He devoted his life to peace and brotherhood in order to achieve social and political progress. He fasted in 1932 to protest the voting scheme for separate political representation for Dalits; Gandhi did not want them segregated. Tolstoy responded and the two continued a correspondence until Tolstoy's death in 1910 (Tolstoy's last letter was to Gandhi). According to Arthur Herman, Ambedkar's hatred for Gandhi and Gandhi's ideas was so strong that, when he heard of Gandhi's assassination, he remarked after a momentary silence a sense of regret and then added, "My real enemy is gone; thank goodness the eclipse is over now". 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.[132]. [334] This Hindu scripture discusses jnana yoga, bhakti yoga and karma yoga along with virtues such as non-violence, patience, integrity, lack of hypocrisy, self restraint and abstinence. [85], In 1906, when the British declared war against the Zulu Kingdom in Natal, Gandhi at age 36, sympathised with the Zulus and encouraged the Indian volunteers to help as an ambulance unit. [271][272][273], Gandhi was criticised for refusing to protest the hanging of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Udham Singh and Rajguru. He was "profoundly skeptical of traditional Ayurveda", encouraging it to study the scientific method and adopt its progressive learning approach. Jean-Luc Nancy said that the French philosopher Maurice Blanchot engaged critically with Gandhi from the point of view of "European spirituality". Upon arrival, he stayed with the local Modh Bania community whose elders warned him that England would tempt him to compromise his religion, and eat and drink in Western ways. He emphasised the use of non-violence to the British and towards each other, even if the other side used violence. He consulted the Jain scholar Rajchandra, whom he fondly called Raychandbhai. [66] Gandhi began to question his people's standing in the British Empire. [228] Gandhi exchanged letters with Rajchandra when he was in South Africa, referring to him as Kavi (literally, "poet"). He helped found the Natal Indian Congress in 1894,[26][67] and through this organisation, he moulded the Indian community of South Africa into a unified political force. Gandhi suffered persecution from the beginning in South Africa. [174][175] Gandhi suggested an agreement which required the Congress and the Muslim League to co-operate 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. Meanwhile, his family was debating his future. Though they agreed in general terms on Indian independence, they disagreed on the means of achieving this. [231][232][233], During his stay in South Africa, along with scriptures and philosophical texts of Hinduism and other Indian religions, Gandhi read translated texts of Christianity such as the Bible, and Islam such as the Quran. [7][8], Born and raised in a Hindu family in coastal Gujarat, western India, Gandhi trained in law at the Inner Temple, London, and was called to the bar at age 22 in June 1891. They fought and died as a part of the Allied forces in Europe, North Africa and various fronts of the World War II. [159] Over 2.5 million Indians ignored Gandhi, volunteered and joined on the British side. [298] According to Gandhi, this was not true "service" but one driven by an ulterior motive of luring people into religious conversion and exploiting the economically or medically desperate. Gandhiji showed us that truth alone triumphs and this is evident from a lot of his … 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. [298][299] Gandhi did not support laws to prohibit missionary activity, but demanded that Christians should first understand the message of Jesus, and then strive to live without stereotyping and misrepresenting other religions. "Gandhi in the Mind of America. [82] According to Ashwin Desai and Goolam Vahed, Gandhi's views on racism are contentious, and in some cases, distressing to those who admire him. At no time did they offer any resistance. He wrote, "Vivisection in my opinion is the blackest of all the blackest crimes that man is at present committing against God and His fair creation. He had advised Gandhi to be patient and to study Hinduism deeply. [103][242] He encouraged Indian people to fight on one side of the war in Europe and Africa at the cost of their lives. [48] In January 1888, he enrolled at Samaldas College in Bhavnagar State, then the sole degree-granting institution of higher education in the region. Thus, he took for granted ahimsa (noninjury to all living beings), vegetarianism, fasting for self-purification, and mutual tolerance between adherents of various creeds and sects. “In the attitude of silence the soul finds the … [87], In 1910, Gandhi established, with the help of his friend Hermann Kallenbach, an idealistic community they named Tolstoy Farm near Johannesburg. The 2010 biography, Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle With India by Joseph Lelyveld contained controversial material speculating about Gandhi's sexual life. [65][66] He sat in the train station, shivering all night and pondering if he should return to India or protest for his rights. 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. Many of the beliefs that characterized Gandhi’s spiritual outlook later in life may have originated in his upbringing. The University of Nagpur awarded him an LL.D. After several such incidents with Whites in South Africa, Gandhi's thinking and focus changed, and he felt he must resist this and fight for rights. Women, to Gandhi, should be educated to be better in the domestic realm and educate the next generation. [64] He was not allowed to sit with European passengers in the stagecoach and told to sit on the floor near the driver, then beaten when he refused; elsewhere he was kicked into a gutter for daring to walk near a house, in another instance thrown off a train at Pietermaritzburg after refusing to leave the first-class. [194] 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. They were auxiliaries at the Battle of Colenso to a White volunteer ambulance corps. A horrified American journalist, Webb Miller, described the British response thus: In complete silence the Gandhi men drew up and halted a hundred yards from the stockade. For example, his close friend Badshah Khan suggested that they should work towards opening Hindu temples for Muslim prayers, and Islamic mosques for Hindu prayers, to bring the two religious groups closer. Allinson had been promoting newly available birth control methods, but Hills disapproved of these, believing they undermined public morality. [349] He accused Gandhi as someone who wished to retain the caste system. "[30] The Indian classics, especially the stories of Shravana and king Harishchandra, had a great impact on Gandhi in his childhood. 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. [224] The letters concern practical and theological applications of nonviolence. When he returned to India in 1891, his outlook was parochial and he could not make a living as a lawyer. The Government of India awarded the annual Gandhi Peace Prize to distinguished social workers, world leaders and citizens. "[97], Gandhi's war recruitment campaign brought into question his consistency on nonviolence. The satyagraha civil disobedience followed, with people assembling to protest the Rowlatt Act. [164] While in jail, he agreed to an interview with Stuart Gelder, a British journalist. [339] According to the 1960s memoir of his grandniece Manu, Gandhi feared in early 1947 that he and she may be killed by Muslims in the run up to India's independence in August 1947, and asked her when she was 18 years old if she wanted to help him with his experiments to test their "purity", for which she readily accepted. In his 1927 An Autobiography, Vol. [454], There are three temples in India dedicated to Gandhi. He was, however, an able administrator who knew how to steer his way between the capricious princes, their long-suffering subjects, and the headstrong British political officers in power. [416], Obama in September 2009 said that his biggest inspiration came from Gandhi. After two uncertain years in India, where he was unable to start a successful law practice, he moved to South Africa in 1893, to represent an Indian merchant in a lawsuit. [98], In 1918, Kheda was hit by floods and famine and the peasantry was demanding relief from taxes. Left to himself, he would have liked to have been a doctor. It is not inaction but determined passive resistance and non-co-operation where, states Arthur Herman, "love conquers hate". Nathuram was a Hindu radical, who held Gandhi responsible for weakening India by ensuring the partition payment to Pakistan. Therefore, non-co-operation in Satyagraha is in fact a means to secure the co-operation of the opponent consistently with truth and justice. The Life of Mahatma Gandhi by Louis Fischer. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. [159] Gandhi's campaign did not enjoy the support of Indian masses and many Indian leaders such as Sardar Patel and Rajendra Prasad. At UCL, he studied law and jurisprudence and was invited to enroll at Inner Temple with the intention of becoming a barrister. [100] Using non-co-operation as a technique, Gandhi initiated a signature campaign where peasants pledged non-payment of revenue even under the threat of confiscation of land. [12] Some Indians thought Gandhi was too accommodating. "[221][222] Historian Howard states the culture of Gujarat influenced Gandhi and his methods. 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. Brown, Judith M., and Anthony Parel, eds. [202][203] Some of Gandhi's ashes were scattered at the source of the Nile River near Jinja, Uganda, and a memorial plaque marks the event. [402][403][404] King said "Christ gave us the goals and Mahatma Gandhi the tactics. Life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in eight volumes, Chaman Nahal's Gandhi Quartet, and Pyarelal and Sushila Nayyar with their Mahatma Gandhi in 10 volumes. [321], Beyond his religious beliefs, Gandhi stated another motivation for his experiments with diet. [126] Furthermore, co-operation among Hindus and Muslims ended as Khilafat movement collapsed with the rise of Atatürk in Turkey. In 2011, Time magazine named Gandhi as one of the top 25 political icons of all time. 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. in 1937. [121], People rioted in retaliation. [50] Mavji Dave Joshiji, a Brahmin priest and family friend, advised Gandhi and his family that he should consider law studies in London. In parallel, Gandhi's fellowmen became sceptical of his pacifist ideas and were inspired by the ideas of nationalism and anti-imperialism. [138] Gandhi captured the imagination of the people of his heritage with his ideas about winning "hate with love". It has reduced us politically to serfdom." His method of non-violent Satyagraha could easily attract masses and it fitted in with the interests and sentiments of business groups, better-off people and dominant sections of peasantry, who did not want an uncontrolled and violent social revolution which could create losses for them. [70] However, the prejudice against him and his fellow Indians from British people that Gandhi experienced and observed deeply bothered him. He asked Joseph Chamberlain, the British Colonial Secretary, to reconsider his position on this bill. Returning to his birthplace of India, Gandhi spent his remaining years working to end British rule of his country and to better the lives of India's poorest classes. [83] As another example given by Herman, Gandhi, at age 24, prepared a legal brief for the Natal Assembly in 1895, seeking voting rights for Indians. [312], Gandhi was brought up as a vegetarian by his devout Hindu mother. [311] According to Simone Panter-Brick, Gandhi's political position on Jewish-Arab conflict evolved over the 1917–1947 period, shifting from a support for the Arab position first, and for the Jewish position in the 1940s. The Hindu leader, Tej Bahadur Sapru, declared in 1941, states Herman, "A good many Congress leaders are fed up with the barren program of the Mahatma". [170], While the leaders of Congress languished in jail, the other parties supported the war and gained organizational strength. [69], When Gandhi arrived in South Africa, according to Herman, he thought of himself as "a Briton first, and an Indian second". [263][264][265] The untouchability leader Ambedkar, in June 1945, after his decision to convert to Buddhism and a key architect of the Constitution of modern India, dismissed Gandhi's ideas as loved by "blind Hindu devotees", primitive, influenced by spurious brew of Tolstoy and Ruskin, and "there is always some simpleton to preach them". [62][63], Immediately upon arriving in South Africa, Gandhi faced discrimination because of his skin colour and heritage, like all people of colour. [173] The Indian National Congress and Gandhi called for the British to Quit India. In a major speech on untouchability at Nagpur in 1920, Gandhi called it a great evil in Hindu society but observed that it was not unique to Hinduism, having deeper roots, and stated that Europeans in South Africa treated "all of us, Hindus and Muslims, as untouchables; we may not reside in their midst, nor enjoy the rights which they do". But he dropped out and returned to his family in Porbandar. Gandhi's brother Laxmidas, who was already a lawyer, cheered Gandhi's London studies plan and offered to support him. Louis Fischer recounts Gandhi's remarkable life while, at the same time, adding his insightful political and spiritual views. At his trial, Godse did not deny the charges nor express any remorse. 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 teachers at his London law school complained incessantly about his bad handwriting. In August 1947 the British partitioned the land with India and Pakistan each achieving independence on terms that Gandhi disapproved. Nehru became his political heir. [172], Gandhi opposed the partition of the Indian subcontinent along religious lines. At the start of his experiment, he had women sleep in the same room but in different beds. Brown, Judith M. (2004). [137], According to Dennis Dalton, it was the ideas that were responsible for his wide following. [155] 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. The 2007 film, Gandhi, My Father was inspired on the same theme. [289][290] He also believed there were material contradictions between Hinduism and Islam,[290] and he criticised Muslims along with communists that were quick to resort to violence. [39], At age 9, Gandhi entered the local school in Rajkot, near his home. [374][375] Gandhi believed that people who demand religious respect and rights must also show the same respect and grant the same rights to followers of other religions. "[260] Civil disobedience and non-co-operation as practised under Satyagraha are based on the "law of suffering",[261] a doctrine that the endurance of suffering is a means to an end. The United Nations declared Gandhi's birthday, October 2nd, as the International Day of Non-violence in 2007. The government quelled any opposition to its economic and social policies, despite these being contrary to Gandhi's ideas, by reconstructing Gandhi's image and ideals. Dehury, Dinabandhu "Mahatma Gandhi's Contribution to Education". The latter two claimed that it distorted what Gandhi actually said on a range of topics and falsely repudiated the Quit India movement. Gandhi then launched a new Satyagraha against the tax on salt in March 1930. Mohandas Gandhi (October 2, 1869–January 30, 1948) was the father of the Indian independence movement. 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. Gandhi joined the Indian National Congress and was introduced to Indian issues, politics and the Indian people primarily by Gokhale. In 1889, a bitter trade dispute broke out in London, with dockers striking for better pay and conditions, and seamen, shipbuilders, factory girls and other joining the strike in solidarity. [164], Gandhi 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. [33][34] Gandhi's father was of Modh Baniya caste in the varna of Vaishya. [253], Gandhi stated that the most important battle to fight was overcoming his own demons, fears, and insecurities. In 1915, aged 45, he returned to India. [349] 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. [142], Churchill's bitterness against Gandhi grew in the 1930s. He warned such a transfer would still be English rule, just without the Englishman. Abroad, activists such as Martin Luther King, Jr., borrowed heavily from Gandhi’s practice of nonviolence and civil disobedience to achieve their own social equality aims. "[357], Gandhi rejected the colonial Western format of the education system. [138][140], The government, represented by Lord Irwin, decided to negotiate with Gandhi. [209][214] Historian R.B. A social boycott of mamlatdars and talatdars (revenue officials within the district) accompanied the agitation. Gandhi came to be considered the father of his country. In 1857, Karamchand sought his third wife's permission to remarry; that year, he married Putlibai (1844–1891), who also came from Junagadh,[23] and was from a Pranami Vaishnava family. As he had to suddenly switch from his native language—Gujarati—to English, he found it rather difficult to follow the lectures. "The Tale Of Gandhi Through The Lens: An Inter-Textual Analytical Study Of Three Major Films-Gandhi, The Making Of The Mahatma, And Gandhi, My Father. [315] He also consulted with vegetarianism campaigners during his lifetime, such as with Henry Stephens Salt. To Gandhi, Islam has "nothing to fear from criticism even if it be unreasonable". The Life of Mahatma Gandhi, by Louis Fischer MEN like Gandhi do not happen very oftenno oftener perhaps than men like Buddha, Jesus, and Mohammed. In the months following, he undertook several fasts unto death to stop religious violence. [154], Gandhi returned to active politics again in 1936, with the Nehru presidency and the Lucknow session of the Congress. [280], Gandhi as a politician, in practice, settled for less than complete non-violence. [171] At the end of the war, the British gave clear indications that power would be transferred to Indian hands. On 9 April, Gandhi was arrested. [251] I. 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 usually wrote in Gujarati, though he also revised the Hindi and English translations of his books. Perhaps most impactful of all, the freedom that Gandhi’s movement won for India sounded a death knell for Britain’s other colonial enterprises in Asia and Africa. 1866–1913). 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