Mohandas Gandhi

Mohandas Gandhi

Born into a merchant family in 1869, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was

under the influence of powerful people. Members of his family had served as

prime ministers of an Indian state for several generations. His parents

were strong in their religion, being devout and earnest Hindus. They were a

part of a Hindu sect that worshipped Vishnu and promoted non-violence.

Apparently, he was most influenced by his mother, a gentle and

intelligent person. According to Hindu custom, he married at an early age

and grew to love his wife greatly. Together, they had four children and

adopted a fourth.

Later, in 1888, he travelled to England to become a barrister-at-law.

There were several important influences that he encountered here: the

Western material style of life, which he decided not to follow, and in the

simple Russian way of living he found: the New Testament, and the

Bhagavadgita, the bible of the Hare Krishna movement. It was here that he

developed a sense of the presence of God in his life and the lives of men.

Gandhi then returned to India and studied law in Bombay, but he

quickly denounced it, feeling that it was immoral and could not satisfy

one's conscience. Despite this, he used his schooling to help plead for

Indian settlers in South Africa that were being oppressed by the white

population. His personal experiences, including being ejected from a train

in Maritzburg, of not being allowed the same rights as others lead him to

begin a movement to help his people.

While in South Africa, Gandhi made himself poor so that he could

identify with his the peasants. He then proceeded to start a colony that

consisted of abused labourers. The colony became very large and many cities

were crippled by the lack of labourers. The government reacted to this by

jailing Gandhi several times along with many other of his followers. The

war he fought was one without weapons, already Gandhi was on his way to

starting his career of non-violent campaigns.

The main idea behind Gandhi's teachings was non-violence. The words of

the Sanskrit language: ahinsa and sayagraha clearly express Gandhi's

beliefs. The former means non-killing, non-destructive and the latter means

the force of universal truth. He believed that the killing of man or beast

is an unforgivable sin. Many who promoted these teachings of Gandhi simply

believed that it was their only option for resisting imperialism rather

than having a moral conviction towards his teachings. He taught that the

weapon that could be used was the conscience of the aggressor. This ahimsa

is, to some degree, in the tradition of Hinduism.

Hinduism teaches to stay away from temptation through various

exercises that test one's ability to perform a difficult task, this

devitalizes a person and causes him to act on a non-violent level.

In addition, he taught that one should act rather be held under

subservience. Gandhi himself once stated, "Mere knowledge of right and

wrong will not make one fit for salvation...the Gita says: 'No one has

attained his goal without action...' From this quotation, we learn that his

teachings are influenced by the Bhagavadgita and that he believes that one

must act to reach a goal. But, he believed that one should denounce the

rewards and simply devote one's life to acting on the behalf of others and

that life should be lived near the soil, away from the influence of

machines.

Also, Gandhi strongly believed in upholding the caste system,

believing that a person of one caste should stay a part of that caste. He

also upheld the old Hindu tradition of segregation of castes, indicating

that, "Interdining and intermarraige have never been a bar to disunion,

quarrels or worse." According to Hinduism, the caste system lies in respect

for one another's individuality.

Gandhi is well known for his efforts in fighting imperliasm in India

and South Africa. His methods were, unique in that they did not involve the

use of weapons.

During the South African War of 1899-1902 and during the Zulu

rebellion in 1906, Gandhi organised an ambulance corps consisting of

Indians to help the British fight. He believed that duty dictated that the

Indian population had a responsibity to help the British when they were in

a time of need. Perhaps he was trying to show them that the Indians put an

effort into helping the British forces just like everyone else and deserved

the same rights as everyone else.

It is interesting to note that Gandhi did not promote fighting, but he

helped those who were in need of assistance.

After the law was passed that all Indians were required to carry an

identity card with them at all times, Gandhi organised a group that

resisted the government. In 1914, Gandhi and his followers recieved their

first victory, the South African Government took away many of the laws that

had no real purpose except to humiliate the Indian people.

When Gandhi returned to India in 1914, the Indian population had heard

of his accomplishments and he was given the name Mahatma, which means 'a

man of great soul'. For the next little while, he examined the situation

here and, while doing so, attained a few victories in his fight against

oppression. Several times in 1917, he unhardened the spirits of peasants

and motivated them to rebel without the use of violence.

In 1919, Gandhi called upon all Indians to engage in non-violent

disobedience against the British Government by withdrawing from Government

jobs and from schools and colleges. The magnitude of this act showed when

many cities were held at a standstill as the governmental system was unable

to act. Such was the power of non-violent protest.

When, in 1920, Gandhi became the leader of the Congress, more Indians

gave up their governmental jobs to join the movement. After many of his

follower's were put into prison and cruelly dealt with, some people engaged

in violence. Gandhi's distaste for this reaction showed, yet he blamed

himself calling it a 'Himalayan miscalculation' to have failed to teach the

people how to react non-violently before asking them to protest. As a

result of his 'mistake', he called off the entire movement, thinking it had

been a failure. On the contrary, the movement had been a great success, no

longer did the Indians fear the British jails or the British guns. It was

evident now, that the British Government in India was inevitably going to

fall.

After many failures to reach an agreement with the British Government

and after a short 'Individual Civil Disobedience' movement where many were

imprisoned, the British finally gave the power to the Indians in 1946. But,

the question remained as to whether or not the area should be separated

into two on a communal basis. As a result, many riots broke out between the

different interests of the people.

Gandhi himself was opposed to separation and to the violence that had

broken out. He went from village to village trying to get the people to

understand the benefits of unity, but it wasn't working. He was forced to

agree with his comrades in the Congress who promoted partition into two

areas: India and Pakistan, which came about in 1947.

In 1948, Gandhi was fatally shot by a Hindu fanatic. All over the

globe, there was a certain sadness as many realized that the man whom they

had looked up to and followed was now dead. As Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the

Prime Minister of India, put it, "The light has gone out of our lives and

there is darkness everywhere and I do not quite know what to tell you and

how to say it. Our beloved leader, Bapu, as we call him the father of our

nation, is no more.

Gandhi's influence certainly spreads the globe. He has been the role

model for many famous, influential people. One of these persons is Martin

Luther King, Jr (1929-1968) who was famous for leading a non-violent

movement for racial equality in the U.S.A.. Another person is Joan Baez

(1941- ) who became famous as a folk-singer, a composer, and a guitarist.

She lead many antiwar and civil rights movements in the U.S.. A third

person could be Nehru, the first Indian Prime Minister of India. He was

deeply saddened by Gandhi's death and could not have become Prime Minister

without Gandhi's efforts.

Indeed, Gandhi was a influential man who helped father the nation of

India as we know it today. Without him, the Indians might still be held

under British rule. Without him, many might not have been inspired to fight

racism or imperialism non-violently.