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He changed as he studied in Britain and practiced in South Africa. He fought for the rights of Indians in both South Africa and India. Gandhi believed that all people in the world are brothers and sisters. He didn’t hate the English. Actually, he saw a lot that was good about them. His nonviolent means of revolution was referred to as satyagraha, which is a combination of two Sanskrit words, satya, meaning truth and love, plus agraha, meaning firmness. Many people were influenced by satyagraha. Mohandas Gandhi was born into a Hindu family of the Vaisya caste. This was the third ranking caste in the class structure of Hinduism. This class was for farmers and merchants. The whole system was so complex that in Gandhi’s lifetime it had begun to disintegrate. Gandhi’s father and grandfather were not farmers or merchants. They were prime ministers of the tiny principality of Porbandar in Gujarat. Mohandas was extremely shy. He rushed to and from school, too nervous to talk to any of his classmates. Then a pretty and strong-willed girl was married to him by an arranged marriage at the age of 13. Her name was Kasturbai. A marriage at this age was typical in Hindu custom. He was a strict husband and kept control over actions. Kasturbai disliked this. They didn’t spend more than the first five years of their marriage together, since it was typical for the girl to visit her family. At this point in his life, he was very depressed. He was little and suffered fears that didn’t bother his wife. An athletic and older boy who was Muslim fascinated him. He told Mohandas to eat meat if he wanted to become bigger and stronger. He said the Indians were weak and small people, because they didn’t eat meat, and this is why the British, who did, had the strength to rule over them. This was against his religion, but he tried anyway. He ate the meat in secrecy, but after a few meals he stopped. He didn’t like the taste of meat and felt guilt at deceiving his parents. After this point he became a vegetarian. He was always an honest person. He once stole gold from his brother and wrote an apology letter that touched his father’s heart. His father did not punish, but embraced him. This made Mohandas realize that truth and love had power. After his father passed away, he went to England to study law. He went under three conditions of his mother: not to touch meat, alcohol, and women. He had a difficult time. He did not fit in with the British. He changed himself by wearing more modern clothes and taking classes such as dance. He found a society that was vegetarian and joined. He also found a vegetarian restaurant and had his first full meal since he arrived. He finished school and his exams. He then returned to India and realized that he had studied law, but had not learned how to practice it. He did not have knowledge about Indian law and worse of all, lacked ability to speak in public. He wasn’t able to speak in his first court case. Gandhi took an offer to work for a firm in South Africa. The firm needed someone with the knowledge of English language and law to represent them for a year. He went to South Africa and while he was riding on the train, a white man entered the first-class compartment in which Gandhi was sitting in and looked at him then left. He returned with two officials who told him to go to the third-class car. Gandhi claimed he had a first-class ticket and refused to leave. Indians weren’t supposed to be in the first-class area and Gandhi had to be thrown off. He spent the night at the station thinking. “Should he stay and fight for his rights, or should he give up and go back to India, or should he swallow the insults and complete his legal case?” (Schlesinger, 33). He chose to stay and fight the prejudice. He encountered many obstacles. In South Africa Indians weren’t allowed to stay out after 9 and were forced into ghettos. They weren’t allowed to buy land, except in restricted areas. Many Indians had difficulty obtaining business licenses. They had to pay taxes just because they were Indians. After the train ride, he immediately sent a letter of protest to the railway company and called a meeting of the Indian Community. He was angry at what was going on and no longer was shy to speak out in front of people. His emphasis, though, was not on protest, but self-improvement. He wanted Indians to stand up for themselves when their rights were abused. He wanted them to be decent and clean. He offered them to teach English too. This was the point when Gandhi turned into a leader. “Gandhi realized that a true job of a lawyer is not to fight for one side but to search out the facts and negotiate a solution in the best interest of both sides.” (Schlesinger, 37). In the newspaper he noticed a proposed bill that would deprive Indians in Natal of vote. He sent a petition with signatures to Natal newspapers and the prime minister, who delayed the bill’s passage for two days. Gandhi sent another petition with 10,000 signatures to London newspapers and London Colonial Office, which ruled against the bill. The Natal Assembly passed a similar bill that did not mention Indians. In 1894, Gandhi founded the Natal Indian Congress. This gave Gandhi a way to organize the Indian community. He forced the self-improvement in areas such as sanitation, education, and cooperation. He used newspapers to call attention to the Indian movement and to defend against accusations. He wanted England and India to keep up on the current situations in South Africa. He also helped indentured officers by defending their rights and fought to lower the tax they had to pay in order to stay on as free workers. Gandhi returned to India to bring back his wife and two sons. He held public meeting and even wrote a pamphlet about the current condition in South Africa. The white community in South Africa was angry with him and his actions in India. They also heard that he was coming back with a boat full of Indian immigrants. They refused to let the two boats dock for three weeks. When Gandhi stepped out of the boat, he was attacked by an angry mob that snatched away his turban and hit him with eggs, stones and bricks. He was rescued by the wife of the police chief who covered him with an umbrella. He escaped with a disguise on. Gandhi refused to press charges against his attackers. Instead he gave an interview defending himself. The newspapers declared him unjustly accused and the rest of the white community had to agree. Gandhi encouraged his family to be modernized and wear comfortable clothes. Gandhi visited India one more time for two years. He had to return to South Africa because the minority factor was not settled. He set up a law office in Johannesburg, the capital of the Transvaal where the Indian situation was the most tense. In 1903, he founded his own paper, Indian Opinion. At this time he was inspired by a book written by John Ruskin. Ruskin stressed equal value of all work and the dignity of manual work. With this in mind, he set up a self-supporting community in the country called Phoenix Farm and moved the newspaper there. Gandhi started to devote himself to others. A true life of service, he believed, required that he give up all his possessions. His body should not be pampered and only exist to serve others. He ate uncooked foods and began many fasts. He slowly trained his mind to not want anything. He turned to the Bhagavad-Gita, which became his guide to conduct. He performed degrading and undesirable tasks such as cleaning the chamber pots. His wife though never wanted to clean the chamber and always complained. He wanted her to do it and to do it cheerfully. He realized that he could no longer devote himself to his family. He decided to stop sexual relations with his wife. They didn’t sleep together but worked and lived together until her death. A new law in South Africa required all Indians over eight years old to register with the authorities and carry a pass at all times. By not doing this they could be imprisoned, fined or deported. Indians resisted this new law under the leadership of Gandhi. This was referred to as satyagraha. They didn’t cooperate with the authorities and their resistance was to be nonviolent. They confronted prison, poverty, hunger, and violence against them and peacefully refused to obey the law. In 1908, Gandhi visited London to gather support. He was imprisoned as soon as he returned to South Africa. He was then taken to Smuts and he said that he would appeal the law if all the Indians registered. Gandhi persuaded the Indians to register. Smuts, though, broke his promise. Therefore, Gandhi told his fellow Indians to burn the registration certificates. Thousands of Indians were arrested. Gandhi spent his time in jail writing mail to a Russian writer named Leo Tolstoy. With his help he founded a new community called Tolstoy Farm. This community grew their food and built their own homes. More new laws, including one that said only Christian marriages were legal, influenced Gandhi to step up his campaigning. He was jailed many more times with many others. Eventually, Smuts gave in and Gandhi went back to India with this experience behind him. As we can see, Gandhi had transformed into a leader on his own. He fought for what he believed in despite his early fears. He won the support and respect with many Indians and also Englishmen. He turned from a lawyer to a leader. With his knowledge, patience, and leadership he lead India to independence. What he learned in South Africa was vital to accomplish what he did in India. Gandhi was welcomed as a hero in Bombay. He no longer wore western clothing and no longer spoke English. He spoke in his native language of Gujarati. For a year he toured the country, speaking on religious and social matters. Outside the city of Ahmedabad, Gandhi founded the Satyagraha Ashram, a community committed to nonviolence and service to others. He wanted to end the caste system. He disliked the position of the untouchables. They were also human, but were required to do the dirtiest work and weren’t allowed to enter in temples. He brought a family of untouchables into the ashram and referred to them as Harijans, which means “Children of G-d”. Gandhi successfully led the workers of the province of Bihar in a nonviolent campaign against the unjust demands of British landowners. He carried out a fast, threatening to starve himself if his demands weren’t met. This action led to better wages and conditions for small workers. He always appealed to his opponents’ sense of right and wrong. During World War I, he helped recruit Indian soldiers for the British Army. He hoped that service would help lead to freedom for India after the war. Instead, Britain passed harsh laws preventing India from becoming a self-governing country. When Gandhi heard of the harsh new laws passed, he called on all Indians to suspend business for a day of national, nonviolent protest, including fasting, prayer and public meetings. But the troops in Delhi killed nine people, and when Gandhi reached the city, he was arrested. News of this incident spread. Gandhi realized that people didn’t understand the satyagraha persuasion should be nonviolent. He punished himself by fasting for three days. Then came the terrible massacre at Amritsar. The Indian community held a meeting the next day in a large, enclosed courtyard. A massive amount of people surrounded the area. Instead of canceling the meeting, General Reginald Dyer ordered his soldiers to fire at the crowd. For ten minutes the soldiers fired until they ran out of ammunition. Nearly 400 men, women and children were killed, and 11,000 wounded. Gandhi was shocked by the brutality of the British army. He lost all loyalty he had for the British and felt they didn’t have the right to govern. In 1920, Gandhi became president of the All-India Home Rule League. This League wanted independence from the Empire. He also became the leader of the Indian National Congress. He started a massive program of non-cooperation against the British. Cotton cloth made in Britain was boycotted and clothes made of foreign material were burned on bonfires. Hand spinning and weaving were used to made clothes and to remove foreign influence. “Gandhi believed that spinning represented economic progress, national unity and independence from the Empire.” (Hunter, 21). Therefore he spun daily for two hours. The Indian National Congress, led by Gandhi, called on the Indian Soldiers and civilians to quit British Government service. By 1922, 30,000 people, including nearly all Congress Leaders, had been imprisoned for acts of civil disobedience. Then twenty-two policemen who had attacked stragglers of a protest march were viciously slaughtered. Gandhi called of the campaign because he realized that people still didn’t understand satyagraha. He fasted again to punish himself for the violence that occurred. He was then put on trial and accused of causing the chaos. In court, Gandhi spoke of the people’s misery under British rule and of the absurd laws. He said that perhaps in reality he was innocent, but under these laws, he was guilty. The judge praised Gandhi “as a man of high ideals and of a noble and even saintly life”. But he was still sentenced. Gandhi was released two years later. He fasted for three weeks in protest against the increasing conflict between the Muslims and the Hindus. Then he turned his attention to social reforms, touring the country by train, cart, and on foot, speaking to many crowds of people. Many of his followers considered him a saint and was showered with gifts, but turned them over to funds. He taught the importance of equality for women and for the people of different classes and religions. He encouraged spinning and discouraged the use of alcohol or using drugs. In 1928, a Royal Commission arrived from Britain to analyze the situation in India. This included no Indian members and it was met by protest meetings, which were broken up by the British authorities. The new proposals still left the country under British rule. This angered the Indian National Congress even more and they wanted nothing but independence. The Salt March of 1930 began a new round of nonviolent protest. Gandhi walked 322 km to the coast of Dandi. Thousands joined the march, watched by the world’s press. On the beach after morning prayers, he picked up a pinch of salt. Salt was taxed; legally, only the Government could extract it from seawater. Gandhi’s signal encouraged people to break the law and manufacture salt. In cities and villages, illegal salt was distributed. About 100,000 people, including Gandhi and other Congress leaders were imprisoned. These people faced police brutality. Some were beaten badly and some even dies. Eventually the campaign succeeded and salt manufacturing was allowed. Later Gandhi took part in the Round Table conference in Britain about the future of India. In London he chose to stay in an East End hotel for the poor. He visited Lancashire and made friends, even thought most of these people were employed because of the boycott in India. He met many politicians and they were all impressed by hid humor and sincerity. He returned to India a week later and was imprisoned again. 30,000 others had been arrested also. In prison, Gandhi carried out a long fast against the class divisions among the Hindus. He was willing to starve himself if the barriers weren’t broken. People valued Gandhi’s life and for the first time, temples were open to Harijans. All Hindus could eat and drink together and marry each other. After his release, Gandhi turned to educational and welfare work. He toured rural India, and spoke about health care, village industries and reorganization, and about land ownership and justice. Gandhi opposed Indian involvement in World War II. But leaders of the Indian National Congress and Nehru disagreed and believed that the British might give the self-government. But Britain would give no promise of independence. Under Gandhi, people made speeches and protests against taking pert in the war. Thousand were arrested and imprisoned for up to a year. In 1942 Gandhi announced a new satyagraha campaign against the British. Once again, he was imprisoned. His health became poor after the fasts he held I protest of the accusations made against him. Meanwhile, his wife was also in a bad health situation and she passed away in 1944. Gandhi also became ill after her loss and recovered after he was released from jail. With the end of World War II, Indian independence came closer. Due to the tension in India between the Muslims and Hindus, the leader of the Muslims, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, wanted the creation of a separate Muslim country. Gandhi though, favored a united India. A protest took place and 20,000 people were killed or injured. In Bengal reports of Muslim atrocities came. Gandhi went into these towns for four months trying to persuade people to stop the violence. But these riots became common. In 1947, Lord Louis Mountbatten became the last British Viceroy. Against Gandhi’s opposition, the Indian National Congress agreed that Pakistan was to become a separate Muslim nation from India. India finally gained independence in 1947. Meanwhile, Gandhi was living in the poorest quarters of Calcutta, where there were many bloodsheds and riots between the Hindus and Muslims. Gandhi succeeded in making peace in Bengal; the northwest was in a bad situation. People were migrating to and from India and Pakistan. Millions of people died. Riots broke out again in Calcutta and Gandhi held his longest fast until the fighting stopped. Dramatically it brought peace among all leaders and violence ceased in India and Pakistan. Though Gandhi was admired deeply by many of people, there were some Hindu fanatics. On January 30, 1948 he was murdered-shot three times by an assassin named Nathuram Godse. His death caused a worldwide shock and sorrow. “To countless people, he was a modern-day saint, a teacher of humanity such as the world has rarely seen. As a champion of peace, his influence still remains.” (Hunter, 29) The struggles of other Asian and African nations to gain independence from colonial powers have been influenced by his work. In the United States, Dr. Martin Luther King, the black civil rights leader, paid tribute to Gandhi’s example and created hi own American Satyagraha to protest legalized racial discrimination. Like Gandhi, King could not in the end avoid outbreaks of violence and rioting, and like Gandhi, was assassinated. Through an academy award-winning movie by Richard Attenborough, Gandhi’s life and work has inspired the new generation. Gandhi is not going to be forgotten. “In the age we live in, with the human race having the capacity to destroy life on this planet, Gandhi’s example of trust, tolerance, and protest by nonviolent means may be crucial to our survival. As long as there is hope for humanity Gandhi’s light will not go out.” (Schlesinger,106). “My personal faith is absolutely clear. I cannot intentionally hurt anything that lives, much less fellow human beings, even though they may do the greatest wrong to me and mine. Whilst, therefore, I hold the British rule to be a curse, I do not intend harm to a single Englishman or to any legitimate interest he may have in India…I know that in embarking on nonviolence I shall be running what might be termed a mad risk. But the victories of truth have never been won without risks, often of the gravest character. Conversion of a nation that has consciously or unconsciously preyed upon another, far more numerous, far more ancient and no less cultured than itself, is worth any amount of risk.” – Mohandas Gandhi Gandhi inspired many people, in India and the rest of the world. His philosophy and achievements have been examples to many other leaders who fought for independence. He demonstrated the value of love and humanity. He never hated anyone and never wanted to harm his enemy. Gandhi sacrificed his family life and personal possessions for what he thought was right. His mission started when he was insulted and decided to take a stand against it. He didn’t start out as a leader but developed into one throughout his years in South Africa. His goal in India was to gain independence for India. Even after the independence of India he sought to resolve the religious conflicts that existed between the Muslims and the Hindus. He was dedicated to serving people. Gandhi succeeded as an independence leader with the use of nonviolent methods. Satyagraha proved to be a technique that required courage, patience and life. When done properly the results were positive. This figure in world history will never be forgotten, but admired for years to come. Bibliography: BIBLIOGRAPHY Nigel, Hunter. Gandhi. New York: The Bookwright Press. 1987 Schlesinger, Arthur. Gandhi. New York: Chelsea House Publishers. 1985 Severance, John. Gandhi; Great Soul. New York: Clarion Books. 1997 Sherrow, Victoria. Mohandas Gandhi. Connecticut: Brookfield. 1994 Word Count: 3621
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