A Brave Indian Freedom Fighter - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi)

-- Shania Nalli, V-B, Kuwait Indian School

Sunday, July 16, 2023

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi) also known as Father of the nation was born on 2nd October 1869 in Gujrat. He was the youngest child and occasionally won prizes and scholarships at this local schools, his record was considered average.

In 1887 Mohandas scraped through the admission examination of the University of Bombay and joined Samaldas College in Bhavnagar. He had to switch his language from Gujrati to English and found it difficult to understand his lectures.

To keep family tradition, he wanted to qualify as a barrister. To do so, he visited England. Gandhi studied seriously and trained in the law at the Inner Temple, London. The change from atmosphere of Rajkot to the diverse life of London was not easy for him. He struggled to adjust himself to Western food, dress, and customs, he felt uncomfortable as he was vegetarian. He however overcame all difficulties.

After unsuccessfully attempting to practice in India, he moved to South Africa in 1893. He was quickly exposed to the racial discrimination practiced in South Africa. It was in South Africa that Gandhi first used methods of non-violent resistance to campaign for civil rights. This activism gained Gandhi the title Mahatma, which means ‘great soul’.

When Gandhi returned to India in 1915, he led campaigns to improve the lives of India’s peasants, farmers, and laborer. He also popularized his concept of non-violent resistance, which became known in India as satyagraha, a Sanskrit and Hindi word meaning ‘holding onto truth’. Satyagraha includes civil disobedience methods and is complete rejection of any form of violence, even in self-defense. Gandhi showed his support for India’s rural poor by rejecting Western dress for the traditional dhoti and living a simple and self-sufficient lifestyle. He also frequently practiced fasting as a means of self-reflection and political protest.

Gandhi became involved in Indian politics in 1919 and associated himself with the Indian National Congress. He became leader of the Congress in 1921. In March 1930 he launched the Salt March, a satyagraha against the British-imposed tax on salt, which affected the poorest section of the community. He chose to retire from the party in 1934. In place of political activity he then concentrated on his “constructive program” of building the nation educating rural India; continuing his fight against untouchability; promoting hand spinning, weaving, and other cottage industries to supplement the earnings of the underemployed peasantry; and developing a system of education best suited to the needs of the people. Gandhiji remained committed to the fight for independence and was imprisoned from 1942 until 1944 for demanding British withdrawal from India.

Although Gandhi welcomed Britain’s exit, he wanted to maintain a united India where the Hindu, Muslim and Sikh peoples could co-exist. While many people supported Gandhi and his teachings, some Hindus believed that he was too supportive of Pakistan and Indian Muslims. Such views led militant Hindu nationalist Nathuram Godse to assassinate Gandhi at an inter-faith prayer meeting in Delhi on 30 January 1948. Gandhi’s death was mourned across the nation, with over one million people joining his five-mile-long funeral procession. Gandhi's birthday, 2 October, is commemorated in India as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and worldwide as the International Day of Nonviolence.

Shania Nalli, V-B, Kuwait Indian School