Gandhi’s Influence in India and the World

Mohandas Gandhi Mohandas Gandhi was born in the seaside town of Porbandar. Gandhi learned basic ideas of nonviolence from Hinduism, and Jainism.

Mohandas Gandhi (cont.) As Gandhi grew older, his family suggested he study law in London. In the fall of 1888, Gandhi left for London. His wife Kasturbai and son, Harilal, stayed with his parents.

Mohandas Gandhi (cont.) In London, Gandhi first read the Bhagavad-Gita, the wisdom of Hinduism. From this he took its ideal of the active but selfless human being. Gandhi obtained his law degree in 1891, then returned to India. Accepted an offer to work in South Africa.

Mohandas Gandhi (cont.) Gandhi first employed civil disobedience while an expatriate lawyer in South Africa, during the resident Indian community’s struggle for civil rights. After his return to India in 1915, he organized protests by peasants, farmers, and urban laborers concerning excessive land-tax and discrimination. After assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns to ease poverty, expand women’s rights, build religious and ethnic amity, end “untouchability”, and increase economic self-reliance. Above all, he aimed to achieve Swaraj or the independence of India from foreign domination. Untouchables

Mohandas Gandhi (cont.) Gandhi earnestly believed that a person involved in public service should lead a simple life. He first displayed this principle when he gave up wearing western-style clothing, which he associated with wealth and success. When he returned to India he renounced the western lifestyle he led in South Africa, where he had enjoyed a successful legal practice.

Mohandas Gandhi (cont.) Gandhi famously led his followers in the Non-cooperation movement that protested the British-imposed salt tax with the 240 mile Dandi Salt March in 1930. (sounds like a civil rights march?) He launched the Quit India Movement in 1942, demanding immediate independence for India. Gandhi spent a number of years in jail in both South Africa and India.

Mohandas Gandhi Gandhi dressed to be accepted by the poorest person in India, advocating the use of homespun cloth (khadi). He and his followers adopted the practice of weaving their own clothes from thread they themselves spun on a charkha, and encouraged others to do so. The Swadeshi movement held that if Indians made their own clothes, it would deal an economic blow to the British establishment in India. Gandhian simplicity was a sign and expression of swadeshi principles. Consequently, the charkha was later incorporated into the flag of the Indian National Congress. He subsequently wore a dhoti for the rest of his life to express the simplicity of his life.

Mohandas Gandhi (cont.) Gandhi spent one day of each week in silence. He believed that abstaining from speaking brought him inner peace and made him a better listener. For three and a half years, from the age of 37, Gandhi refused to read newspapers, claiming that the tumultuous state of world affairs caused him more confusion than his own inner unrest.

Gandhi and Nonviolence Throughout this time in Gandhi’s life he was imprisoned repeatedly by the British. Despite this, Gandhi insisted that his followers continued to remain nonviolent. For Gandhi, nonviolence was a fundamental part of his teachings. Gandhi believed that nonviolence gave a great moral power to its followers, as well as possibly sway the thoughts and actions of those who were viewed as cruel, thoughtless, and violent.

Gandhi and Nonviolence Gandhi named this power satyagraha (“reality force” or “holding onto truth”). Gandhi made use of every nonviolent technique imaginable. These techniques included marches, hunger strikes, and demonstrations.

Turning Point Seashore communities throughout India began to do the same. Many, including Gandhi, were arrested. This march became the turning point of the Indian independence movement.

Title The British government was weakened. British forces finally agreed to leave India in 1947. Gandhi recognized for his influence in this.

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Mahatma Gandhi “Gandhi believed so much in loving tolerance that he hoped it could keep a newly independent India free of religious battles”(Molloy, 112). Unfortunately, fear and tension are quite common between religious faiths. Muslim leaders feared oppression from the Hindu majority. Worked to create the new separate Muslim state of Pakistan. As a result of this, some Hindu militants wished for revenge.

Gandhi’s End In a fit of rage, one of the Hindu militants shot and killed Gandhi in 1948.

Gandhi’s Example Even after death, Gandhi’s example spread across the globe. Gandhi's ideology influenced Martin Luther King Jr. Used in protests against racial segregation in the U.S.

Gandhi Gandhi (1982) is a biographical film about Mohandas ("Mahatma") Gandhi. This is considered to be the most acclaimed tribute to Mahatma Gandhi’s life. Fairly accurate in terms of Gandhi’s life and the Indian struggle for independence. In AFI’s “100 Years…100 Heroes and Villains” Gandhi is ranked at #21 for Heroes.