racism, prejudice and injustice against Indians in South Africa, Gandhi
began to question his place in society and his people's standing in the British
Empire.
Gandhi extended
his original period of stay in South Africa to assist Indians in opposing a
bill to deny them the right to vote. In regards to this bill Gandhi sent out a
memorial to Joseph Chamberlin, British Colonial Secretary, asking him to
reconsider his position on this bill. Though unable to halt the bill's passage, his campaign was successful in
drawing attention to the grievances of Indians in South Africa. He helped found
the Natal Indian Congress in 1894, and through this organisation, he moulded the Indian community of South
Africa into a unified political force. In January 1897, when Gandhi landed in
Durban, a mob of white settlers attacked him and he escaped only through the efforts of the wife of
the police superintendent. He, however, refused to press charges against any
member of the mob, stating it was one of his principles not to seek redress for
a personal wrong in a court of law.
In 1906,
the Transvaal government promulgated a new Act compelling
registration of the colony's Indian population. At a mass protest meeting held
in Johannesburg on 11 September that year, Gandhi adopted his still evolving
methodology of Satyagraha (devotion to the truth), or non-violent protest,
for the first time. He urged
Indians to defy the new law and to suffer the punishments for doing so. The
community adopted this plan, and during the ensuing seven-year struggle,
thousands of Indians were jailed, flogged, or shot for striking, refusing to
register, for burning their registration cards or engaging in other forms of
non-violent resistance. The government successfully repressed the Indian protesters,
but the public outcry over the harsh treatment of peaceful Indian protesters by
the South African government forced South African leader Jan Christiaan Smuts, himself a philosopher,
to negotiate a compromise with Gandhi. Gandhi's ideas took shape, and the
concept of Satyagraha matured during this struggle.
Gandhi and the Africans
 |
Gandhi in South
Africa (1909)
|
Gandhi focused his
attention on Indians while in South Africa and opposed the idea that Indians
should be treated at the same level as native Africans while in South Africa. After several treatments he received from Whites
in South Africa, Gandhi began to change his thinking and apparently
increased his interest in politics. White rule enforced strict segregation among all races and generated
conflict between these communities. Bhana and Vahed argue that Gandhi, at
first, shared racial notions prevalent of the times and that his experiences in
jail sensitized him to the plight of blacks.
During the Boer
War Gandhi volunteered in 1900 to form a
group of ambulance drivers. He wanted to disprove the British idea that Hindus
were not fit for "manly" activities involving danger and exertion.
Gandhi raised eleven hundred Indian volunteers. They were trained and medically
certified to serve on the front lines. At Spion Kop Gandhi and his bearers had
to carry wounded soldiers for miles to a field hospital because the terrain was
too rough for the ambulances. Gandhi was pleased when someone said that
European ambulance corpsmen could not make the trip under the heat without food
or water. General Redvers Buller mentioned the courage of the Indians in his
dispatch. Gandhi and thirty seven other Indians received the War Medal.
In 1906, the
British declared
war against the Zulu
Kingdom in Natal, Gandhi encouraged the
British to recruit Indians. He argued that Indians should support the war efforts in order to
legitimise their claims to full citizenship. The British accepted Gandhi's offer to let a
detachment of 20 Indians volunteer as a stretcher-bearer corps to treat wounded
British soldiers. This corps was commanded by Gandhi and operated for less than
two months. The experience taught him it was
hopeless to directly challenge the overwhelming military power of the British
army—he decided it could only be resisted in non-violent fashion by the pure of
heart.
After the black
majority came to power in South Africa, Gandhi was proclaimed a national hero
with numerous monuments.
Struggle for Indian Independence (1915–47)
In 1915, Gandhi
returned to India permanently. He brought an international reputation as a
leading Indian nationalist, theorist and organizer. He joined the Indian National Congress and was introduced to Indian issues, politics and the
Indian people primarily by Gopal Krishna Gokhale. Gokhale was a key leader of
the Congress Party best known for his restraint and moderation, and his
insistence on working inside the system. Gandhi took Gokhale's liberal approach
based on British Whiggish traditions and transformed it to make it look wholly
Indian.
Gandhi took
leadership of Congress in 1920 and began a steady escalation of demands (with
Intermittent compromises or pauses) until on 26 January 1930 the Indian
National Congress declared the independence of India. The British did not
recognize that and more negotiations ensued, with Congress taking a role in
provincial government in the late 1930s. Gandhi and Congress withdrew their
support of the Raj when the Viceroy declared war on Germany in September 1939
without consulting anyone. Tensions escalated until Gandhi demanded immediate
independence in 1942 and the British responded by imprisoning him and tens of
thousands of Congress leaders for the duration. Meanwhile the Muslim League did
cooperate with Britain and moved, against Gandhi's strong opposition, to
demands for a totally separate Muslim state of Pakistan. In August 1947 the
British partitioned the land, with India and Pakistan each achieving
independence on terms Gandhi disapproved.
Role in World War I
In April 1918,
during the latter part of World War I, the Viceroy invited Gandhi to a War Conference in Delhi. Perhaps to show his support for the Empire and help
his case for India's independence, Gandhi agreed to actively recruit Indians for the war effort. In contrast to the Zulu War of 1906 and the outbreak
of World War I in 1914, when he recruited volunteers for the Ambulance Corps,
this time Gandhi attempted to recruit combatants. In a June 1918 leaflet
entitled "Appeal for Enlistment", Gandhi wrote "To bring about
such a state of things we should have the ability to defend ourselves, that is,
the ability to bear arms and to use them...If we want to learn the use of arms
with the greatest possible despatch, it is our duty to enlist ourselves in the
army." He did, however, stipulate in a letter to the Viceroy's private secretary that he "personally will not kill or injure
anybody, friend or foe."
Gandhi's
war recruitment campaign brought into question his consistency on nonviolence
as his friend Charlie Andrews confirms, "Personally I have never been able
to reconcile this with his own conduct in other respects, and it is one of the
points where I have found myself in painful disagreement." Gandhi's private secretary also had acknowledged that "The question of
the consistency between his creed of 'Ahimsa' (non-violence) and his recruiting
campaign was raised not only then but has been discussed ever since."
Champaran and Kheda
 |
Gandhi in 1918, at the time of
the Kheda and
Champaran Satyagrahas
|
Gandhi's first
major achievements came in 1918 with the Champaran and Kheda agitations of Bihar and Gujarat. The Champaran agitation pitted
the local peasantry against their largely British landlords who were backed by
the local administration. The peasantry was forced to grow Indigo, a cash crop
whose demand had been declining over two decades, and were forced to sell their
crops to the planters at a fixed price. Unhappy wIth this, the peasantry
appealed to Gandhi at his ashram in Ahmedabad. Pursuing a strategy of
non-violent protest, Gandhi took the administration by surprise and won
concessions from the authorities.
In 1918, Kheda was hit by floods and famine and the peasantry was
demanding relief from taxes. Gandhi moved his headquarters to Nadiad, organising scores of supporters and fresh volunteers
from the region, the most notable being Vallabhbhai
Patel. Using non-cooperation as a
technique, Gandhi initiated a signature campaign where peasants pledged
non-payment of revenue even under the threat of confiscation of land. A social
boycott of mamlatdars andtalatdars (revenue officials within the district) accompanied
the agitation. Gandhi worked hard to win public support for the agitation
across the country. For five months, the administration refused but finally in
end-May 1918, the Government gave way on important provisions and relaxed the
conditions of payment of revenue tax until the famine ended. In Kheda,
Vallabhbhai Patel represented the farmers in negotiations with the British, who
suspended revenue collection and released all the prisoners.
Khilafat movement
In 1919 Gandhi,
with his weak position in Congress, decided to broaden his base by increasing
his appeal to Muslims. The opportunity came from the Khilafat movement,
a worldwide protest by Muslims against the collapsing status of the Caliph,
the leader of their religion. The Ottoman Empire had lost the World War and was
dismembered, as Muslims feared for the safety of the holy places and the
prestige of their religion. Although Gandhi did not originate the All-India Muslim Conference, which directed the movement in India, he soon became
its most prominent spokesman and attracted a strong base of Muslim support with
local chapters in all Muslim centers in India. His success made him India's first national leader
with a multicultural base and facilitated his rise to power within Congress,
which had previously been unable to reach many Muslims. In 1920 Gandhi became a
major leader in Congress. By the end of 1922 the Khilafat movement had collapsed.
Gandhi always
fought against "communalism", which pitted Muslims against Hindus in
politics, but he could not reverse the rapid growth of communalism after 1922.
Deadly religious riots broke out in numerous cities, including 91 in U.P. (Uttar Pradesh)
alone. At the leadership level, the
proportion of Muslims among delegates to Congress fell sharply, from 11% in
1921 to under 4% in 1923.
Non-cooperation
 |
Mahatma Gandhi spinning yarn,
in the late 1920s
|
With Congress now
behind him in 1920, Gandhi had the base to employ non-cooperation, non-violence
and peaceful resistance as his "weapons" in the struggle against the British
Raj. His wide popularity among both Hindus and Muslims made his
leadership possible; he even convinced the extreme faction of Muslims to
support peaceful non-cooperation. The spark that ignited a national protest was overwhelming anger at the Jallianwala Bagh massacre (or Amritsar massacre) of hundreds of peaceful
civilians by British troops in Punjab. Many Britons celebrated the action as
needed to prevent another Mutiny like 1857, an attitude that caused many Indian
leaders to decide the Raj was controlled by their enemies, and was more an
obstacle than a pathway. Gandhi criticised both the actions of the British Raj
and the retaliatory violence of Indians. He authored the resolution offering
condolences to British civilian victims and condemning the riots which, after
initial opposition in the party, was accepted following Gandhi's emotional
speech advocating his principle that all violence was evil and could not be
justified.
Sabarmati
Ashram
Gandhi's home in Gujarat
In December 1921,
Gandhi was invested with executive authority on behalf of the Indian National Congress. Under his leadership,
the Congress was reorganised with a new constitution, with the goal of Swaraj. Membership in the party was opened to anyone prepared to pay a token fee.
A hierarchy of committees was set up to improve discipline, transforming the
party from an elite organisation to one of mass national appeal. Gandhi
expanded his non-violence platform to include the swadeshi policy—the
boycott of foreign-made goods, especially British goods. Linked to this was his
advocacy thatkhadi (homespun cloth) be worn by all Indians instead of
British-made textiles. Gandhi exhorted Indian men and women, rich or poor, to
spend time each day spinning khadi in support of the independence
movement.
With Congress now
behind him in 1920, Gandhi had the base to employ non-cooperation, non-violence
and peaceful resistance as his "weapons" in the struggle against the British
Raj. His wide popularity among both Hindus and Muslims made his
leadership possible; he even convinced the extreme faction of Muslims to
support peaceful non-cooperation. The spark that ignited a national protest was overwhelming anger at the Jallianwala Bagh massacre (or Amritsar massacre) of hundreds of peaceful
civilians by British troops in Punjab. Many Britons celebrated the action as
needed to prevent another Mutiny like 1857, an attitude that caused many Indian
leaders to decide the Raj was controlled by their enemies, and was more an
obstacle than a pathway. Gandhi criticised both the actions of the British Raj
and the retaliatory violence of Indians. He authored the resolution offering
condolences to British civilian victims and condemning the riots which, after
initial opposition in the party, was accepted following Gandhi's emotional
speech advocating his principle that all violence was evil and could not be
justified.
Gandhi's home in Gujarat
In December 1921,
Gandhi was invested with executive authority on behalf of the Indian National Congress. Under his leadership,
the Congress was reorganised with a new constitution, with the goal of Swaraj. Membership in the party was opened to anyone prepared to pay a token fee.
A hierarchy of committees was set up to improve discipline, transforming the
party from an elite organisation to one of mass national appeal. Gandhi
expanded his non-violence platform to include the swadeshi policy—the
boycott of foreign-made goods, especially British goods. Linked to this was his
advocacy thatkhadi (homespun cloth) be worn by all Indians instead of
British-made textiles. Gandhi exhorted Indian men and women, rich or poor, to
spend time each day spinning khadi in support of the independence
movement.
Gandhi even
invented a small, portable spinning wheel that could be folded into the size of
a small typewriter. This was a strategy to inculcate discipline and dedication
to weeding out the unwilling and ambitious and to include women in the movement
at a time when many thought that such activities were not respectable
activities for women. In addition to boycotting British products, Gandhi urged
the people to boycott British educational institutions and law courts, to
resign from government employment, and to forsake British titles and honours.
"Non-cooperation"
enjoyed widespread appeal and success, increasing excitement and participation
from all strata of Indian society. Yet, just as the movement reached its apex,
it ended abruptly as a result of a violent clash in the town of Chauri
Chaura, Uttar Pradesh, in February 1922. Fearing that the movement
was about to take a turn towards violence, and convinced that this would be the
undoing of all his work, Gandhi called off the campaign of mass civil
disobedience. This was the third time that Gandhi
had called off a major campaign. Gandhi was arrested on 10 March 1922, tried for sedition, and sentenced to
six years' imprisonment. He began his sentence on 18 March 1922. He was
released in February 1924 for an appendicitisoperation,
having served only 2 years.
Salt Satyagraha (Salt March)
 |
Original footage of Gandhi and his
followers marching to
Dandi in the Salt
Satyagraha
|
Gandhi stayed out of active
politics and, as such, the limelight for most of the 1920s. He focused instead
on resolving the wedge between the Swaraj Party and the Indian National
Congress, and expanding initiatives against untouchability, alcoholism,
ignorance and poverty. He returned to the fore in 1928. In the preceding year,
the British government had appointed a new constitutional reform commission
under Sir John Simon, which did not include any Indian as its member. The
result was a boycott of the commission by Indian political parties. Gandhi
pushed through a resolution at the Calcutta Congress in December 1928 calling
on the British government to grant India dominion status or face a new campaign
of non-cooperation with complete independence for the country as its goal.
Gandhi had not only moderated the views of younger men like Subhas Chandra Bose and Jawaharlal Nehru, who sought a demand for
immediate independence, but also reduced his own call to a one year wait,
instead of two.
The British did not respond. On
31 December 1929, the flag of India was unfurled in Lahore. 26 January 1930 was celebrated as India's
Independence Day by the Indian National Congress meeting in
Lahore. This day was commemorated by almost every other Indian organisation.
Gandhi then launched a new Satyagraha against the tax on salt in March 1930.
This was highlighted by the famous Salt March to Dandi from 12 March to 6
April, where he marched 388 kilometres (241 mi) from Ahmedabad to Dandi,
Gujarat to make salt himself. Thousands of Indians joined him on this march to
the sea. This campaign was one of his most successful at upsetting British hold
on India; Britain responded by imprisoning over 60,000 people.
Gandhi stayed out of active
politics and, as such, the limelight for most of the 1920s. He focused instead
on resolving the wedge between the Swaraj Party and the Indian National
Congress, and expanding initiatives against untouchability, alcoholism,
ignorance and poverty. He returned to the fore in 1928. In the preceding year,
the British government had appointed a new constitutional reform commission
under Sir John Simon, which did not include any Indian as its member. The
result was a boycott of the commission by Indian political parties. Gandhi
pushed through a resolution at the Calcutta Congress in December 1928 calling
on the British government to grant India dominion status or face a new campaign
of non-cooperation with complete independence for the country as its goal.
Gandhi had not only moderated the views of younger men like Subhas Chandra Bose and Jawaharlal Nehru, who sought a demand for
immediate independence, but also reduced his own call to a one year wait,
instead of two.
The British did not respond. On
31 December 1929, the flag of India was unfurled in Lahore. 26 January 1930 was celebrated as India's
Independence Day by the Indian National Congress meeting in
Lahore. This day was commemorated by almost every other Indian organisation.
Gandhi then launched a new Satyagraha against the tax on salt in March 1930.
This was highlighted by the famous Salt March to Dandi from 12 March to 6
April, where he marched 388 kilometres (241 mi) from Ahmedabad to Dandi,
Gujarat to make salt himself. Thousands of Indians joined him on this march to
the sea. This campaign was one of his most successful at upsetting British hold
on India; Britain responded by imprisoning over 60,000 people.
Women
Salt as a household necessity was
of special interest to women. Gandhi strongly favoured the emancipation of
women, and he went so far as to say that "the women have come to look upon
me as one of themselves." He opposed purdah, child marriage, untouchability, and the extreme oppression
of Hindu widows, up to and including sati. He especially recruited women to
participate in the salt tax campaigns and the boycott of foreign products. Sarma
concludes that Gandhi's success in enlisting women in his campaigns, including
the salt tax campaign, anti-untouchability campaign and the peasant movement,
gave many women a new self-confidence and dignity in the mainstream of Indian
public life.
Salt as a household necessity was
of special interest to women. Gandhi strongly favoured the emancipation of
women, and he went so far as to say that "the women have come to look upon
me as one of themselves." He opposed purdah, child marriage, untouchability, and the extreme oppression
of Hindu widows, up to and including sati. He especially recruited women to
participate in the salt tax campaigns and the boycott of foreign products. Sarma
concludes that Gandhi's success in enlisting women in his campaigns, including
the salt tax campaign, anti-untouchability campaign and the peasant movement,
gave many women a new self-confidence and dignity in the mainstream of Indian
public life.
Gandhi as folk hero
Congress in the 1920s appealed to
peasants by portraying Gandhi as a sort of messiah (the long-awaited savior of
an entire people), a strategy that succeeded in incorporating radical forces
within the peasantry into the nonviolent resistance movement. In thousands of
villages plays were performed that presented Gandhi as the reincarnation of
earlier Indian nationalist leaders, or even as a demigod. The plays built
support among illiterate peasants steeped in traditional Hindu culture. Similar
messianic imagery appeared in popular songs and poems, and in
Congress-sponsored religious pageants and celebrations. The result was that
Gandhi became not only a folk hero but the Congress was widely seen in the
villages as his sacred instrument.
Congress in the 1920s appealed to
peasants by portraying Gandhi as a sort of messiah (the long-awaited savior of
an entire people), a strategy that succeeded in incorporating radical forces
within the peasantry into the nonviolent resistance movement. In thousands of
villages plays were performed that presented Gandhi as the reincarnation of
earlier Indian nationalist leaders, or even as a demigod. The plays built
support among illiterate peasants steeped in traditional Hindu culture. Similar
messianic imagery appeared in popular songs and poems, and in
Congress-sponsored religious pageants and celebrations. The result was that
Gandhi became not only a folk hero but the Congress was widely seen in the
villages as his sacred instrument.
Negotiations
Mahadev Desai (left) reading out a letter to
Gandhi from the viceroy at Birla House, Bombay, 7 April 1939
The government, represented by Lord
Edward Irwin, decided to negotiate with Gandhi. The Gandhi–Irwin Pact was
signed in March 1931. The British Government agreed to free all political
prisoners, in return for the suspension of the civil disobedience movement.
Also as a result of the pact, Gandhi was invited to attend the Round Table
Conference in London as the sole representative of the Indian National
Congress. The conference was a disappointment to Gandhi and the nationalists,
because it focused on the Indian princes and Indian minorities rather than on a
transfer of power. Lord Irwin's successor, Lord Willingdon, taking a hard line against
nationalism, began a new campaign of controlling and subduing the nationalist
movement. Gandhi was again arrested, and the government tried and failed to
negate his influence by completely isolating him from his followers.
|
| Mahadev Desai (left) reading out a letter to Gandhi from the viceroy at Birla House, Bombay, 7 April 1939 |
The government, represented by Lord
Edward Irwin, decided to negotiate with Gandhi. The Gandhi–Irwin Pact was
signed in March 1931. The British Government agreed to free all political
prisoners, in return for the suspension of the civil disobedience movement.
Also as a result of the pact, Gandhi was invited to attend the Round Table
Conference in London as the sole representative of the Indian National
Congress. The conference was a disappointment to Gandhi and the nationalists,
because it focused on the Indian princes and Indian minorities rather than on a
transfer of power. Lord Irwin's successor, Lord Willingdon, taking a hard line against
nationalism, began a new campaign of controlling and subduing the nationalist
movement. Gandhi was again arrested, and the government tried and failed to
negate his influence by completely isolating him from his followers.
Untouchables
In 1932, through the campaigning
of the Dalit leader B. R. Ambedkar,
the government granted untouchables separate electorates under the new
constitution, known as the Communal Award. In protest, Gandhi embarked
on a six-day fast on 20 September 1932, while he was imprisoned at theYerwada Jail, Pune. The resulting
public outcry successfully forced the government to adopt an equitable
arrangement (Poona Pact)
through negotiations mediated by Palwankar Baloo. This was the start of
a new campaign by Gandhi to improve the lives of the untouchables, whom he
named Harijans, the children of God.
On 8 May 1933, Gandhi began a
21-day fast of self-purification and launched a one-year campaign to help the
Harijan movement. This new campaign was not universally embraced within
the Dalit community,
as Ambedkar condemned Gandhi's use of the term Harijans as saying
that Dalits were socially immature, and that privileged caste Indians played a
paternalistic role. Ambedkar and his allies also felt Gandhi was undermining
Dalit political rights. Gandhi had also refused to support the untouchables in
1924–25 when they were campaigning for the right to pray in temples. Because of
Gandhi's actions, Ambedkar described him as "devious and
untrustworthy". Gandhi, although born into the Vaishya caste, insisted that he was
able to speak on behalf of Dalits, despite the presence of Dalit activists such
as Ambedkar. Gandhi and Ambedkar often clashed because Ambedkar sought to
remove the Dalits out of the Hindu community, while Gandhi tried to save
Hinduism by exorcising untouchability. Ambedkar complained that Gandhi moved
too slowly, while Hindu traditionalists said Gandhi was a dangerous radical who
rejected scripture. Guha noted in 2012 that, "Ideologues have carried
these old rivalries into the present, with the demonization of Gandhi now
common among politicians who presume to speak in Ambedkar’s name." Guha
adds that their work complemented each other, and Gandhi often praised
Ambedkar.
In the summer of 1934, three
attempts were made on Gandhi's life.
In 1932, through the campaigning
of the Dalit leader B. R. Ambedkar,
the government granted untouchables separate electorates under the new
constitution, known as the Communal Award. In protest, Gandhi embarked
on a six-day fast on 20 September 1932, while he was imprisoned at theYerwada Jail, Pune. The resulting
public outcry successfully forced the government to adopt an equitable
arrangement (Poona Pact)
through negotiations mediated by Palwankar Baloo. This was the start of
a new campaign by Gandhi to improve the lives of the untouchables, whom he
named Harijans, the children of God.
On 8 May 1933, Gandhi began a
21-day fast of self-purification and launched a one-year campaign to help the
Harijan movement. This new campaign was not universally embraced within
the Dalit community,
as Ambedkar condemned Gandhi's use of the term Harijans as saying
that Dalits were socially immature, and that privileged caste Indians played a
paternalistic role. Ambedkar and his allies also felt Gandhi was undermining
Dalit political rights. Gandhi had also refused to support the untouchables in
1924–25 when they were campaigning for the right to pray in temples. Because of
Gandhi's actions, Ambedkar described him as "devious and
untrustworthy". Gandhi, although born into the Vaishya caste, insisted that he was
able to speak on behalf of Dalits, despite the presence of Dalit activists such
as Ambedkar. Gandhi and Ambedkar often clashed because Ambedkar sought to
remove the Dalits out of the Hindu community, while Gandhi tried to save
Hinduism by exorcising untouchability. Ambedkar complained that Gandhi moved
too slowly, while Hindu traditionalists said Gandhi was a dangerous radical who
rejected scripture. Guha noted in 2012 that, "Ideologues have carried
these old rivalries into the present, with the demonization of Gandhi now
common among politicians who presume to speak in Ambedkar’s name." Guha
adds that their work complemented each other, and Gandhi often praised
Ambedkar.
In the summer of 1934, three
attempts were made on Gandhi's life.
Congress politics
In 1934 Gandhi resigned from
Congress party membership. He did not disagree with the party's position but
felt that if he resigned, his popularity with Indians would cease to stifle the
party's membership, which actually varied, including communists, socialists,
trade unionists, students, religious conservatives, and those with pro-business
convictions, and that these various voices would get a chance to make
themselves heard. Gandhi also wanted to avoid being a target for Raj propaganda
by leading a party that had temporarily accepted political accommodation with
the Raj.
Gandhi returned to active politics
again in 1936, with the Nehru presidency and the Lucknow session of the
Congress. Although Gandhi wanted a total focus on the task of winning
independence and not speculation about India's future, he did not restrain the
Congress from adopting socialism as its goal. Gandhi had a clash with Subhas Chandra Bose,
who had been elected president in 1938, and who had previously expressed a lack
of faith in non-violence as a means of protest. Despite Gandhi's
opposition, Bose won a second term as Congress President, against Gandhi's
nominee, Dr.
Pattabhi Sitaramayya; but left the Congress when the All-India
leaders resigned en masse in protest of his abandonment of the principles
introduced by Gandhi. Gandhi declared that Sitaramayya's defeat was his
defeat.
In 1934 Gandhi resigned from
Congress party membership. He did not disagree with the party's position but
felt that if he resigned, his popularity with Indians would cease to stifle the
party's membership, which actually varied, including communists, socialists,
trade unionists, students, religious conservatives, and those with pro-business
convictions, and that these various voices would get a chance to make
themselves heard. Gandhi also wanted to avoid being a target for Raj propaganda
by leading a party that had temporarily accepted political accommodation with
the Raj.
Gandhi returned to active politics
again in 1936, with the Nehru presidency and the Lucknow session of the
Congress. Although Gandhi wanted a total focus on the task of winning
independence and not speculation about India's future, he did not restrain the
Congress from adopting socialism as its goal. Gandhi had a clash with Subhas Chandra Bose,
who had been elected president in 1938, and who had previously expressed a lack
of faith in non-violence as a means of protest. Despite Gandhi's
opposition, Bose won a second term as Congress President, against Gandhi's
nominee, Dr.
Pattabhi Sitaramayya; but left the Congress when the All-India
leaders resigned en masse in protest of his abandonment of the principles
introduced by Gandhi. Gandhi declared that Sitaramayya's defeat was his
defeat.
World War II and Quit India
Gandhi and Nehru in 1942
Gandhi initially favoured
offering "non-violent moral support" to the British effort when World War II broke out in 1939, but
the Congressional leaders were offended by the unilateral inclusion of India in
the war without consultation of the people's representatives. All Congressmen
resigned from office. After long deliberations, Gandhi declared that India
could not be party to a war ostensibly being fought for democratic freedom
while that freedom was denied to India itself. As the war progressed, Gandhi
intensified his demand for independence, calling for the British to Quit
India in a speech at Gowalia Tank Maidan.
This was Gandhi's and the Congress Party's most definitive revolt aimed at
securing the British exit from India.
Gandhi was criticised by some
Congress party members and other Indian political groups, both pro-British and
anti-British. Some felt that not supporting Britain more in its struggle
against Nazi Germany was unethical. Others felt that Gandhi's refusal for India
to participate in the war was insufficient and more direct opposition should be
taken, while Britain fought against Nazism, it continued to refuse to grant
India Independence. Quit India became the most forceful movement in
the history of the struggle, with mass arrests and violence on an unprecedented
scale.
In 1942, although still committed
in his efforts to "launch a non-violent movement", Gandhi
clarified that the movement would not be stopped by individual acts of
violence, saying that the "ordered anarchy" of "the
present system of administration" was "worse than real
anarchy." He called on all Congressmen and Indians to maintain
discipline via ahimsa, and Karo ya maro ("Do
or die") in the cause of ultimate freedom.
Gandhi and Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Bombay, 1944
Gandhi and the entire Congress
Working Committee were arrested in Bombay by the British on 9 August 1942. Gandhi was
held for two years in the Aga Khan Palace in Pune.
It was here that Gandhi suffered two terrible blows in his personal life. His
50-year old secretary Mahadev Desai died
of a heart attack 6 days later and his wife Kasturba died after 18 months
imprisonment on 22 February 1944; six weeks later Gandhi suffered a severe malariaattack. He was released before the
end of the war on 6 May 1944 because of his failing health and necessary
surgery; the Raj did not want him to die in prison and enrage the nation. He
came out of detention to an altered political scene—the Muslim League for
example, which a few years earlier had appeared marginal, "now occupied
the centre of the political stage" and the topic of Jinnah's
campaign for Pakistan was a major talking point. Gandhi met Jinnah in September
1944 in Bombay but Jinnah rejected, on the grounds that it fell short of a
fully independent Pakistan, his proposal of the right of Muslim provinces to
opt out of substantial parts of the forthcoming political union.
While the leaders of Congress
languished in jail, the other parties supported the war and gained
organizational strength. Underground publications flailed at the ruthless
suppression of Congress, but it had little control over events. At the end
of the war, the British gave clear indications that power would be transferred
to Indian hands. At this point Gandhi called off the struggle, and around
100,000 political prisoners were released, including the Congress's leadership.
 |
| Gandhi and Nehru in 1942 |
Gandhi initially favoured
offering "non-violent moral support" to the British effort when World War II broke out in 1939, but
the Congressional leaders were offended by the unilateral inclusion of India in
the war without consultation of the people's representatives. All Congressmen
resigned from office. After long deliberations, Gandhi declared that India
could not be party to a war ostensibly being fought for democratic freedom
while that freedom was denied to India itself. As the war progressed, Gandhi
intensified his demand for independence, calling for the British to Quit
India in a speech at Gowalia Tank Maidan.
This was Gandhi's and the Congress Party's most definitive revolt aimed at
securing the British exit from India.
Gandhi was criticised by some
Congress party members and other Indian political groups, both pro-British and
anti-British. Some felt that not supporting Britain more in its struggle
against Nazi Germany was unethical. Others felt that Gandhi's refusal for India
to participate in the war was insufficient and more direct opposition should be
taken, while Britain fought against Nazism, it continued to refuse to grant
India Independence. Quit India became the most forceful movement in
the history of the struggle, with mass arrests and violence on an unprecedented
scale.
In 1942, although still committed
in his efforts to "launch a non-violent movement", Gandhi
clarified that the movement would not be stopped by individual acts of
violence, saying that the "ordered anarchy" of "the
present system of administration" was "worse than real
anarchy." He called on all Congressmen and Indians to maintain
discipline via ahimsa, and Karo ya maro ("Do
or die") in the cause of ultimate freedom.
 |
| Gandhi and Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Bombay, 1944 |
Gandhi and the entire Congress
Working Committee were arrested in Bombay by the British on 9 August 1942. Gandhi was
held for two years in the Aga Khan Palace in Pune.
It was here that Gandhi suffered two terrible blows in his personal life. His
50-year old secretary Mahadev Desai died
of a heart attack 6 days later and his wife Kasturba died after 18 months
imprisonment on 22 February 1944; six weeks later Gandhi suffered a severe malariaattack. He was released before the
end of the war on 6 May 1944 because of his failing health and necessary
surgery; the Raj did not want him to die in prison and enrage the nation. He
came out of detention to an altered political scene—the Muslim League for
example, which a few years earlier had appeared marginal, "now occupied
the centre of the political stage" and the topic of Jinnah's
campaign for Pakistan was a major talking point. Gandhi met Jinnah in September
1944 in Bombay but Jinnah rejected, on the grounds that it fell short of a
fully independent Pakistan, his proposal of the right of Muslim provinces to
opt out of substantial parts of the forthcoming political union.
While the leaders of Congress
languished in jail, the other parties supported the war and gained
organizational strength. Underground publications flailed at the ruthless
suppression of Congress, but it had little control over events. At the end
of the war, the British gave clear indications that power would be transferred
to Indian hands. At this point Gandhi called off the struggle, and around
100,000 political prisoners were released, including the Congress's leadership.
Partition and independence, 1947
Gandhi having tea
with Lord Mountbatten,
1947
As a rule, Gandhi was opposed to
the concept of partition as
it contradicted his vision of religious unity. Concerning the partition of India to
create Pakistan, while the Indian National Congress and Gandhi
called for the British to quit India,
the Muslim League passed
a resolution for them to divide and quit, in 1943. Gandhi suggested an
agreement which required the Congress and Muslim League to cooperate and attain
independence under a provisional government, thereafter, the question of
partition could be resolved by a plebiscite in the districts with a Muslim
majority. When Jinnahcalled
for Direct Action,
on 16 August 1946, Gandhi was infuriated and personally visited the most
riot-prone areas to stop the massacres. He made strong efforts to unite
the Indian Hindus, Muslims, and Christians and struggled for the emancipation
of the "untouchables"
in Hindu society.
On 14 and 15 August 1947 the Indian
Independence Act was invoked. In border areas some 10—12
million people moved from one side to another and upwards of a half million
were killed in communal riots pitting Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs. But for
his teachings, the efforts of his followers, and his own presence, there
perhaps could have been much more bloodshed during the partition, according to
prominent Norwegian historian, Jens Arup Seip.
Stanley Wolpert has argued, The
"plan to carve up British India was never approved of or accepted by
Gandhi...who realised too late that his closest comrades and disciples were
more interested in power than principle, and that his own vision had long been
clouded by the illusion that the struggle he led for India's freedom was a
nonviolent one."
 |
| Gandhi having tea with Lord Mountbatten, 1947 |
As a rule, Gandhi was opposed to
the concept of partition as
it contradicted his vision of religious unity. Concerning the partition of India to
create Pakistan, while the Indian National Congress and Gandhi
called for the British to quit India,
the Muslim League passed
a resolution for them to divide and quit, in 1943. Gandhi suggested an
agreement which required the Congress and Muslim League to cooperate and attain
independence under a provisional government, thereafter, the question of
partition could be resolved by a plebiscite in the districts with a Muslim
majority. When Jinnahcalled
for Direct Action,
on 16 August 1946, Gandhi was infuriated and personally visited the most
riot-prone areas to stop the massacres. He made strong efforts to unite
the Indian Hindus, Muslims, and Christians and struggled for the emancipation
of the "untouchables"
in Hindu society.
On 14 and 15 August 1947 the Indian
Independence Act was invoked. In border areas some 10—12
million people moved from one side to another and upwards of a half million
were killed in communal riots pitting Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs. But for
his teachings, the efforts of his followers, and his own presence, there
perhaps could have been much more bloodshed during the partition, according to
prominent Norwegian historian, Jens Arup Seip.
Stanley Wolpert has argued, The
"plan to carve up British India was never approved of or accepted by
Gandhi...who realised too late that his closest comrades and disciples were
more interested in power than principle, and that his own vision had long been
clouded by the illusion that the struggle he led for India's freedom was a
nonviolent one."
Assassination
Raj Ghat, Delhi is a
memorial to Mahatma
Gandhi that marks the spot of his cremation.
On 30 January 1948, Gandhi was
shot while he was walking to a platform from which he was to address a prayer
meeting. The assassin,Nathuram Godse,
was a Hindu nationalist with links to the extremist Hindu Mahasabha, who held Gandhi guilty of
favouring Pakistan and strongly opposed the doctrine of nonviolence. Godse
and his co-conspirator were tried and executed in 1949. Gandhi's memorial (or Samādhi)
at Rāj Ghāt,
New Delhi, bears the epigraph "Hē Ram", (Devanagari: हे !
राम or, He Rām),
which may be translated as "Oh God". These are widely believed to be
Gandhi's last words after he was shot, though the veracity of this statement
has been disputed. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru addressed the nation
through radio:
"Friends and comrades, the
light has gone out of our lives, and there is darkness everywhere, and I do not
quite know what to tell you or how to say it. Our beloved leader, Bapu as we
called him, the father of the nation, is no more. Perhaps I am wrong to say
that; nevertheless, we will not see him again, as we have seen him for these
many years, we will not run to him for advice or seek solace from him, and that
is a terrible blow, not only for me, but for millions and millions in this
country."—Jawaharlal Nehru's address to Gandhi.
Funeral procession of
Gandhi at
New Delhi on 6 February 1948
Gandhi's death was mourned
nationwide. Over two million people joined the five mile long funeral
procession that took over five hours to reach Raj Ghat from Birla house, where
he was assassinated. Gandhi's body was transported on a weapons carrier, whose
chassis was dismantled overnight to allow a high-floor to be installed so that
people could catch a glimpse of his body. The engine of the vehicle was not
used, instead four drag-ropes manned by 50 people each pulled the vehicle. All
Indian owned establishments in London remained closed in mourning as thousands
of people from all faiths and denominations and Indians from all over Britain
converged at India House in
London.
While India mourned and communal
(inter-religious) violence escalated, there were calls for retaliation, and
even an invasion of Pakistan by the Indian army. Nehru and Patel, the two
strongest figures in the government and in Congress, had been pulling in
opposite directions; the assassination pushed them together. They agreed the
first objective must be to calm the hysteria. They called on Indians to
honor Gandhi's memory and even more his ideals. They used the assassination
to consolidate the authority of the new Indian state. The government made sure
everyone knew the guilty party was not a Muslim. Congress tightly controlled
the epic public displays of grief over a two-week period—the funeral, mortuary
rituals and distribution of the martyr's ashes—as millions participated and
hundreds of millions watched. The goal was to assert the power of the
government and legitimize the Congress Party's control. This move built upon
the massive outpouring of Hindu expressions of grief. The government suppressed
the RSS,
the Muslim National Guards, and the Khaksars, with some 200,000 arrests.
Gandhi's death and funeral linked the distant state with the Indian people and
made more understood the need to suppress religious parties during the
transition to independence for the Indian people.
 |
| Raj Ghat, Delhi is a
memorial to Mahatma Gandhi that marks the spot of his cremation. |
On 30 January 1948, Gandhi was
shot while he was walking to a platform from which he was to address a prayer
meeting. The assassin,Nathuram Godse,
was a Hindu nationalist with links to the extremist Hindu Mahasabha, who held Gandhi guilty of
favouring Pakistan and strongly opposed the doctrine of nonviolence. Godse
and his co-conspirator were tried and executed in 1949. Gandhi's memorial (or Samādhi)
at Rāj Ghāt,
New Delhi, bears the epigraph "Hē Ram", (Devanagari: हे !
राम or, He Rām),
which may be translated as "Oh God". These are widely believed to be
Gandhi's last words after he was shot, though the veracity of this statement
has been disputed. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru addressed the nation
through radio:
"Friends and comrades, the
light has gone out of our lives, and there is darkness everywhere, and I do not
quite know what to tell you or how to say it. Our beloved leader, Bapu as we
called him, the father of the nation, is no more. Perhaps I am wrong to say
that; nevertheless, we will not see him again, as we have seen him for these
many years, we will not run to him for advice or seek solace from him, and that
is a terrible blow, not only for me, but for millions and millions in this
country."—Jawaharlal Nehru's address to Gandhi.
 |
| Funeral procession of
Gandhi at New Delhi on 6 February 1948 |
Gandhi's death was mourned
nationwide. Over two million people joined the five mile long funeral
procession that took over five hours to reach Raj Ghat from Birla house, where
he was assassinated. Gandhi's body was transported on a weapons carrier, whose
chassis was dismantled overnight to allow a high-floor to be installed so that
people could catch a glimpse of his body. The engine of the vehicle was not
used, instead four drag-ropes manned by 50 people each pulled the vehicle. All
Indian owned establishments in London remained closed in mourning as thousands
of people from all faiths and denominations and Indians from all over Britain
converged at India House in
London.
While India mourned and communal
(inter-religious) violence escalated, there were calls for retaliation, and
even an invasion of Pakistan by the Indian army. Nehru and Patel, the two
strongest figures in the government and in Congress, had been pulling in
opposite directions; the assassination pushed them together. They agreed the
first objective must be to calm the hysteria. They called on Indians to
honor Gandhi's memory and even more his ideals. They used the assassination
to consolidate the authority of the new Indian state. The government made sure
everyone knew the guilty party was not a Muslim. Congress tightly controlled
the epic public displays of grief over a two-week period—the funeral, mortuary
rituals and distribution of the martyr's ashes—as millions participated and
hundreds of millions watched. The goal was to assert the power of the
government and legitimize the Congress Party's control. This move built upon
the massive outpouring of Hindu expressions of grief. The government suppressed
the RSS,
the Muslim National Guards, and the Khaksars, with some 200,000 arrests.
Gandhi's death and funeral linked the distant state with the Indian people and
made more understood the need to suppress religious parties during the
transition to independence for the Indian people.
Ashes
By Hindu tradition the ashes were
to be spread on a river. Gandhi's ashes were poured into urns which were sent
across India for memorial services. Most were immersed at the Sangam at Allahabad on
12 February 1948, but some were secretly taken away. In 1997, Tushar Gandhi immersed the contents of
one urn, found in a bank vault and reclaimed through the courts, at the Sangam
at Allahabad. Some of Gandhi's ashes were scattered at the source of the Nile
River near Jinja, Uganda, and a memorial plaque marks the event. On 30 January
2008, the contents of another urn were immersed at Girgaum Chowpatty. Another urn is at the palace of the Aga Khan in Pune (where
he had been imprisoned from 1942 to 1944) and another in theSelf-Realization
Fellowship Lake Shrine in Los Angeles.
By Hindu tradition the ashes were
to be spread on a river. Gandhi's ashes were poured into urns which were sent
across India for memorial services. Most were immersed at the Sangam at Allahabad on
12 February 1948, but some were secretly taken away. In 1997, Tushar Gandhi immersed the contents of
one urn, found in a bank vault and reclaimed through the courts, at the Sangam
at Allahabad. Some of Gandhi's ashes were scattered at the source of the Nile
River near Jinja, Uganda, and a memorial plaque marks the event. On 30 January
2008, the contents of another urn were immersed at Girgaum Chowpatty. Another urn is at the palace of the Aga Khan in Pune (where
he had been imprisoned from 1942 to 1944) and another in theSelf-Realization
Fellowship Lake Shrine in Los Angeles.
Principles, practices and beliefs
Gandhism designates the
ideas and principles Gandhi promoted. Of central importance is nonviolent
resistance. A Gandhian can
mean either an individual who follows, or a specific philosophy which is
attributed to, Gandhism. M.M.Sankhdher argues that Gandhism is not a
systematic position in metaphysics or in political philosophy. Rather, it is a
political creed, an economic doctrine, a religious outlook, a moral precept,
and especially, a humanitarian world view. It is an effort not to systematize
wisdom but to transform society and is based on an undying faith in the
goodness of human nature. However Gandhi himself did not approve of the
notion of "Gandhism", as he explained in 1936:
There is no such thing as
"Gandhism", and I do not want to leave any sect after me. I do not
claim to have originated any new principle or doctrine. I have simply tried in
my own way to apply the eternal truths to our daily life and problems...The
opinions I have formed and the conclusions I have arrived at are not final. I
may change them tomorrow. I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and
non-violence are as old as the hills.
Gandhism designates the
ideas and principles Gandhi promoted. Of central importance is nonviolent
resistance. A Gandhian can
mean either an individual who follows, or a specific philosophy which is
attributed to, Gandhism. M.M.Sankhdher argues that Gandhism is not a
systematic position in metaphysics or in political philosophy. Rather, it is a
political creed, an economic doctrine, a religious outlook, a moral precept,
and especially, a humanitarian world view. It is an effort not to systematize
wisdom but to transform society and is based on an undying faith in the
goodness of human nature. However Gandhi himself did not approve of the
notion of "Gandhism", as he explained in 1936:
There is no such thing as
"Gandhism", and I do not want to leave any sect after me. I do not
claim to have originated any new principle or doctrine. I have simply tried in
my own way to apply the eternal truths to our daily life and problems...The
opinions I have formed and the conclusions I have arrived at are not final. I
may change them tomorrow. I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and
non-violence are as old as the hills.
Influences
Gandhi with famous poet Rabindranath Tagore, 1940
Historian R.B. Cribb argues that
Gandhi's thought evolved over time, with his early ideas becoming the core or
scaffolding for his mature philosophy. In London he committed himself to
truthfulness, temperance, chastity, and vegetarianism. His return to India to
work as a lawyer was a failure, so he went to South Africa for a quarter
century, where he absorbed ideas from many sources, most of them non-Indian. While
Gandhi was born a Hindu, he grew up in an eclectic religious atmosphere and
throughout his life searched for insights from many religious traditions. He
was exposed to Jainideas through his
mother who was a devout Jain and was in contact with Jain leaders. Themes from
Jainism that Gandhi absorbed included asceticism; compassion for all forms of
life; the importance of vows for self-discipline; vegetarianism; fasting for
self-purification; mutual tolerance among people of different creeds; and
"syadvad", the idea that all views of truth are partial, a doctrine
that lies at the root of Satyagraha. He received much of his influence
from Jainism particularly during his
younger years.
Gandhi's London experience
provided a solid philosophical base focused on truthfulness, temperance,
chastity, and vegetarianism. When he returned to India in 1891, his outlook was
parochial and he could not make a living as a lawyer. This challenged his
belief that practicality and morality necessarily coincided. By moving in 1893
to South Africa he found a solution to this problem and developed the central
concepts of his mature philosophy. N. A. Toothi felt that Gandhi was
influenced by the reforms and teachings of Swaminarayan, stating "Close parallels
do exist in programs of social reform based on to non-violence, truth-telling,
cleanliness, temperance and upliftment of the masses." Vallabhbhai Patel, who grew up in a Swaminarayan
household was attracted to Gandhi due to this aspect of
Gandhi's doctrine.
Gandhi's ethical thinking was
heavily influenced by a handful of books, which he repeatedly meditated upon.
They included especially Plato's Apology, (which he translated into his
native Gujarati); William
Salter's Ethical Religion (1889); Henry David Thoreau's On the Duty
of Civil Disobedience (1847); Leo Tolstoy's The
Kingdom of God Is Within You (1893); and John Ruskin'sUnto this Last (1862), which he also
translated into Gujarati. Ruskin inspired his decision to live an austere life
on a commune, at first on the Phoenix Farm in Natal and then on the Tolstoy
Farm just outside Johannesburg, South Africa.
Balkrishna Gokhale argues that
Gandhi took his philosophy of history from Hinduism and Jainism, supplemented
by selected Christian traditions and ideas of Tolstoy and Ruskin. Hinduism
provided central concepts of God's role in history, of man as the battleground
of forces of virtue and sin, and of the potential of love as an historical
force. From Jainism, Gandhi took the idea of applying nonviolence to human
situations and the theory that Absolute Reality can be comprehended only
relatively in human affairs.
Historian Howard Spodek argues
for the importance of the culture of Gujarat in shaping Gandhi's methods.
Spodek finds that some of Gandhi's most effective methods such as fasting,
noncooperation and appeals to the justice and compassion of the rulers were
learned as a youth in Gujarat. Later on, the financial, cultural,
organizational and geographical support needed to bring his campaigns to a
national audience were drawn from Ahmedabad and Gujarat, his Indian residence
1915–1930.
 |
| Gandhi with famous poet Rabindranath Tagore, 1940 |
Historian R.B. Cribb argues that
Gandhi's thought evolved over time, with his early ideas becoming the core or
scaffolding for his mature philosophy. In London he committed himself to
truthfulness, temperance, chastity, and vegetarianism. His return to India to
work as a lawyer was a failure, so he went to South Africa for a quarter
century, where he absorbed ideas from many sources, most of them non-Indian. While
Gandhi was born a Hindu, he grew up in an eclectic religious atmosphere and
throughout his life searched for insights from many religious traditions. He
was exposed to Jainideas through his
mother who was a devout Jain and was in contact with Jain leaders. Themes from
Jainism that Gandhi absorbed included asceticism; compassion for all forms of
life; the importance of vows for self-discipline; vegetarianism; fasting for
self-purification; mutual tolerance among people of different creeds; and
"syadvad", the idea that all views of truth are partial, a doctrine
that lies at the root of Satyagraha. He received much of his influence
from Jainism particularly during his
younger years.
Gandhi's London experience
provided a solid philosophical base focused on truthfulness, temperance,
chastity, and vegetarianism. When he returned to India in 1891, his outlook was
parochial and he could not make a living as a lawyer. This challenged his
belief that practicality and morality necessarily coincided. By moving in 1893
to South Africa he found a solution to this problem and developed the central
concepts of his mature philosophy. N. A. Toothi felt that Gandhi was
influenced by the reforms and teachings of Swaminarayan, stating "Close parallels
do exist in programs of social reform based on to non-violence, truth-telling,
cleanliness, temperance and upliftment of the masses." Vallabhbhai Patel, who grew up in a Swaminarayan
household was attracted to Gandhi due to this aspect of
Gandhi's doctrine.
Gandhi's ethical thinking was
heavily influenced by a handful of books, which he repeatedly meditated upon.
They included especially Plato's Apology, (which he translated into his
native Gujarati); William
Salter's Ethical Religion (1889); Henry David Thoreau's On the Duty
of Civil Disobedience (1847); Leo Tolstoy's The
Kingdom of God Is Within You (1893); and John Ruskin'sUnto this Last (1862), which he also
translated into Gujarati. Ruskin inspired his decision to live an austere life
on a commune, at first on the Phoenix Farm in Natal and then on the Tolstoy
Farm just outside Johannesburg, South Africa.
Balkrishna Gokhale argues that
Gandhi took his philosophy of history from Hinduism and Jainism, supplemented
by selected Christian traditions and ideas of Tolstoy and Ruskin. Hinduism
provided central concepts of God's role in history, of man as the battleground
of forces of virtue and sin, and of the potential of love as an historical
force. From Jainism, Gandhi took the idea of applying nonviolence to human
situations and the theory that Absolute Reality can be comprehended only
relatively in human affairs.
Historian Howard Spodek argues
for the importance of the culture of Gujarat in shaping Gandhi's methods.
Spodek finds that some of Gandhi's most effective methods such as fasting,
noncooperation and appeals to the justice and compassion of the rulers were
learned as a youth in Gujarat. Later on, the financial, cultural,
organizational and geographical support needed to bring his campaigns to a
national audience were drawn from Ahmedabad and Gujarat, his Indian residence
1915–1930.
Tolstoy
Mohandas K. Gandhi and other residents
of Tolstoy Farm, South Africa, 1910
In 1908 Leo Tolstoy wrote A Letter to a Hindu, which
said that only by using love as a weapon through passive resistance could
the Indian people overthrow colonial rule. In 1909, Gandhi wrote to Tolstoy
seeking advice and permission to republish A Letter to a Hindu in
Gujarati. Tolstoy responded and the two continued a correspondence until
Tolstoy's death in 1910. The letters concern practical and theological
applications of non-violence. Gandhi saw himself a disciple of Tolstoy, for
they agreed regarding opposition to state authority and colonialism; both hated
violence and preached non-resistance. However, they differed sharply on
political strategy. Gandhi called for political involvement; he was a
nationalist and was prepared to use nonviolent force. He was also willing to
compromise. It was at Tolstoy Farm where Gandhi and Hermann Kallenbach systematically
trained their disciples in the philosophy of nonviolence.
 |
| Mohandas K. Gandhi and other residents of Tolstoy Farm, South Africa, 1910 |
In 1908 Leo Tolstoy wrote A Letter to a Hindu, which
said that only by using love as a weapon through passive resistance could
the Indian people overthrow colonial rule. In 1909, Gandhi wrote to Tolstoy
seeking advice and permission to republish A Letter to a Hindu in
Gujarati. Tolstoy responded and the two continued a correspondence until
Tolstoy's death in 1910. The letters concern practical and theological
applications of non-violence. Gandhi saw himself a disciple of Tolstoy, for
they agreed regarding opposition to state authority and colonialism; both hated
violence and preached non-resistance. However, they differed sharply on
political strategy. Gandhi called for political involvement; he was a
nationalist and was prepared to use nonviolent force. He was also willing to
compromise. It was at Tolstoy Farm where Gandhi and Hermann Kallenbach systematically
trained their disciples in the philosophy of nonviolence.
Truth and Satyagraha
"God is truth. The way to truth lies throughahimsa (non-violence)"
—Sabarmati 13 March 1927
Gandhi dedicated his life to the
wider purpose of discovering truth, or Satya.
He tried to achieve this by learning from his own mistakes and conducting
experiments on himself. He called his autobiographyThe
Story of My Experiments with Truth.
Bruce Watson argues that Gandhi
based Satyagraha on the Vedantic ideal of self-realization, and notes it also
contains Jain and Buddhist notions of nonviolence, vegetarianism, the avoidance
of killing, and 'agape' (universal love). Gandhi also borrowed
Christian-Islamic ideas of equality, the brotherhood of man, and the concept of
turning the other cheek.
Gandhi stated that the most
important battle to fight was overcoming his own demons, fears, and
insecurities. Gandhi summarised his beliefs first when he said "God is
Truth". He would later change this statement to "Truth is God".
Thus, satya (truth) in Gandhi's philosophy is "God".
The essence of Satyagraha (a name Gandhi invented
meaning "adherence to truth") is that it seeks to eliminate
antagonisms without harming the antagonists themselves and seeks to transform
or "purify" it to a higher level. A euphemism sometimes used for
Satyagraha is that it is a "silent force" or a "soul force"
(a term also used by Martin Luther King Jr. during his famous "I Have a Dream" speech). It arms the
individual with moral power rather than physical power. Satyagraha is also
termed a "universal force", as it essentially "makes no
distinction between kinsmen and strangers, young and old, man and woman, friend
and foe."
Gandiji wrote: "There must
be no impatience, no barbarity, no insolence, no undue pressure. If we want to
cultivate a true spirit of democracy, we cannot afford to be intolerant.
Intolerance betrays want of faith in one's cause." Civil disobedience and non-cooperation as
practised under Satyagraha are based on the "law of suffering", a
doctrine that the endurance of suffering is a means to an end. This end
usually implies a moral upliftment or progress of an individual or society.
Therefore, non-cooperation in Satyagraha is in fact a means to secure the
cooperation of the opponent consistently with truth and justice.
 |
| "God is truth. The way to truth lies throughahimsa (non-violence)" —Sabarmati 13 March 1927 |
Gandhi dedicated his life to the
wider purpose of discovering truth, or Satya.
He tried to achieve this by learning from his own mistakes and conducting
experiments on himself. He called his autobiographyThe
Story of My Experiments with Truth.
Bruce Watson argues that Gandhi
based Satyagraha on the Vedantic ideal of self-realization, and notes it also
contains Jain and Buddhist notions of nonviolence, vegetarianism, the avoidance
of killing, and 'agape' (universal love). Gandhi also borrowed
Christian-Islamic ideas of equality, the brotherhood of man, and the concept of
turning the other cheek.
Gandhi stated that the most
important battle to fight was overcoming his own demons, fears, and
insecurities. Gandhi summarised his beliefs first when he said "God is
Truth". He would later change this statement to "Truth is God".
Thus, satya (truth) in Gandhi's philosophy is "God".
The essence of Satyagraha (a name Gandhi invented
meaning "adherence to truth") is that it seeks to eliminate
antagonisms without harming the antagonists themselves and seeks to transform
or "purify" it to a higher level. A euphemism sometimes used for
Satyagraha is that it is a "silent force" or a "soul force"
(a term also used by Martin Luther King Jr. during his famous "I Have a Dream" speech). It arms the
individual with moral power rather than physical power. Satyagraha is also
termed a "universal force", as it essentially "makes no
distinction between kinsmen and strangers, young and old, man and woman, friend
and foe."
Gandiji wrote: "There must
be no impatience, no barbarity, no insolence, no undue pressure. If we want to
cultivate a true spirit of democracy, we cannot afford to be intolerant.
Intolerance betrays want of faith in one's cause." Civil disobedience and non-cooperation as
practised under Satyagraha are based on the "law of suffering", a
doctrine that the endurance of suffering is a means to an end. This end
usually implies a moral upliftment or progress of an individual or society.
Therefore, non-cooperation in Satyagraha is in fact a means to secure the
cooperation of the opponent consistently with truth and justice.
Nonviolence
Gandhi with textile workers at Darwen,
Lancashire, 26 September 1931.
Although Gandhi was not the
originator of the principle of non-violence, he was the first to apply it in
the political field on a large scale. The concept of nonviolence (ahimsa) and nonresistance has a long history in
Indian religious thought and has had many revivals in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain,
Jewish and Christian contexts. Gandhi explains his philosophy and way of life
in his autobiography The
Story of My Experiments with Truth. Some of his other remarks were
widely quoted, such as "An eye for an eye makes the whole world
blind." "There are many causes that I am prepared to die for but
no causes that I am prepared to kill for." Gandhi realized later that
this level of nonviolence required incredible faith and courage, which he
believed everyone did not possess. He therefore advised that everyone need not
keep to nonviolence, especially if it were used as a cover for cowardice,
saying, "where there is only a choice between cowardice and violence, I
would advise violence."
Gandhi thus came under some
political fire for his criticism of those who attempted to achieve independence
through more violent means. His refusal to protest against the hanging of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Udham Singh and Rajguru were sources of condemnation
among some parties.
Of this criticism, Gandhi stated,
"There was a time when people listened to me because I showed them how to
give fight to the British without arms when they had no arms [...] but today I
am told that my non-violence can be of no avail against the [Hindu–Moslem
riots] and, therefore, people should arm themselves for self-defense."
Gandhi's views came under heavy
criticism in Britain when it was under attack from Nazi Germany, and later when the Holocaust was revealed. He told the
British people in 1940, "I would like you to lay down the arms you have as
being useless for saving you or humanity. You will invite Herr Hitler and
Signor Mussolini to take what they want of the countries you call your
possessions... If these gentlemen choose to occupy your homes, you will vacate
them. If they do not give you free passage out, you will allow yourselves, man,
woman, and child, to be slaughtered, but you will refuse to owe allegiance to
them."
In a post-war interview in 1946,
he said, "Hitler killed five million Jews.
It is the greatest crime of our time. But the Jews should have offered
themselves to the butcher’s knife. They should have thrown themselves into the
sea from cliffs... It would have aroused the world and the people of Germany...
As it is they succumbed anyway in their millions." Gandhi believed
this act of "collective suicide", in response to the Holocaust, "would have been
heroism".
 |
| Gandhi with textile workers at Darwen, Lancashire, 26 September 1931. |
Although Gandhi was not the
originator of the principle of non-violence, he was the first to apply it in
the political field on a large scale. The concept of nonviolence (ahimsa) and nonresistance has a long history in
Indian religious thought and has had many revivals in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain,
Jewish and Christian contexts. Gandhi explains his philosophy and way of life
in his autobiography The
Story of My Experiments with Truth. Some of his other remarks were
widely quoted, such as "An eye for an eye makes the whole world
blind." "There are many causes that I am prepared to die for but
no causes that I am prepared to kill for." Gandhi realized later that
this level of nonviolence required incredible faith and courage, which he
believed everyone did not possess. He therefore advised that everyone need not
keep to nonviolence, especially if it were used as a cover for cowardice,
saying, "where there is only a choice between cowardice and violence, I
would advise violence."
Gandhi thus came under some
political fire for his criticism of those who attempted to achieve independence
through more violent means. His refusal to protest against the hanging of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Udham Singh and Rajguru were sources of condemnation
among some parties.
Of this criticism, Gandhi stated,
"There was a time when people listened to me because I showed them how to
give fight to the British without arms when they had no arms [...] but today I
am told that my non-violence can be of no avail against the [Hindu–Moslem
riots] and, therefore, people should arm themselves for self-defense."
Gandhi's views came under heavy
criticism in Britain when it was under attack from Nazi Germany, and later when the Holocaust was revealed. He told the
British people in 1940, "I would like you to lay down the arms you have as
being useless for saving you or humanity. You will invite Herr Hitler and
Signor Mussolini to take what they want of the countries you call your
possessions... If these gentlemen choose to occupy your homes, you will vacate
them. If they do not give you free passage out, you will allow yourselves, man,
woman, and child, to be slaughtered, but you will refuse to owe allegiance to
them."
In a post-war interview in 1946,
he said, "Hitler killed five million Jews.
It is the greatest crime of our time. But the Jews should have offered
themselves to the butcher’s knife. They should have thrown themselves into the
sea from cliffs... It would have aroused the world and the people of Germany...
As it is they succumbed anyway in their millions." Gandhi believed
this act of "collective suicide", in response to the Holocaust, "would have been
heroism".
Muslims
One of the Gandhi's major
strategies, first in South Africa and then in India, was uniting Muslims and
Hindus to work together in opposition to British imperialism. In 1919–22 he won
strong Muslim support for his leadership in the Khilafat Movement to support the
historic Ottoman Caliphate.
By 1924 that Muslim support had largely evaporated.
Jews
In 1931, he suggested that while
he could understand the desire of European Jews to emigrate to Palestine, he
opposed any movement that supported British colonialism or violence.
Muslims throughout India and the Middle East strongly opposed the Zionist plan
for a Jewish state in Palestine, and Gandhi (and Congress) supported the
Muslims in this regard. By the 1930s all major political groups in India
opposed a Jewish state in Palestine.
This led to discussions concerning
the persecution
of the Jews in Germany and the emigration of Jews from Europe to
Palestine, which Gandhi framed through the lens of Satyagraha. In 1937, Gandhi discussed Zionism with his close Jewish friend
Hermann Kallenbach. He said Zionism was not the right answer to the Jewish
problem and instead recommended Satyagraha. Gandhi thought the Zionists in
Palestine represented European imperialism and used violence to achieve their
goals; he argued that "the Jews should disclaim any intention of realizing
their aspiration under the protection of arms and should rely wholly on the
goodwill of Arabs. No exception can possibly be taken to the natural desire of
the Jews to found a home in Palestine. But they must wait for its fulfillment
till Arab opinion is ripe for it." In 1938, Gandhi stated that his
"sympathies are all with the Jews. I have known them intimately in South
Africa. Some of them became life-long companions." Philosopher Martin Buber was highly critical of
Gandhi's approach and in 1939 wrote an open letter to him on the subject.
Gandhi reiterated his stance on the use of Satyagraha in Palestine in 1947.
One of the Gandhi's major
strategies, first in South Africa and then in India, was uniting Muslims and
Hindus to work together in opposition to British imperialism. In 1919–22 he won
strong Muslim support for his leadership in the Khilafat Movement to support the
historic Ottoman Caliphate.
By 1924 that Muslim support had largely evaporated.
Jews
In 1931, he suggested that while
he could understand the desire of European Jews to emigrate to Palestine, he
opposed any movement that supported British colonialism or violence.
Muslims throughout India and the Middle East strongly opposed the Zionist plan
for a Jewish state in Palestine, and Gandhi (and Congress) supported the
Muslims in this regard. By the 1930s all major political groups in India
opposed a Jewish state in Palestine.
This led to discussions concerning
the persecution
of the Jews in Germany and the emigration of Jews from Europe to
Palestine, which Gandhi framed through the lens of Satyagraha. In 1937, Gandhi discussed Zionism with his close Jewish friend
Hermann Kallenbach. He said Zionism was not the right answer to the Jewish
problem and instead recommended Satyagraha. Gandhi thought the Zionists in
Palestine represented European imperialism and used violence to achieve their
goals; he argued that "the Jews should disclaim any intention of realizing
their aspiration under the protection of arms and should rely wholly on the
goodwill of Arabs. No exception can possibly be taken to the natural desire of
the Jews to found a home in Palestine. But they must wait for its fulfillment
till Arab opinion is ripe for it." In 1938, Gandhi stated that his
"sympathies are all with the Jews. I have known them intimately in South
Africa. Some of them became life-long companions." Philosopher Martin Buber was highly critical of
Gandhi's approach and in 1939 wrote an open letter to him on the subject.
Gandhi reiterated his stance on the use of Satyagraha in Palestine in 1947.
Vegetarianism and Food
Stephen Hay argues that Gandhi in
London looked into numerous religious and intellectual currents. He especially
appreciated how the theosophical movement encouraged
a religious eclecticism and an antipathy to atheism. Hay says the vegetarian
movement had the greatest impact for it was Gandhi's point of entry into other
reformist agendas of the time. The idea of vegetarianism is deeply
ingrained in Hindu and Jain traditions in India, especially in his native
Gujarat. Gandhi was close to the chairman of the London Vegetarian
Society, Dr. Josiah Oldfield, and corresponded with Henry Stephens Salt,
a vegetarian campaigner. Gandhi became a strict vegetarian.
He wrote the book The Moral Basis of Vegetarianism and wrote for the
London Vegetarian Society's publication. Gandhi was somewhat of a food faddist taking
his own goat to travels so he could always have fresh milk.
Gandhi noted in his autobiography
that vegetarianism was the beginning of his deep commitment to Brahmacharya; without total control of the
palate, his success in Brahmacharya would likely falter. "You wish to know
what the marks of a man are who wants to realize Truth which is God", he
wrote. "He must reduce himself to zero and have perfect control over all
his senses-beginning with the palate or tongue."
Fasting, with young Indira Gandhi, mid-1920s
Stephen Hay argues that Gandhi in
London looked into numerous religious and intellectual currents. He especially
appreciated how the theosophical movement encouraged
a religious eclecticism and an antipathy to atheism. Hay says the vegetarian
movement had the greatest impact for it was Gandhi's point of entry into other
reformist agendas of the time. The idea of vegetarianism is deeply
ingrained in Hindu and Jain traditions in India, especially in his native
Gujarat. Gandhi was close to the chairman of the London Vegetarian
Society, Dr. Josiah Oldfield, and corresponded with Henry Stephens Salt,
a vegetarian campaigner. Gandhi became a strict vegetarian.
He wrote the book The Moral Basis of Vegetarianism and wrote for the
London Vegetarian Society's publication. Gandhi was somewhat of a food faddist taking
his own goat to travels so he could always have fresh milk.
Gandhi noted in his autobiography
that vegetarianism was the beginning of his deep commitment to Brahmacharya; without total control of the
palate, his success in Brahmacharya would likely falter. "You wish to know
what the marks of a man are who wants to realize Truth which is God", he
wrote. "He must reduce himself to zero and have perfect control over all
his senses-beginning with the palate or tongue."
 |
| Fasting, with young Indira Gandhi, mid-1920s |
Fasting
Gandhi used fasting as a political device, often
threatening suicide unless demands were met. Congress publicized the fasts as a
political action that generated widespread sympathy. In response the government
tried to manipulate news coverage to minimize his challenge to the Raj. He
fasted in 1932 to protest the voting scheme for separate political
representation for Dalits; Gandhi did not want them segregated. The government
stopped the London press from showing photographs of his emaciated body,
because it would elicit sympathy. Gandhi's 1943 hunger strike took place during
a two-year prison term for the anticolonial Quit India movement. The government
called on nutritional experts to demystify his action, and again no photos were
allowed. However his final fast in 1948, after India was independent, was
lauded by the British press and this time did include full-length photos.
Alter argues that Gandhi's
fixation on diet and celibacy were much deeper than exercises in
self-discipline. Rather, his beliefs regarding health offered a critique of
both the traditional Hindu system of ayurvedic medicine and Western concepts.
This challenge was integral to his deeper challenge to tradition and modernity,
as health and nonviolence became part of the same ethics.
Gandhi used fasting as a political device, often
threatening suicide unless demands were met. Congress publicized the fasts as a
political action that generated widespread sympathy. In response the government
tried to manipulate news coverage to minimize his challenge to the Raj. He
fasted in 1932 to protest the voting scheme for separate political
representation for Dalits; Gandhi did not want them segregated. The government
stopped the London press from showing photographs of his emaciated body,
because it would elicit sympathy. Gandhi's 1943 hunger strike took place during
a two-year prison term for the anticolonial Quit India movement. The government
called on nutritional experts to demystify his action, and again no photos were
allowed. However his final fast in 1948, after India was independent, was
lauded by the British press and this time did include full-length photos.
Alter argues that Gandhi's
fixation on diet and celibacy were much deeper than exercises in
self-discipline. Rather, his beliefs regarding health offered a critique of
both the traditional Hindu system of ayurvedic medicine and Western concepts.
This challenge was integral to his deeper challenge to tradition and modernity,
as health and nonviolence became part of the same ethics.
Celibacy
A core Gandhian value that came
in for much bantering and ribald music hall humour in Britain was his
nakedness—Churchill publicly called him a "half-naked fakir" –
and his experiments in "brahmacharya"
or the elimination of all desire in the face of temptation. In 1906
Gandhi, although married and a father, vowed to abstain from sexual relations.
In the 1940s, in his mid-seventies, he brought his grandniece Manubehn to sleep
naked in his bed as part of a spiritual experiment in which Gandhi could test
himself as a "brahmachari." Several other young women and girls also
sometimes shared his bed as part of his experiments. Gandhi discussed his
experiment with friends and relations; most disagreed and the experiment ceased
in 1947.
A core Gandhian value that came
in for much bantering and ribald music hall humour in Britain was his
nakedness—Churchill publicly called him a "half-naked fakir" –
and his experiments in "brahmacharya"
or the elimination of all desire in the face of temptation. In 1906
Gandhi, although married and a father, vowed to abstain from sexual relations.
In the 1940s, in his mid-seventies, he brought his grandniece Manubehn to sleep
naked in his bed as part of a spiritual experiment in which Gandhi could test
himself as a "brahmachari." Several other young women and girls also
sometimes shared his bed as part of his experiments. Gandhi discussed his
experiment with friends and relations; most disagreed and the experiment ceased
in 1947.
Nai Talim, Basic Education
Gandhi's educational policies
reflected Nai Talim ('Basic Education for all'), a spiritual
principle which states that knowledge and work are not separate. It was a
reaction against the British educational system and colonialism in general,
which had the negative effect of making Indian children alienated and
career-based; it promoted disdain for manual work, the development of a new
elite class, and the increasing problems of industrialisation and urbanisation.
The three pillars of Gandhi's pedagogy were its focus on the lifelong
character of education, its social character and its form as a holistic
process. For Gandhi, education is 'the moral development of the person', a
process that is by definition 'lifelong'.
Nai Talim evolved out of the
spiritually oriented education program at Tolstoy Farm in South Africa, and
Gandhi's work at the ashram at Sevagram after 1937. After 1947 the Nehru
government's vision of an industrialized, centrally planned economy had scant
place for Gandhi's village-oriented approach.
Gandhi's educational policies
reflected Nai Talim ('Basic Education for all'), a spiritual
principle which states that knowledge and work are not separate. It was a
reaction against the British educational system and colonialism in general,
which had the negative effect of making Indian children alienated and
career-based; it promoted disdain for manual work, the development of a new
elite class, and the increasing problems of industrialisation and urbanisation.
The three pillars of Gandhi's pedagogy were its focus on the lifelong
character of education, its social character and its form as a holistic
process. For Gandhi, education is 'the moral development of the person', a
process that is by definition 'lifelong'.
Nai Talim evolved out of the
spiritually oriented education program at Tolstoy Farm in South Africa, and
Gandhi's work at the ashram at Sevagram after 1937. After 1947 the Nehru
government's vision of an industrialized, centrally planned economy had scant
place for Gandhi's village-oriented approach.
Swaraj, Self-Rule
Rudolph argues that after a false
start in trying to emulate the English in an attempt to overcome his timidity,
Gandhi discovered the inner courage he was seeking by helping his countrymen in
South Africa. The new courage consisted of observing the traditional Bengali
way of "self-suffering" and, in finding his own courage, he was
enabled also to point out the way of 'Satyagraha' and 'ahimsa' to the whole of
India. Gandhi's writings expressed four meanings of freedom: as India's
national independence; as individual political freedom; as group freedom from
poverty; and as the capacity for personal self-rule.
Gandhi was a self-described philosophical
anarchist, and his vision of India meant an India without an
underlying government. He once said that "the ideally nonviolent
state would be an ordered anarchy." While political systems are
largely hierarchical, with each layer of authority from the individual to the
central government have increasing levels of authority over the layer below,
Gandhi believed that society should be the exact opposite, where nothing is
done without the consent of anyone, down to the individual. His idea was that
true self-rule in a country means that
every person rules his or herself and that there is no state which enforces
laws upon the people.
This would be achieved over time
with nonviolent conflict mediation, as power is divested from layers of
hierarchical authorities, ultimately to the individual, which would come to
embody the ethic of nonviolence. Rather than a system where rights are enforced
by a higher authority, people are self-governed by mutual responsibilities. On
returning from South Africa, when Gandhi received a letter asking for his
participation in writing a world charter for human rights, he responded saying,
"in my experience, it is far more important to have a charter for human
duties."
A free India did not mean merely
transferring the established British administrative structure into Indian
hands. He warned, "you would make India English. And when it becomes
English, it will be called not Hindustan but Englishtan. This is not the Swaraj
I want." Tewari argues that Gandhi saw democracy as more than a
system of government; it meant promoting both individuality and the
self-discipline of the community. Democracy was a moral system that distributed
power and assisted the development of every social class, especially the
lowest. It meant settling disputes in a nonviolent manner; it required freedom
of thought and expression. For Gandhi, democracy was a way of life.
Rudolph argues that after a false
start in trying to emulate the English in an attempt to overcome his timidity,
Gandhi discovered the inner courage he was seeking by helping his countrymen in
South Africa. The new courage consisted of observing the traditional Bengali
way of "self-suffering" and, in finding his own courage, he was
enabled also to point out the way of 'Satyagraha' and 'ahimsa' to the whole of
India. Gandhi's writings expressed four meanings of freedom: as India's
national independence; as individual political freedom; as group freedom from
poverty; and as the capacity for personal self-rule.
Gandhi was a self-described philosophical
anarchist, and his vision of India meant an India without an
underlying government. He once said that "the ideally nonviolent
state would be an ordered anarchy." While political systems are
largely hierarchical, with each layer of authority from the individual to the
central government have increasing levels of authority over the layer below,
Gandhi believed that society should be the exact opposite, where nothing is
done without the consent of anyone, down to the individual. His idea was that
true self-rule in a country means that
every person rules his or herself and that there is no state which enforces
laws upon the people.
This would be achieved over time
with nonviolent conflict mediation, as power is divested from layers of
hierarchical authorities, ultimately to the individual, which would come to
embody the ethic of nonviolence. Rather than a system where rights are enforced
by a higher authority, people are self-governed by mutual responsibilities. On
returning from South Africa, when Gandhi received a letter asking for his
participation in writing a world charter for human rights, he responded saying,
"in my experience, it is far more important to have a charter for human
duties."
A free India did not mean merely
transferring the established British administrative structure into Indian
hands. He warned, "you would make India English. And when it becomes
English, it will be called not Hindustan but Englishtan. This is not the Swaraj
I want." Tewari argues that Gandhi saw democracy as more than a
system of government; it meant promoting both individuality and the
self-discipline of the community. Democracy was a moral system that distributed
power and assisted the development of every social class, especially the
lowest. It meant settling disputes in a nonviolent manner; it required freedom
of thought and expression. For Gandhi, democracy was a way of life.
Gandhian economics
A free India for Gandhi meant the
flourishing of thousands of self-sufficient small communities who rule
themselves without hindering others. Gandhian economics focused on the need for
economic self-sufficiency at the village level. His policy of
"sarvodaya" called for ending poverty through improved
agriculture and small-scale cottage industries in every village. Gandhi
challenged Nehru and the modernizers in the late 1930s who called for rapid
industrialization on the Soviet model; Gandhi denounced that as dehumanizing
and contrary to the needs of the villages where the great majority of the
people lived. After Gandhi's death Nehru led India to large-scale planning
that emphasized modernization and heavy industry, while modernizing agriculture
through irrigation. Historian Kuruvila Pandikattu says "it was Nehru's
vision, not Gandhi's, that was eventually preferred by the Indian State." After
Gandhi's death activists inspired by his vision promoted their opposition to
industrialization through the teachings of Gandhian economics.
A free India for Gandhi meant the
flourishing of thousands of self-sufficient small communities who rule
themselves without hindering others. Gandhian economics focused on the need for
economic self-sufficiency at the village level. His policy of
"sarvodaya" called for ending poverty through improved
agriculture and small-scale cottage industries in every village. Gandhi
challenged Nehru and the modernizers in the late 1930s who called for rapid
industrialization on the Soviet model; Gandhi denounced that as dehumanizing
and contrary to the needs of the villages where the great majority of the
people lived. After Gandhi's death Nehru led India to large-scale planning
that emphasized modernization and heavy industry, while modernizing agriculture
through irrigation. Historian Kuruvila Pandikattu says "it was Nehru's
vision, not Gandhi's, that was eventually preferred by the Indian State." After
Gandhi's death activists inspired by his vision promoted their opposition to
industrialization through the teachings of Gandhian economics.
Literary works
Young India, a weekly journal
published by Gandhi from 1919 to 1932
Gandhi was a prolific writer. One
of Gandhi's earliest publications, Hind Swaraj, published in Gujarati in
1909, is recognised as the intellectual blueprint of India's freedom
movement. The book was translated into English the next year, with a copyright
legend that read "No Rights Reserved". For decades he edited
several newspapers including Harijan in
Gujarati, in Hindi and in the English language; Indian Opinion while in South Africa
and, Young India, in English, and Navajivan, a
Gujarati monthly, on his return to India. Later, Navajivan was also published
in Hindi. In addition, he wrote letters almost every day to individuals and
newspapers.
Gandhi also wrote several books
including his autobiography, The
Story of My Experiments with Truth (Gujarātī "સત્યના પ્રયોગો અથવા
આત્મકથા"), of which he bought the
entire first edition to make sure it was reprinted. His other
autobiographies included: Satyagraha in South Africa about his
struggle there, Hind
Swaraj or Indian Home Rule, a political pamphlet, and a paraphrase
in Gujarati of John Ruskin's Unto This Last. This last essay can be
considered his programme on economics. He also wrote extensively on
vegetarianism, diet and health, religion, social reforms, etc. Gandhi usually
wrote in Gujarati, though he also revised the Hindi and English translations of
his books.
Gandhi's complete works were
published by the Indian government under the name The
Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi in the 1960s. The writings
comprise about 50,000 pages published in about a hundred volumes. In 2000, a
revised edition of the complete works sparked a controversy, as it constituted
large number of errors and omissions. The Indian government later withdrew
the revised edition.
Young India, a weekly journal
published by Gandhi from 1919 to 1932
Gandhi was a prolific writer. One
of Gandhi's earliest publications, Hind Swaraj, published in Gujarati in
1909, is recognised as the intellectual blueprint of India's freedom
movement. The book was translated into English the next year, with a copyright
legend that read "No Rights Reserved". For decades he edited
several newspapers including Harijan in
Gujarati, in Hindi and in the English language; Indian Opinion while in South Africa
and, Young India, in English, and Navajivan, a
Gujarati monthly, on his return to India. Later, Navajivan was also published
in Hindi. In addition, he wrote letters almost every day to individuals and
newspapers.
Gandhi also wrote several books
including his autobiography, The
Story of My Experiments with Truth (Gujarātī "સત્યના પ્રયોગો અથવા
આત્મકથા"), of which he bought the
entire first edition to make sure it was reprinted. His other
autobiographies included: Satyagraha in South Africa about his
struggle there, Hind
Swaraj or Indian Home Rule, a political pamphlet, and a paraphrase
in Gujarati of John Ruskin's Unto This Last. This last essay can be
considered his programme on economics. He also wrote extensively on
vegetarianism, diet and health, religion, social reforms, etc. Gandhi usually
wrote in Gujarati, though he also revised the Hindi and English translations of
his books.
Gandhi's complete works were
published by the Indian government under the name The
Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi in the 1960s. The writings
comprise about 50,000 pages published in about a hundred volumes. In 2000, a
revised edition of the complete works sparked a controversy, as it constituted
large number of errors and omissions. The Indian government later withdrew
the revised edition.
Legacy and depictions in popular culture
A wall graffiti in San Francisco
containing a quote and image of Gandhi
The word Mahatma, while often mistaken for Gandhi's
given name in the West, is taken from the Sanskrit words maha (meaning Great)
and atma(meaning Soul). Rabindranath Tagore is
said to have accorded the title to Gandhi. In his autobiography, Gandhi
nevertheless explains that he never valued the title, and was often pained by
it.
A wall graffiti in San Francisco
containing a quote and image of Gandhi
The word Mahatma, while often mistaken for Gandhi's
given name in the West, is taken from the Sanskrit words maha (meaning Great)
and atma(meaning Soul). Rabindranath Tagore is
said to have accorded the title to Gandhi. In his autobiography, Gandhi
nevertheless explains that he never valued the title, and was often pained by
it.
Followers and international influence
Gandhi influenced important
leaders and political movements. Leaders of the civil rights movement in the United
States, including Martin Luther Kingand James
Lawson, drew from the writings of Gandhi in the development of their
own theories about non-violence. King said "Christ gave us the goals
and Mahatma Gandhi the tactics." King sometimes referred to Gandhi as
"the little brown saint." Anti-apartheid activist
and former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, was inspired by Gandhi. Others
include Khan Abdul
Ghaffar Khan, Steve Biko, and Aung San Suu Kyi.
In his early years, the former President of
South Africa Nelson Mandela was a follower of the
non-violent resistance philosophy of Gandhi. Bhana and Vahed commented on
these events as "Gandhi inspired succeeding generations of South African
activists seeking to end White rule. This legacy connects him to Nelson Mandela...in a sense Mandela
completed what Gandhi started."
Gandhi's life and teachings
inspired many who specifically referred to Gandhi as their mentor or who
dedicated their lives to spreading Gandhi's ideas. In Europe,Romain Rolland was the first to
discuss Gandhi in his 1924 book Mahatma Gandhi, and Brazilian
anarchist and feminist Maria Lacerda de
Moura wrote about Gandhi in her work on pacifism. In 1931,
notable European physicist Albert Einstein exchanged written
letters with Gandhi, and called him "a role model for the generations to
come" in a later writing about him. Einstein said of Gandhi:
Mahatma Gandhi's life achievement
stands unique in political history. He has invented a completely new and humane
means for the liberation war of an oppressed country, and practised it with
greatest energy and devotion. The moral influence he had on the consciously
thinking human being of the entire civilized world will probably be much more
lasting than it seems in our time with its overestimation of brutal violent
forces. Because lasting will only be the work of such statesmen who wake up and
strengthen the moral power of their people through their example and educational
works.We may all be happy and grateful that destiny gifted us with such an
enlightened contemporary, a role model for the generations to come.
Generations to come will scarce
believe that such a one as this walked the earth in flesh and blood.
Lanza del Vasto went to India in 1936
intending to live with Gandhi; he later returned to Europe to spread Gandhi's
philosophy and founded the Community of the
Arkin 1948 (modelled after Gandhi's ashrams). Madeleine Slade (known as
"Mirabehn") was the daughter of a British admiral who spent much of
her adult life in India as a devotee of Gandhi.
In addition, the British musician John Lennon referred to Gandhi when
discussing his views on non-violence. At the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in
2007, former U.S. Vice-President and environmentalist Al Gore spoke of Gandhi's influence on
him.
President of the United States Barack Obama in an address to a Joint
Session of the Parliament of India said
that:
"I am mindful that I might
not be standing before you today, as President of the United States, had it not
been for Gandhi and the message he shared with America and the world."—Barack Obama in an address to a Joint
Session of the Parliament of India,
2010
Obama in September 2009 said that
his biggest inspiration came from Mahatma Gandhi. His reply was in response to
the question 'Who was the one person, dead or live, that you would choose to
dine with?'. He continued that "He's somebody I find a lot of inspiration
in. He inspired Dr. King with his message of nonviolence. He ended up doing so
much and changed the world just by the power of his ethics."
Time Magazine named The 14th Dalai Lama, Lech Wałęsa, Martin Luther King, Cesar Chavez, Aung San Suu Kyi, Benigno Aquino, Jr., Desmond Tutu, and Nelson Mandela as Children of
Gandhi and his spiritual heirs to non-violence. The Mahatma Gandhi
District in Houston, Texas, United
States, an ethnic Indian enclave, is officially named after Gandhi.
Global holidays
In 2007, the United
Nations General Assembly declared Gandhi's birthday 2 October
as "the International
Day of Non-Violence." First proposed by UNESCO in 1948, as
the School Day of Non-violence and Peace (DENIP in Spanish), 30 January is
observed the School
Day of Non-violence and Peace in schools of many countries In
countries with a Southern Hemisphere school calendar, it is observed on 30
March.
Gandhi influenced important
leaders and political movements. Leaders of the civil rights movement in the United
States, including Martin Luther Kingand James
Lawson, drew from the writings of Gandhi in the development of their
own theories about non-violence. King said "Christ gave us the goals
and Mahatma Gandhi the tactics." King sometimes referred to Gandhi as
"the little brown saint." Anti-apartheid activist
and former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, was inspired by Gandhi. Others
include Khan Abdul
Ghaffar Khan, Steve Biko, and Aung San Suu Kyi.
In his early years, the former President of
South Africa Nelson Mandela was a follower of the
non-violent resistance philosophy of Gandhi. Bhana and Vahed commented on
these events as "Gandhi inspired succeeding generations of South African
activists seeking to end White rule. This legacy connects him to Nelson Mandela...in a sense Mandela
completed what Gandhi started."
Gandhi's life and teachings
inspired many who specifically referred to Gandhi as their mentor or who
dedicated their lives to spreading Gandhi's ideas. In Europe,Romain Rolland was the first to
discuss Gandhi in his 1924 book Mahatma Gandhi, and Brazilian
anarchist and feminist Maria Lacerda de
Moura wrote about Gandhi in her work on pacifism. In 1931,
notable European physicist Albert Einstein exchanged written
letters with Gandhi, and called him "a role model for the generations to
come" in a later writing about him. Einstein said of Gandhi:
Mahatma Gandhi's life achievement
stands unique in political history. He has invented a completely new and humane
means for the liberation war of an oppressed country, and practised it with
greatest energy and devotion. The moral influence he had on the consciously
thinking human being of the entire civilized world will probably be much more
lasting than it seems in our time with its overestimation of brutal violent
forces. Because lasting will only be the work of such statesmen who wake up and
strengthen the moral power of their people through their example and educational
works.We may all be happy and grateful that destiny gifted us with such an
enlightened contemporary, a role model for the generations to come.
Generations to come will scarce
believe that such a one as this walked the earth in flesh and blood.
Lanza del Vasto went to India in 1936
intending to live with Gandhi; he later returned to Europe to spread Gandhi's
philosophy and founded the Community of the
Arkin 1948 (modelled after Gandhi's ashrams). Madeleine Slade (known as
"Mirabehn") was the daughter of a British admiral who spent much of
her adult life in India as a devotee of Gandhi.
In addition, the British musician John Lennon referred to Gandhi when
discussing his views on non-violence. At the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in
2007, former U.S. Vice-President and environmentalist Al Gore spoke of Gandhi's influence on
him.
President of the United States Barack Obama in an address to a Joint
Session of the Parliament of India said
that:
"I am mindful that I might
not be standing before you today, as President of the United States, had it not
been for Gandhi and the message he shared with America and the world."—Barack Obama in an address to a Joint
Session of the Parliament of India,
2010
Obama in September 2009 said that
his biggest inspiration came from Mahatma Gandhi. His reply was in response to
the question 'Who was the one person, dead or live, that you would choose to
dine with?'. He continued that "He's somebody I find a lot of inspiration
in. He inspired Dr. King with his message of nonviolence. He ended up doing so
much and changed the world just by the power of his ethics."
Time Magazine named The 14th Dalai Lama, Lech Wałęsa, Martin Luther King, Cesar Chavez, Aung San Suu Kyi, Benigno Aquino, Jr., Desmond Tutu, and Nelson Mandela as Children of
Gandhi and his spiritual heirs to non-violence. The Mahatma Gandhi
District in Houston, Texas, United
States, an ethnic Indian enclave, is officially named after Gandhi.
Global holidays
In 2007, the United
Nations General Assembly declared Gandhi's birthday 2 October
as "the International
Day of Non-Violence." First proposed by UNESCO in 1948, as
the School Day of Non-violence and Peace (DENIP in Spanish), 30 January is
observed the School
Day of Non-violence and Peace in schools of many countries In
countries with a Southern Hemisphere school calendar, it is observed on 30
March.
Awards
Monument to M.K. Gandhi inNew Belgrade, Serbia. On the monument is
written "Non-violence is the essence of all religions".
Time magazine named Gandhi the Man of
the Year in 1930. Gandhi was also the runner-up to Albert Einstein as "Person of the
Century" at the end of 1999. The Government of India awards
the annual Gandhi Peace Prize to
distinguished social workers, world leaders and citizens. Nelson Mandela, the leader of South
Africa's struggle to eradicate racial discrimination and segregation, is a
prominent non-Indian recipient. In 2011, Time magazine named Gandhi
as one of the top 25 political icons of all time.
Gandhi did not receive the Nobel Peace Prize, although he was
nominated five times between 1937 and 1948, including the first-ever nomination
by theAmerican
Friends Service Committee, though he made the short list only
twice, in 1937 and 1947. Decades later, the Nobel Committee publicly
declared its regret for the omission, and admitted to deeply divided
nationalistic opinion denying the award. Gandhi was nominated in 1948 but
was assassinated before nominations closed. That year, the committee chose not
to award the peace prize stating that "there was no suitable living
candidate" and later research shows that the possibility of awarding the
prize posthumously to Gandhi was discussed and that the reference to no
suitable living candidate was to Gandhi. When the 14th Dalai Lama was awarded the Prize
in 1989, the chairman of the committee said that this was "in part a
tribute to the memory of Mahatma Gandhi."
Monument to M.K. Gandhi inNew Belgrade, Serbia. On the monument is
written "Non-violence is the essence of all religions".
Time magazine named Gandhi the Man of
the Year in 1930. Gandhi was also the runner-up to Albert Einstein as "Person of the
Century" at the end of 1999. The Government of India awards
the annual Gandhi Peace Prize to
distinguished social workers, world leaders and citizens. Nelson Mandela, the leader of South
Africa's struggle to eradicate racial discrimination and segregation, is a
prominent non-Indian recipient. In 2011, Time magazine named Gandhi
as one of the top 25 political icons of all time.
Gandhi did not receive the Nobel Peace Prize, although he was
nominated five times between 1937 and 1948, including the first-ever nomination
by theAmerican
Friends Service Committee, though he made the short list only
twice, in 1937 and 1947. Decades later, the Nobel Committee publicly
declared its regret for the omission, and admitted to deeply divided
nationalistic opinion denying the award. Gandhi was nominated in 1948 but
was assassinated before nominations closed. That year, the committee chose not
to award the peace prize stating that "there was no suitable living
candidate" and later research shows that the possibility of awarding the
prize posthumously to Gandhi was discussed and that the reference to no
suitable living candidate was to Gandhi. When the 14th Dalai Lama was awarded the Prize
in 1989, the chairman of the committee said that this was "in part a
tribute to the memory of Mahatma Gandhi."
Film and literature
Mahatma Gandhi has been portrayed
in film, literature, and in the theatre. Ben Kingsley portrayed Gandhi in the
1982 film Gandhi, which
won the Academy Award for
Best Picture. Gandhi is a central figure in the 2006 Bollywood comedy Lage Raho Munna
Bhai. The 1996 film, The Making of
the Mahatma, documents Gandhi's time in South Africa and his
transformation from an inexperienced barrister to recognised political leader. Anti-Gandhi
themes have also been showcased through films and plays. The 1995 Marathi play Gandhi
Virudh Gandhi explored the relationship between Gandhi and his son
Harilal. The 2007 film, Gandhi, My Father was inspired on the
same theme. The 1989 Marathi play Me Nathuram
Godse Boltoy and the 1997 Hindi play Gandhi Ambedkarcriticized
Gandhi and his principals.
Several biographers have
undertaken the task of describing Gandhi's life. Among them are: D. G.
Tendulkar with his Mahatma. Life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in
eight volumes, andPyarelal and Sushila Nayyar with their Mahatma
Gandhi in 10 volumes. There is also another documentary, titled Mahatma:
Life of Gandhi, 1869–1948, which is 14 chapters and 6 hours long.
The April 2010 biography, Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle With India by Joseph Lelyveld contained
controversial material speculating about Gandhi's sexual life. Lelyveld,
however, stated that the press coverage "grossly distort[s]" the
overall message of the book.
Current impact within India
The Gandhi
Mandapam, a temple in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu in India. This
temple was erected to honour M.K.Gandhi.
India, with its rapid economic
modernization and urbanization, has rejected Gandhi's economics but
accepted much of his politics and continues to revere his memory. Reporter Jim
Yardley notes that, "modern India is hardly a Gandhian nation, if it ever
was one. His vision of a village-dominated economy was shunted aside during his
lifetime as rural romanticism, and his call for a national ethos of personal
austerity and nonviolence has proved antithetical to the goals of an aspiring
economic and military power." By contrast Gandhi is "given full
credit for India’s political identity as a tolerant, secular democracy."
Gandhi's birthday, 2 October, is
a national
holiday in India, Gandhi Jayanti. Gandhi's image also appears
on paper
currency of all denominations issued byReserve Bank of
India, except for the one rupee note. Gandhi's date of death,
30 January, is commemorated as a Martyrs' Day in
India.
There are two temples in India dedicated to
Gandhi. One is located at Sambalpur in Orissa and the other at
Nidaghatta village near Kadur inChikmagalur district of Karnataka. The Gandhi Memorial in Kanyakumari resembles central Indian
Hindu temples and the Tamukkam or Summer Palace in Madurai now houses the Mahatma Gandhi
Museum.
Mahatma Gandhi has been portrayed
in film, literature, and in the theatre. Ben Kingsley portrayed Gandhi in the
1982 film Gandhi, which
won the Academy Award for
Best Picture. Gandhi is a central figure in the 2006 Bollywood comedy Lage Raho Munna
Bhai. The 1996 film, The Making of
the Mahatma, documents Gandhi's time in South Africa and his
transformation from an inexperienced barrister to recognised political leader. Anti-Gandhi
themes have also been showcased through films and plays. The 1995 Marathi play Gandhi
Virudh Gandhi explored the relationship between Gandhi and his son
Harilal. The 2007 film, Gandhi, My Father was inspired on the
same theme. The 1989 Marathi play Me Nathuram
Godse Boltoy and the 1997 Hindi play Gandhi Ambedkarcriticized
Gandhi and his principals.
Several biographers have
undertaken the task of describing Gandhi's life. Among them are: D. G.
Tendulkar with his Mahatma. Life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in
eight volumes, andPyarelal and Sushila Nayyar with their Mahatma
Gandhi in 10 volumes. There is also another documentary, titled Mahatma:
Life of Gandhi, 1869–1948, which is 14 chapters and 6 hours long.
The April 2010 biography, Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle With India by Joseph Lelyveld contained
controversial material speculating about Gandhi's sexual life. Lelyveld,
however, stated that the press coverage "grossly distort[s]" the
overall message of the book.
Current impact within India
The Gandhi
Mandapam, a temple in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu in India. This
temple was erected to honour M.K.Gandhi.
India, with its rapid economic
modernization and urbanization, has rejected Gandhi's economics but
accepted much of his politics and continues to revere his memory. Reporter Jim
Yardley notes that, "modern India is hardly a Gandhian nation, if it ever
was one. His vision of a village-dominated economy was shunted aside during his
lifetime as rural romanticism, and his call for a national ethos of personal
austerity and nonviolence has proved antithetical to the goals of an aspiring
economic and military power." By contrast Gandhi is "given full
credit for India’s political identity as a tolerant, secular democracy."
Gandhi's birthday, 2 October, is
a national
holiday in India, Gandhi Jayanti. Gandhi's image also appears
on paper
currency of all denominations issued byReserve Bank of
India, except for the one rupee note. Gandhi's date of death,
30 January, is commemorated as a Martyrs' Day in
India.
There are two temples in India dedicated to
Gandhi. One is located at Sambalpur in Orissa and the other at
Nidaghatta village near Kadur inChikmagalur district of Karnataka. The Gandhi Memorial in Kanyakumari resembles central Indian
Hindu temples and the Tamukkam or Summer Palace in Madurai now houses the Mahatma Gandhi
Museum.
No comments:
Post a Comment