Paquito cuevas biography of mahatma

He believed vegetarianism to be a moral movement and that Allinson should therefore no longer remain a member of the LVS. Gandhi shared Hills' views on the dangers of birth control, but defended Allinson's right to differ. Hills was also a highly accomplished sportsman who later founded the football club West Ham United. In his An Autobiography, Vol.

IGandhi wrote:. The question deeply interested me I had a high regard for Mr. Hills and his generosity. But I thought it was quite improper to exclude a man from a vegetarian society simply because he refused to regard puritan morals as one of the objects of the society [ 50 ]. A motion to remove Allinson was raised, and was debated and voted on by the committee.

Gandhi's shyness was an obstacle to his defence of Allinson at the committee meeting. Gandhi wrote his views down on paper, but shyness prevented Gandhi from reading out his arguments, so Hills, the President, asked another committee member to read them out for him. Although some other members of the committee agreed with Gandhi, the vote was lost and Allinson was excluded.

There were no hard feelings, with Hills proposing the toast at the LVS farewell dinner in honour of Gandhi's return to India. Gandhi, at age 22, was called to the bar in June 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 Gandhi. He returned to Rajkot to make a modest living drafting petitions for litigants, but Gandhi was forced to stop after running afoul of British officer Sam Sunny.

Abdullah owned a large successful shipping business in South Africa. His distant cousin in Johannesburg needed a lawyer, and they preferred someone with Kathiawari heritage. Gandhi inquired about his pay for the work. He accepted it, knowing that it would be at least a one-year commitment in the Colony of NatalSouth Africa, also a part of the British Empire.

Immediately upon arriving in South Africa, Gandhi faced discrimination due to his skin colour and heritage. Gandhi was kicked by a police officer out of the footpath onto the street without warning. Gandhi found it humiliating, struggling to understand how some people can feel honour or superiority or pleasure in such inhumane practices. The Abdullah case that had brought him to South Africa concluded in Mayand the Indian community organised a farewell party for Gandhi as he prepared to return to India.

This led to Gandhi extending his original period of stay in South Africa. Gandhi planned to assist Indians in opposing a bill to deny them the right to votea right then proposed to be an exclusive European right. He asked Joseph Chamberlainthe British Colonial Secretary, to reconsider his position on this bill. He helped found the Natal Indian Congress in[ 49 ] [ 59 ] and through this organisation, Gandhi moulded the Indian community of South Africa into a unified political force.

In Januarywhen Gandhi landed in Durban, a mob of white settlers attacked him, [ 63 ] and Gandhi escaped only through the efforts of the wife of the police superintendent. According to Arthur Herman, Gandhi wanted to disprove the British colonial stereotype that Hindus were not fit for "manly" activities involving danger and exertion, unlike the Muslim " martial races.

They were trained and medically certified to serve on the front lines. They were auxiliaries at the Battle of Colenso to a White volunteer ambulance corps. At the Battle of Spion KopGandhi and his bearers moved to the front line and had to carry wounded soldiers for miles to a field hospital since the terrain was too rough for the ambulances.

Inthe Transvaal government promulgated a new Act compelling registration of the colony's Indian and Chinese populations. At a mass protest meeting held in Johannesburg on 11 September that year, Gandhi adopted his still evolving methodology of Satyagraha devotion to the truthor nonviolent protest, for the first time. His ideas of protests, persuasion skills, and public relations had emerged.

Gandhi took these back to India in Gandhi focused his attention on Indians and Africans while he was in South Africa. Initially, Gandhi was not interested in politics, but this changed after he was discriminated against and bullied, such as by being thrown out of a train coach due to his skin colour by a white train official. After several such incidents with Whites in South AfricaGandhi's thinking and focus changed, and he felt he must resist this and fight for rights.

Gandhi entered politics by forming the Natal Indian Congress. He suffered persecution from the beginning in South Africa. Like with other coloured people, white officials denied Gandhi his rights, and the press and those in the streets bullied and called Gandhi a "parasite", "semi-barbarous", "canker", "squalid coolie", "yellow man", and other epithets.

People would even spit on him as an expression of racial hate. While in South Africa, Gandhi focused on the racial persecution of Indians before he started to focus on racism against Africans. In some cases, state Desai and Vahed, Gandhi's behaviour was one of being a willing part of racial stereotyping and African exploitation. Gandhi cited race history and European Orientalists' opinions that "Anglo-Saxons and Indians are sprung from the same Aryan stock or rather the Indo-European peoples" and argued that Indians should not be grouped with the Africans.

Years later, Gandhi and his colleagues served and helped Africans as nurses and by opposing racism. InGandhi started the Indian Opiniona journal that carried news of Indians in South Africa, Indians in India with articles on all subjects -social, moral and intellectual. Each issue was multi-lingual and carried material in English, Gujarati, Hindi and Tamil.

It carried ads, depended heavily on Gandhi's contributions often printed without a byline and was an 'advocate' for the Indian cause. Inwhen the Bambatha Rebellion broke out in the colony of Natalthe then year-old Gandhi, despite sympathising with the Zulu rebels, encouraged Indian South Africans to form a volunteer stretcher-bearer unit.

The medical unit commanded by Gandhi operated for less than two months before being disbanded. This led Gandhi to becoming disillusioned with the Empire and aroused a spiritual awakening within him; historian Arthur L. Herman wrote that Gandhi's African experience was a part of his great disillusionment with the West, transforming Gandhi into an "uncompromising non-cooperator".

ByGandhi's newspaper, Indian Opinionwas covering reports on discrimination against Africans by the colonial regime. Gandhi remarked that the Africans "alone are the original inhabitants of the land. InGandhi established, with the help of his friend Hermann Kallenbachan idealistic community they named Tolstoy Farm near Johannesburg.

In the years after black South Africans gained the right to vote in South AfricaGandhi was proclaimed a national hero with numerous monuments. AndrewsGandhi returned to India in He brought an international reputation as a leading Indian nationalist, theorist and community organiser. Gandhi joined the Indian National Congress and was introduced to Indian issues, politics and the Indian people primarily by 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 Indian. Gandhi took leadership of the Congress in and began escalating demands until on 26 January the Indian National Congress declared the independence of India.

The British did not recognise the declaration, but negotiations ensued, with the Congress taking a role in provincial government in the late s. Gandhi and the Congress withdrew their support of the Raj when the Viceroy declared war on Germany in September paquito cuevas biography of mahatma consultation. Tensions escalated until Gandhi demanded immediate independence inand the British responded by imprisoning him and paquito cuevas biographies of mahatma of thousands of Congress leaders.

Meanwhile, the Muslim League did co-operate with Britain and moved, against Gandhi's strong opposition, to demands for a totally separate Muslim state of Pakistan. In Augustthe British partitioned the land with India and Pakistan each achieving independence on terms that Gandhi disapproved. In a June 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.

Gandhi's support for the war campaign brought into question his consistency on nonviolence. Gandhi's private secretary noted that "The question of the consistency between his creed of ' Ahimsa ' nonviolence and his recruiting campaign was raised not only then but has been discussed ever since. Therefore, Gandhi felt that Indians needed to be willing and capable of using arms before they voluntarily chose non-violence.

In JulyGandhi said that he could not persuade even one individual to enlist for the world war. He added: "They object because they fear to die. Gandhi's first major achievement came in with the Champaran agitation in Bihar. The Champaran agitation pitted the local peasantry against largely Anglo-Indian plantation owners who were backed by the local administration.

The peasants were forced to grow indigo Indigofera sp. Unhappy with this, the peasantry appealed to Gandhi at his ashram in Ahmedabad. Pursuing a strategy of nonviolent protest, Gandhi took the administration by surprise and won concessions from the authorities. InKheda was hit by floods and famine and the peasantry was demanding relief from taxes.

Gandhi moved his headquarters to Nadiad[ 94 ] organising scores of supporters and fresh volunteers from the region, the most notable being Vallabhbhai Patel. A social boycott of mamlatdars and talatdars 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 by the end of Maythe 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.

Infollowing World War I, Gandhi aged 49 sought political co-operation from Muslims in his fight against British imperialism by supporting the Ottoman Empire that had been defeated in the World War. Before this initiative of Gandhi, communal disputes and religious riots between Hindus and Muslims were common in British India, such as the riots of — Gandhi had already vocally supported the British crown in the first world war.

The British colonial officials made their counter move by passing the Rowlatt Actto block Gandhi's movement. The Act allowed the British government to treat civil disobedience participants as criminals and gave it the legal basis to arrest anyone for "preventive indefinite detention, incarceration without judicial review or any need for a trial.

Gandhi felt that Hindu-Muslim co-operation was necessary for political progress against the British. He leveraged the Khilafat movementwherein Sunni Muslims in India, their leaders such as the sultans of princely states in India and Ali brothers championed the Turkish Caliph as a solidarity symbol of Sunni Islamic community ummah. It initially led to a strong Muslim support for Gandhi.

However, the Hindu leaders including Rabindranath Tagore questioned Gandhi's leadership because they were largely against recognising or supporting the Sunni Islamic Caliph in Turkey. The increasing Muslim support for Gandhi, after he championed the Caliph's cause, temporarily stopped the Hindu-Muslim communal violence. It offered evidence of inter-communal harmony in joint Rowlatt satyagraha demonstration rallies, raising Gandhi's stature as the political leader to the British.

Jinnah began creating his independent support, and later went on to lead the demand for West and East Pakistan. Though they agreed in general terms on Indian independence, they disagreed on the means of achieving this. Jinnah was mainly interested in dealing with the British via constitutional negotiation, rather than attempting to agitate the masses.

Paquito cuevas biography of mahatma

Inthe Khilafat movement gradually collapsed following the end of the non-cooperation movement with the arrest of Gandhi. With his book Hind Swaraj Gandhi, aged 40, declared that British rule was established in India with the co-operation of Indians and had survived only because of this co-operation. If Indians refused to co-operate, British rule would collapse and swaraj Indian independence would come.

In FebruaryGandhi cautioned the Viceroy of India with a cable communication that if the British were to pass the Rowlatt Acthe would appeal to Indians to start civil disobedience. The satyagraha civil disobedience followed, with people assembling to protest the Rowlatt Act. On 30 MarchBritish law officers opened fire on an assembly of unarmed people, peacefully gathered, participating in satyagraha in Delhi.

People rioted in retaliation. On 6 Aprila Hindu festival day, Gandhi asked a crowd to remember not to injure or kill British people, but to express their frustration with peace, to boycott British goods and burn any British clothing they owned. He emphasised the use of non-violence to the British and towards each other, even if the other side used violence.

Communities across India announced plans to gather in greater numbers to protest. Government warned him not to enter Delhi, but Gandhi defied the order and was arrested on 9 April. On 13 Aprilpeople including women with children gathered in an Amritsar park, and British Indian Army officer Reginald Dyer surrounded them and ordered troops under his command to fire on them.

The resulting Jallianwala Bagh massacre or Amritsar massacre of hundreds of Sikh and Hindu civilians enraged the subcontinent but was supported by some Britons and parts of the British media as a necessary response. Gandhi in Ahmedabad, on the day after the massacre in Amritsar, did not criticise the British and instead criticised his fellow countrymen for not exclusively using 'love' to deal with the 'hate' of the British government.

The massacre and Gandhi's non-violent response to it moved many, but also made some Sikhs and Hindus upset that Dyer was getting away with murder. Investigation committees were formed by the British, which Gandhi asked Indians to boycott. With Congress now behind Gandhi, and Muslim support triggered by his backing the Khilafat movement to restore the Caliph in Turkey, [ ] Gandhi had the political support and the attention of the British Raj.

Gandhi expanded his nonviolent non-co-operation platform to include the swadeshi policy — the boycott of foreign-made goods, especially British goods. Linked to this was his advocacy that khadi 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 thus began his journey aimed at crippling the British India government economically, politically and administratively. The appeal of "Non-cooperation" grew, its social popularity drew participation from all strata of Indian society. Gandhi was arrested on 10 Marchtried for sedition, and sentenced to six years' imprisonment. He began his sentence on 18 March With Gandhi isolated in prison, the Indian National Congress split into two factions, one led by Chitta Ranjan Das and Motilal Nehru favouring party participation in the legislatures, and the other led by Chakravarti Rajagopalachari and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patelopposing this move.

Muslim leaders left the Congress and began forming Muslim organisations. The political base behind Gandhi had broken into factions. He was released in February for an appendicitis operation, having served only two years. After his early release from prison for political crimes inGandhi continued to pursue swaraj over the second half of the s. He pushed through a resolution at the Calcutta Congress in December 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.

The British did not respond favourably to Gandhi's proposal. British political leaders such as Lord Birkenhead and Winston Churchill announced opposition to "the appeasers of Gandhi" in their discussions with European diplomats who sympathised with Indian demands. This day was commemorated by almost every other Indian organisation. Gandhi then launched a new Satyagraha against the British salt tax in March He sent an ultimatum in the form of a letter personally addressed to Lord Irwin, the viceroy of India, on 2 March.

Gandhi condemned British rule in the letter, describing it as "a curse" that "has impoverished the dumb millions by a system of progressive exploitation and by a ruinously expensive military and civil administration It has reduced us politically to serfdom. This was highlighted by the Salt March to Dandi from 12 March to 6 April, where, together with 78 volunteers, Gandhi marched kilometres mi from Ahmedabad to Dandi, Gujarat to make salt himself, with the declared intention of breaking the salt laws.

The march took 25 days to cover miles with Gandhi speaking to often huge crowds along the way. Thousands of Indians joined him in Dandi. According to Sarma, Gandhi recruited women to participate in the salt tax campaigns and the boycott of foreign products, which gave many women a new self-confidence and dignity in the mainstream of Indian public life.

On 5 May, Gandhi was interned under a regulation dating from in anticipation of a protest that he had planned. The protest at Dharasana salt works on 21 May went ahead without Gandhi. A horrified American journalist, Webb Millerdescribed the British response thus:. In complete silence the Gandhi men drew up and halted a hundred yards from the stockade.

A picked column advanced from the crowd, waded the ditches and approached the barbed wire stockade Not one of the marchers even raised an arm to fend off blows. They went down like ninepins. From where I stood I heard the sickening whack of the clubs on unprotected skulls Those struck down fell sprawling, unconscious or writhing with fractured skulls or broken shoulders.

This went on for hours until some or more protesters had been beaten, many seriously injured and two killed. At no time did they offer any resistance. After Gandhi's arrest, the women marched and picketed shops on their own, accepting violence and verbal abuse from British authorities for the cause in the manner Gandhi inspired. This campaign was one of Gandhi's most successful at upsetting British hold on India; Britain responded by imprisoning over 60, people.

Among them was one of Gandhi's lieutenants, Jawaharlal Nehru. Indian Congress in the s appealed to Andhra Pradesh peasants by creating Telugu language plays that combined Indian mythology and legends, linked them to Gandhi's ideas, and portrayed Gandhi as a messiaha reincarnation of ancient and medieval Indian nationalist leaders and saints.

The plays built support among peasants steeped in traditional Hindu culture, according to Murali, and this effort made Gandhi a folk hero in Telugu speaking villages, a sacred messiah-like figure. According to Dennis Dalton, it was Gandhi's ideas that were responsible for his wide following. Gandhi criticised Western civilisation as one driven by "brute force and immorality", contrasting it with his categorisation of Indian civilisation as one driven by "soul force and morality.

After he returned to India, people flocked to Gandhi because he reflected their values. Gandhi also campaigned hard going from one rural corner of the Indian subcontinent to another. He used terminology and phrases such as Rama -rajya from RamayanaPrahlada as a paradigmatic icon, and such cultural symbols as another facet of swaraj and satyagraha.

The government, represented by Lord Irwindecided to negotiate with Gandhi. The Gandhi—Irwin Pact was signed in March The British Government agreed to free all political prisonersin return for the suspension of the civil disobedience movement. According to the pact, Gandhi was invited to attend the Round Table Conference in London for discussions and as the sole representative of the Indian National Congress.

The conference was a disappointment to Gandhi and the nationalists. Gandhi expected to discuss India's independence, while the British side focused on the Indian princes and Indian minorities rather than on a transfer of power. Lord Irwin's successor, Lord Willingdontook a hard line against India as an independent nation, 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. In Britain, Winston Churchilla prominent Conservative politician who was then out of office but later became its prime minister, became a vigorous and articulate critic of Gandhi and opponent of his long-term plans.

Churchill often ridiculed Gandhi, saying in a widely reported speech:. It is alarming and also nauseating to see Mr Gandhi, a seditious Middle Temple lawyer, now posing as a fakir of a type well known in the East, striding half-naked up the steps of the Vice-regal palace Churchill's bitterness against Gandhi grew in the s. He called Gandhi as the one who was "seditious in aim" whose evil genius and multiform menace was attacking the British empire.

Churchill called him a dictator, a "Hindu Mussolini ", fomenting a race war, trying to replace the Raj with Brahmin cronies, playing on the ignorance of Indian masses, all for selfish gain. It gained Churchill sympathetic support, but it also increased support for Gandhi among Europeans. The developments heightened Churchill's anxiety that the "British themselves would give up out of pacifism and misplaced conscience.

During the discussions between Gandhi and the British government over —32 at the Round Table ConferencesGandhi, now aged about 62, sought constitutional reforms as a preparation to the end of colonial British rule, and begin the self-rule by Indians. The British negotiators proposed constitutional reforms on a British Dominion model that established separate electorates based on religious and social divisions.

The British questioned the Congress party and Gandhi's authority to speak for all of India. Ambedkar as the representative leader of the untouchables. The Second Round Table conference was the only time Gandhi left India between and his death in Gandhi declined the government's offer of accommodation in an expensive West End hotel, preferring to stay in the East Endto live among working-class people, as he did in India.

After Gandhi returned from the Second Round Table conference, he started a new satyagraha. Gandhi was arrested and imprisoned at the Yerwada JailPune. While he was in prison, the British government enacted a new law that granted untouchables a separate electorate. It came to be known as the Communal Award. InGandhi resigned from Congress party membership.

He did not disagree with the party's position, but felt that if he resigned, Gandhi's 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. InGandhi returned to active politics again 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 inand who had previously expressed a lack of faith in nonviolence as a means of protest. Gandhi declared that Sitaramayya's defeat was his defeat. Gandhi opposed providing any help to the British war effort and he campaigned against any Indian participation in World War II.

Gandhi's opposition to the Indian participation in World War II was motivated by his belief 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 in Mumbai.

InGandhi now nearing age 73, urged his people to completely stop co-operating with the imperial government. In this effort, Gandhi urged that they neither kill nor injure British people but be willing to suffer and die if violence is initiated by the British officials. Gandhi's arrest lasted two years, as he was held in the Aga Khan Palace in Pune.

During this period, Gandhi's longtime secretary Mahadev Desai died of a heart attack, his wife Kasturba died after 18 months' imprisonment on 22 Februaryand Gandhi suffered a severe malaria attack. Gelder then composed and released an interview summary, cabled it to the mainstream press, that announced sudden concessions Gandhi was willing to make, comments that shocked his countrymen, the Congress workers and even Gandhi.

The latter two claimed that it distorted what Gandhi actually said on a range of topics and falsely repudiated the Quit India movement. Gandhi was released before the end of the war on 6 May because of his failing health and necessary surgery; the Raj did not want him to die in prison and enrage the nation. Gandhi 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 and Jinnah had extensive correspondence and the two men met several times over a period of two weeks in September at Jinnah's house in Bombay, where Gandhi insisted on a united religiously plural and independent India which included Muslims and non-Muslims of the Indian subcontinent coexisting. Jinnah rejected this proposal and insisted instead for partitioning the subcontinent on religious lines to create a separate Muslim homeland later Pakistan.

While the leaders of Congress languished in jail, the other parties supported the war and gained organisational strength. Underground publications flailed at the ruthless suppression of Congress, but it had little control over events. At this point, Gandhi called off the struggle, and aroundpolitical prisoners were released, including the Congress's leadership.

Gandhi opposed the partition of the Indian subcontinent along religious lines. Jinnah rejected Gandhi's proposal and called for Direct Action Dayon 16 Augustto press Muslims to publicly gather in cities and support his proposal for the partition of the Indian subcontinent into a Muslim state and non-Muslim state. Thousands of Hindus and Muslims were murdered, and tens of thousands were injured in the cycle of violence in the days that followed.

Archibald Wavellthe Viceroy and Governor-General of British India for three years through Februaryhad worked with Gandhi and Jinnah to find a common ground, before and after accepting Indian independence in principle. Wavell condemned Gandhi's character and motives as well as his ideas. Wavell accused Gandhi of harbouring the single-minded idea to "overthrow British rule and influence and to establish a Hindu raj", and called Gandhi a "malignant, malevolent, exceedingly shrewd" politician.

The British reluctantly agreed to grant independence to the people of the Indian subcontinent, but accepted Jinnah's proposal of partitioning the land into Pakistan and India. Gandhi was involved in the final negotiations, but Stanley Wolpert states the "plan to carve up British India was never approved of or accepted by Gandhi".

The partition was controversial and violently disputed. More than half a million were killed in religious riots as 10 million to 12 million non-Muslims Hindus and Sikhs mostly migrated from Pakistan into India, and Muslims migrated from India into Pakistan, across the newly created borders of India, West Pakistan and East Pakistan. Gandhi spent the day of independence not celebrating the end of the British rule, but appealing for peace among his countrymen by fasting and spinning in Calcutta on 15 August The partition had gripped the Indian subcontinent with religious violence and the streets were filled with corpses.

At p. There, he died about 30 minutes later as one of Gandhi's family members read verses from Hindu scriptures. 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. Godse, a Hindu nationalist, [ ] [ ] [ ] with links to the Hindu Mahasabha and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] made no attempt to escape; several other conspirators were soon arrested as well.

The trial began on 27 May and ran for eight months before Justice Atma Charan passed his final order on 10 February The prosecution called witnesses, the defence paquito cuevas biography of mahatma. Eight men were convicted for the murder conspiracy, and others were convicted for violation of the Explosive Substances Act. Savarkar was acquitted and set free.

Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte were sentenced to death by hanging [ ] while the remaining six including Godse's brother, Gopal were sentenced to life imprisonment. Gandhi's death was mourned nationwide. The engine of the vehicle was not used; instead, four drag-ropes held by 50 people each pulled the vehicle. Gandhi was cremated in accordance with Hindu tradition.

His ashes were poured into urns which were sent across India for memorial services. InTushar Gandhi immersed the contents of one urn, found in a bank vault and reclaimed through the courts, at the Sangam at Allahabad. On 30 Januarythe contents of another urn were immersed at Girgaum Chowpatty. Another urn is at the palace of the Aga Khan in Pune where Gandhi was held as a political prisoner from to [ ] [ ] and another in the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine in Los Angeles.

These are said to be Gandhi's last words after he was shot. Gandhi's spirituality was greatly based on his embracement of the five great vows of Jainism and Hindu Yoga philosophy, viz. Satya truthahimsa nonviolencebrahmacharya celibacyasteya non-stealingand aparigraha non-attachment. Some writers present Gandhi as a paragon of ethical living and pacifism, while others present him as a more complex, contradictory and evolving character influenced by his culture and circumstances.

Gandhi dedicated his life to discovering and pursuing truth, or Satyaand called his movement satyagrahawhich means "appeal to, insistence on, or reliance on the Truth. It was the satyagraha formulation and step, states Dennis Dalton, that deeply resonated with beliefs and culture of his people, embedded him into the popular consciousness, transforming him quickly into Mahatma.

Gandhi based Satyagraha on the Vedantic ideal of self-realisation, ahimsa nonviolencevegetarianism, and universal love. William Borman states that the key to his satyagraha is rooted in the Hindu Upanishadic texts. Bruce Watson states that some of these ideas are found not only in traditions within Hinduism, but also in Jainism or Buddhism, particularly those about non-violence, vegetarianism and universal love, but Gandhi's synthesis was to politicise these ideas.

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. The essence of Satyagraha is "soul force" as a political means, refusing to use brute force against the oppressor, seeking to eliminate antagonisms between the oppressor and the oppressed, aiming to transform or "purify" the oppressor.

It is not inaction but determined passive resistance and non-co-operation where, states Arthur Herman, "love conquers hate". 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.

Gandhi 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. This end usually implies a moral upliftment or progress of an individual or society. Therefore, non-co-operation in Satyagraha is in fact a means to secure the co-operation of the opponent consistently with truth and justice.

While Gandhi's idea of satyagraha as a political means attracted a widespread following among Indians, the support was not universal. For example, Muslim leaders such as Jinnah opposed the satyagraha idea, accused Gandhi to be reviving Hinduism through political activism, and began effort to counter Gandhi with Muslim nationalism and a demand for Muslim homeland.

Although Gandhi was not the originator of the principle of nonviolence, he was the first to apply it in the political field on a large scale. Although Gandhi considered non-violence to be "infinitely superior to violence", he preferred violence to cowardice. Gandhi was a prolific writer. His signature style was simple, precise, clear and as devoid of artificialities.

The book was translated into English the next year, with a copyright legend that read "No Rights Reserved". Later, Navajivan was also published in Hindi. Gandhi also wrote letters almost every day to paquito cuevas biographies of mahatma and newspapers. Gandhi 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 paquito cuevas biographies of mahatma of his books. Gandhi's complete works were published by the Indian government under the name The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi in the s. The writings comprise about 50, pages published in about volumes. Ina revised edition of the complete works sparked a controversy, as it contained a large number of errors and omissions.

Gandhi is noted as the greatest figure of the successful Indian independence movement against the British rule. He is also hailed as the greatest figure of modern India. The word Mahatmawhile often mistaken for Gandhi's given name in the West, is taken from the Sanskrit words maha meaning Great and atma meaning Soul. Innumerable streets, roads, and localities in India are named after Gandhi.

These include M. As ofover countries have released stamps on Gandhi. Florian asteroid Gandhi was named in his honour in September Gandhi influenced important leaders and political movements. In his early years, the former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela was a follower of the nonviolent resistance philosophy of Gandhi. This legacy connects him to Nelson Mandela Gandhi's life and teachings inspired many who specifically referred to Gandhi as their mentor or who dedicated their lives to spreading his ideas.

Inphysicist Albert Einstein exchanged letters with Gandhi and called him "a role model for the generations to come" in a letter writing about him. 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 civilised 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. Farah Omara political activist from Somalilandvisited India inwhere he met Gandhi and was influenced by Gandhi's non-violent philosophy, which he adopted in his campaign in British Somaliland.

Lanza del Vasto went to India in intending to live with Gandhi; he later returned to Europe to spread Gandhi's philosophy and founded the Community of the Ark in 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 nonviolence.

His reply was in response to the question: "Who was the one person, dead or live, that you would choose to dine with? 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. Gandhi's ideas had a significant influence on 20th-century philosophy. It began with his engagement with Romain Rolland and Martin Buber.

Jean-Luc Nancy said that the French philosopher Maurice Blanchot engaged critically with Gandhi from the point of view of "European spirituality. American political scientist Gene Sharp wrote an analytical text, Gandhi as a political strategiston the significance of Gandhi's ideas, for creating nonviolent social change. Recently, in the light of climate change, Gandhi's views on technology are gaining importance in the fields of environmental philosophy and philosophy of technology.

Time magazine named Gandhi the Man of the Year in Nelson Mandelathe leader of South Africa's struggle to eradicate racial discrimination and segregation, was a prominent non-Indian recipient. InGandhi was posthumously awarded with the World Peace Prize. Gandhi did not receive the Nobel Peace Prizealthough he was nominated five times between andincluding the first-ever nomination by the American Friends Service Committee[ ] though Gandhi made the short list only twice, in and 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.

Gandhi could do without the Nobel Peace prize, whether Nobel committee can do without Gandhi is the question. Indians widely describe Gandhi as the Father of the Nation. India, with its rapid economic modernisation and urbanisation, 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. Gandhi's birthday, 2 October, is a national holiday in IndiaGandhi Jayanti. His image also appears on paper currency of all denominations issued by Reserve Bank of Indiaexcept for the one rupee note.

There are three temples in India dedicated to Gandhi. Gandhi's children and grandchildren live in India and other countries. Grandson Rajmohan Gandhi is a professor in Illinois and an author of Gandhi's biography titled Mohandas[ ] while another, Tarun Gandhi, has authored several authoritative books on his grandfather. Another grandson, Kanu Ramdas Gandhi the son of Gandhi's third son Ramdaswas found living at an old age home in Delhi despite having taught earlier in the United States.

Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read View source View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Indian independence activist — For other uses, see Gandhi disambiguation. New DelhiDominion of India. British Raj until Dominion of India from Leadership of the campaign for India's independence from British rule Nonviolent resistance.

Kasturba Gandhi. Harilal Manilal Ramdas Devdas. Karamchand Gandhi Putlibai Gandhi. Mahatma Gandhi's voice. Early life and background. Vegetarianism and committee work. Civil rights activist in South Africa — Europeans, Indians and Africans. Struggle for Indian independence — See also: Indian independence movement. Main article: Champaran Satyagraha.

Main article: Kheda Satyagraha. Main article: Khilafat Movement. Main article: Non-co-operation movement. Main article: Salt Satyagraha. Main article: Quit India Movement. Partition and independence. See also: Indian independence movement and Partition of India. Main article: Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. Principles, practices, and beliefs. Main article: Practices and beliefs of Mahatma Gandhi.

See also: Gandhism. Followers and international influence. Global days that celebrate Gandhi. Film, theatre, and literature. Current impact within India. Not to be confused with the Indian political family Nehru—Gandhi family. Retrieved 24 January P Mahatma Gandhi A Chronology. Publications Division. ISBN The Floating Press. Archived from the original on 29 March Retrieved 29 March Archived from the original on 21 July Retrieved 21 July Identity and Religion: Foundations of anti-Islamism in India.

Sage Publications. Mohandas Gandhi. Infobase Publishing. The name Gandhi means "grocer", although Mohandas's father and grandfather were politicians not grocers. The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 7 October Retrieved 15 July The Ways and Power of Love: types, factors, and techniques of moral transformation. Templeton Foundation Press.

Gandhi: The Traditional Roots of Charisma. University of Chicago Press. Retrieved 19 March Responses to Questions on Hinduism. Paulist Press. Retrieved 16 August Gandhi: A Spiritual Biography. Yale University Press. John Zavos; et al. Public Hinduisms. Orissa Review January : 45— Archived from the original PDF on 1 January Retrieved 23 February The Story of My Experiments with Truth.

Archived from the original on 7 March Retrieved 20 February Gandhi, his life and message for the world. New American Library. Retrieved 4 June Gandhi Before India. Alfred A. Archived from the original on 2 July Nanda Archived from the original on 13 May Retrieved 3 June India Currents. Archived from the original on 16 January Retrieved 16 January Gandhi as Disciple and Mentor.

Cambridge University Press. Archived from the original on 15 May Mahatma: Tendulkar, Mahatma; life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Archived from the original on 8 June Retrieved 11 August Gandhi — ". Archived from the original on 5 December Retrieved 26 September In Roxanne Reid ed. New History of South Africa 1st ed. The Journal of Modern African Studies.

ISSN X. JSTOR S2CID Mawenzi House Publishers Limited. Archived from the original on 17 March Retrieved 17 March Archived from the original on 9 September Retrieved 17 September Gandhi: a very short introduction. Oxford University Press. Other Places Publishing. Press Information Bureau of India — Archive. Archived PDF from the original on 28 September Retrieved 18 July Concept Publishing Company.

The Literature Network. Archived from the original on 10 November Retrieved 12 February Mathai; M. John; Siby K. Joseph eds. Meditations on Gandhi : a Ravindra Varma festschrift. New Delhi: Concept. Retrieved 8 September Univ of California Press. Retrieved 15 November Encyclopedia of Hinduism. New York: Facts On File. Retrieved 5 July Stanford University Press.

University of California Press. The Wire. Archived from the original on 25 December Retrieved 11 January Minorities and the State in Africa. Cambria Press. Archived from the original on 7 September Retrieved 7 September Retrieved 25 December The Times of India. ISSN Archived from the original on 15 April Philosophy Now. Archived from the original on 24 March South African Historical Journal.

Archived from the original on 2 May Retrieved 20 January Political Science Quarterly. Based on public domain volumes. Day-to-day with Gandhi: secretary's diary. Translated by Hemantkumar Nilkanth. Sarva Seva Sangh Prakashan. Archived 15 October at the Wayback Machine Chapter " Appeal for enlistment", Nadiad, 22 June Archived 15 October at the Wayback Machine "Chapter 8.

Letter to J. Maffey", Nadiad, 30 April Satyagraha Foundation. Archived from the original on 5 February Retrieved 5 February Jarboe University of Nebraska. Archived from the original on 21 October Retrieved 16 October Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. Indian National Congress website. All India Congress Committee. Archived from the original on 6 December Retrieved 25 February Gandhi's Rise to Power: Indian Politics — Bloomsbury Academic.

Archived from the original on 3 February Retrieved 3 February The First World War. Paine Jinnah vs. Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel organized communities in the district and protested for some economic reliefs to be given to the peasants in the region. He encouraged the peasants not to pay any taxes to the authorities even though they risked having their lands seized.

After about six months, the authorities gave in to the demands of Gandhi and the protesters. He was remarkably successful at getting the entire country to support Kheda during the agitations. As part of the concessions, Britain agreed to release all the prisoners that were arrested during the protests. Also, the lands that were seized from the farmers were returned to them.

He devoted his life to the pursuit of a united front in India in order to fight against British imperialism. In exchange, Britain would grant India self-rule and government swaraj after the war was over. Britain failed to relinquish its hold on British India. Instead, Britain offered only a minuscule set of reforms to Indians. It was this betrayal that prompted Gandhi to begin his civil disobedience and protest satyagraha.

Britain responded with the Rowlatt Act, which barred Indians from engaging in any form of civil disobedience. Culprits were arrested and sentenced to prison often with no trial. In view of those developments, he reached out to the Muslims and tried to corporate with them in the fight against Britain. He worked extensively with the Sunni Muslims and the Khilafat movement, an organization that was in bed with the Ottomans.

This move of Gandhi drew sharp criticism from influential Hindus in the society. They were against all sorts of cooperation with the Sunni Muslims. Regardless, his cooperation with the Muslims catapulted him into the most prominent Indian civil rights activist at the time. His efforts also helped reduce tensions between Hindus and Muslims.

He reasoned that should that cooperatin come to an end, British rule in India would end. So he sought to halt all forms of cooperation with Britain. This stance of his came after Britain failed to heed his protest against the passage of the Rowlatt Act, a very discriminatory law that economically and politically disenfranchised Indians. Upon the passage, he galvanized his nation and rallied scores of people to engage in what is termed as satyagraha, peaceful protest.

Additionally, he entreated his fellow Indians to boycott English goods and services. In Aprilhe was arrested for defying an order to enter Delhi. Shortly after his arrest, there were massive protests and riots all across the country. Those protests culminated in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of April 13, On that day, scores of Indians were shot down by British officers under the command of Reginald Dyer.

Gandhi was disheartened by the horrific events that took place Jallianwala. He criticized his fellow Indians for resorting to violent protests against Britain. He vehemently rejected such moves and called for only peaceful forms of protests. To put an end to the violence, he engaged in a series of fasting rituals, which almost killed him.

Shortly after that, the riots in the country abated and a modicum of law and order was restored. Buoyed on by this, he was elected leader of the Indian National Congress. Campaigning on themes such as Swaraj i. He sought to make India unattractive for Britain by going after the revenue streams. He also became associated with khadi homespun clothrefusing to wear any British-made clothes.

He even took to spinning khadi himself. Additionally, he asked his fellow Indians not to stay away from British institutions, businesses and courts. All his nonviolent protests aimed to hurt Britain politically and economically. For this, he was arrested in March He was charged with sedition and slapped with a six-year prison sentence.

His release came after about two years on health grounds. He briefly suffered from appendicitis. For close to half a century, Britain had imposed draconian tax laws on British India in terms of the production and distribution of salt. Those oppressive tax laws came under immense opposition from Indians in In April that year, Mahatma Gandhi organized a protest march that saw him march a distance of about kilometers miles from Ahmedabad to Dandi.

He was able to rally several thousands of people to his cause in the struggle against the salt tax. The march, which took place between March 12 and April 6, later became known as the Dandi Salt March. And even though he and the protesters were beaten, none of them raised a hand to fend of the attacks by the police. They remained defiant, writhing in complete pain and agony.

Some of them had their skulls fractured, others were beaten unconscious. At the end of the day, a couple of protestors succumbed to their injuries and died. His struggles for political and economic independence for India brought him into confrontation with political leaders in London such as Sir Winston Churchill and Lord Birkenhead.

Lord Irwin and Churchill in particular were against India gaining independence. He encouraged women to join in the protests. By so doing, Gandhi was able to give women some say in the political arena. It also boosted the confidence and dignity of women. During the Salt Tax March, Gandhi marched hand in hand with several women. Many of those women suffered similar fates as the ones suffered by their male counterparts, receiving physical abuse from the authorities.

In his Quit India speech in Mumbai inGandhi called on all Indians to united towards a common purpose — the independence of India. Following that speech, he was arrested, along with all the the members of the Congress Working Committee. An additionalor so Indians were put behind bars without any trial. Angered by those arrests, numerous violent protests erupted across the country.

Many lives were lost as well. Gandhi did come out to reject those protests, stating that they went against everything that he stood for. All political prisoners were released. Owing to a disagreement with the leader of the All-India Muslim League Muhammad Ali Jinnahseveral Muslims and Hindus died in the months prior to partition and independence.

There were many protests across India. In Muslim dominated areas, Hindus were attacked, beaten and killed by Muslims. Likewise in Hindu-dominated areas, Muslims were assaulted and killed. Gandhi worked very hard to bring the tensions down. The Indian Independence Bill, which came into effect on the stroke of midnight on August 15,gave Indians their independence, ending about two centuries of British rule.

British India was hastily partitioned into two — Hindu-dominated India and Muslim-dominated Pakistan. The partition, which was done on the basis of religion, caused a lot of displacement and religious violence, especially in Punjab and Bengal. Mahatma Gandhi appealed to his countrymen to end the senseless bloodshed and religious violence, which ultimately claimed at leastlives.

In an effort to rein in the violence, he used fasting to appeal to his country. Gandhi opposed British rule using nonviolent protests. Outside India, his life-time commitment to lifting people out of poverty and non-violent approach to civil rights activism earned him enormous praises. Many have claimed that the Dandi Salt March of had huge influences on the likes of Rev.