Gandhi

Early Years

• Born Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi on October 2, 1869 in Porbandar, India

• Married at the age of 13 - had 4 children all boys

• Studies law in England, and practices law in South Africa where he experiences racism - goes to jail

• Those experiences shaped his political ideas

India in the early 1900s

• under British control

• Rise of “Indian Nationalism” which grew strong after WWI

• INC (Indian National Congress)

• British responded with harsh new laws

  • Limited freedom of press and other laws

• In response, Indians begin to protest; this would go on for weeks - killed 5 British soldiers

• General Reginald Dyer then bans all public gatherings in India

  Amritsar Massacre

• April 13, 1919: more than 10,000 Indians gather in a public area of the city of Amritsar in NW India

• General Dyer has troops open fire

• Men, women, and children in this gathering

  • When shots were fired they all tried to escape

• 379 killed; 1100 wounded … most were trampled

• effects:

  1. Led to an even larger dislike of the British; and a distrust

  2. Would only lead to more violence

  3. The INC started calling for a complete separation from Britain

  • Turning point for Gandhi and the movement

Gandhi’s Leadership Role

• In 1920, Gandhi takes over leadership of the INC (Indian National Congress)

  • stressed gradual change

  • Wanted more jobs in government to go to Indians

  • Unites various Indian social classes

• uses nonviolent methods

• Wanted the world to see what Britain was doing

• Civil Disobedience - refusal to obey unjust laws

  • Boycotts

  • Fasts

  • Marches and rallies

  • Sataygraha - nonviolence and compassion for life

“The Simple Life”

• Dressed in white cotton garments worn by the poor

• vegetarian and would often fast as a sign of protest

• He stressed the virtues of self-discipline, duty, and morality

• He also stressed the importance of simple jobs such as spinning thread. He would often be seen spinning thread as a way of helping meditation

• The spinning wheel would come the symbol of the Indian’s struggle for freedom

“Ahimsa”

• Ahimsa means nonviolence and compassion for life

• “Hims” - to strike or injure

• By putting an “A” in front, it means the opposite of

• “Ahimsa is the highest duty. Even if we cannot practice it in full, we must try to understand its spirit and refrain as far as is humanly possible from violence” - Gandhi

“Mahatma”

• “Great Soul”

• Baku”

  • Hindi for “father”

Great Salt March

• The British would not allow the Indians to make their own salt

• In 1930 to protest a tax on salt, Gandhi led followers on a 200 mile march to the coast

• Made salt from the sea water, the movement spread

• Gandhi and 50,000 others were arrested (all totaled Gandhi would spend 7 years in jail)

• The salt tax stayed, but the world began to recognize and sympathize with the Indian people (even the British who almost always responded violently)

The Effect of WWII

• When WWII began in 1939 the Indians refused to support something they viewed as a British problem

• The INC agreed to help Britain in their war effort if India was granted immediate independence; Britain refused

• Gandhi helped to organize a “Quit India” movement that urged non-cooperation with the British and they continued their policy of civil disobedience

  • For their part, Gandhi and 20,000 INC members were arrested

Finally Independence

• After WWII in 1945, Britain was weak and had too many other problems to worry about

• Popular opinion in Britain was against keeping colonies

• The Indian Nationalistic Movement had gained too much strength

Good News, Bad News

• 1947 - independence was granted to India

• However during the past few decades, tensions began to grow between Hindu and Muslim nationalists

  • The British of course encouraged this

  • Muslims feared they would not be treated fairly in a country dominated by Hindus

  • Most Hindus still viewed Muslims as foreign conquerors

  • Both groups had differing political and economic views

A Solution?

• The British realized something must be done because rioting was constantly breaking out

• Along with giving India its freedom, it partitioned the country:

  • India = Hindus

  • Pakistan = Muslims

• Gandhi was a strong advocate for a united India

  • He felt Hindus and Muslims could get along

• This partition led to even more violence

  • More than 500,000 people died in the fighting; cities are burned

  • Around 15 million people took part in a mass migration

• The violence sickened Gandhi; he did not celebrate Indian Independence when it was passed on August 15.1947

• He instead held prayer meetings across India to promote peace

• On January 13,1948 at age 78, he went on a fast in order to stop the blood shed

  • 5 days later leaders agreed to stop fighting

Assassination

• Only days after Gandhi broke his fast; he was assassinated by a Hindu fanatic who opposed his program of religious tolerance towards Muslims

• Nathuram Godse

“I have nothing new to teach the world; truth and non-violence are as old as the hills” - Gandhi