Mahatma Gandhi-The Leader, Philosopher Information

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was a leading leader and Philosopher of  India's freedom struggle.

Gandhiji was born on October 2,1869 in the city of  Porbandar in Gujarat. His father's name was Karamchand and his mother's name was Putlibai. Karamchand Gandhi was the Diwan of  Porbandar in the then Kathewad province. His grandfather's name was Uttamchand Gandhi and he was also known as Utta Gandhi. Putalibai was Karamchand's fourth wife. The previous three wives had died during childbirth. Karamchand belonged to the Hindu Modh community while Putlibai belonged to the Vaishnava community. Childhood in a very religious environment has a great impact on Gandhiji's later life. In particular, the seeds of non-violence, vegetarianism, tolerance, compassion for others were sown during this period. Mohandas was influenced by Jain concepts and practices due to his mother being a Jain. Mohandas had a profound effect on the mind of Shravanbal and Harishchandra in the ancient Wangmaya. In his autobiography, he admits that these two stories had an indelible effect on his mind. He writes, "He struck me and I must have treated myself like Harishchandra countless times."

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was a leading leader and philosopher of  India's freedom struggle. Gandhiji gave India Independence through non-violent non-cooperation movements. He inspired the whole world to achieve freedom through non-violent means. Rabindranath Tagore was the first to give him the title of Mahatma. The Sanskrit word Mahatma means 'Great soul'. The people of  India affectionately call him Bapu and he is considered the Father of the Nation of Independent India. He was the father of Satyagraha. His birthday is celebrated in India as Gandhi Jayanti and around the world as the International Day of  Non-Violence

 Early Life

In 1883, at the age of thirteen, he had a child marriage with Kasturba. In 1885, when Gandhiji was 15 years old, he had his first child, but he lived a very short time. Karamchand Gandhi had passed away earlier that year. Later, Gandhiji and Kasturba had four more children. In 1888, Harilal, I.S. In 1892, Manilal, I.S.  In 1897, Ramdas and I.S. Devdas in 1900.

                After completing his schooling at the age of nineteen. In 1888, he went to London, England to study law at a university college. There he lived in the village of Inner Temple and studied Indian law and jurisprudence to become a barrister. Before leaving for England, he had promised his mother in the presence of a Jain monk that he would abstain from meat, women and bottles (alcohol), which he kept there. But he did not like the taste of sapak vegetarian food in London and he often went hungry until he found a rare Indian restaurant in London.

Gandhi tried to adopt English customs there. For example, teaching dance. He became a member of a vegetarian organization in England and soon became its president. The vegetarians who met Gandhi there, some of  whom were women members of the Theosophical Society, encouraged Gandhi to come and meet them and read the translated and original Bhagavad Gita. Gandhi, who was not interested in religious matters before, started taking interest in religious matters.

                    After studying law in England, he became a Barrister and returned to India to practice law. He left England and returned to India in 1891. Upon his arrival in India, he learned that his mother had died while he was in London, and his family hid the news from him. His plan to set up a law practice in Mumbai was not successful as he was too shy to speak in court. He returned to Rajkot to begin a simple life of drafting lawsuits, but had to stop working against a British official. In 1893, he signed a one-year contract with Dada Abdullah and an Indian company called Company for a position in the then British Empire at Christmas (South Africa).

Satyagraha based on the principles of non-cooperation and non-violence was first used by Gandhiji in South Africa to give Indians their civil rights. On his return to India in 1915, he rallied the farmers of Champaran to fight against oppressive taxes and landlords. After taking over the reins of the Indian National Congress in 1921, he launched a nationwide movement for poverty alleviation, economic self-reliance, equal rights for women, inter-religious equality, abolition of untouchability and most importantly, self-government. Gandhiji was a lifelong opponent of communalism (politicizing sects) and he reached out to all religions and sects in large numbers. He supported the declining Khilafat movement and became the leader of the Muslims. In 1930, in protest of the salt tax imposed by the British, he drove thousands of Indians 400 km. Represented in (250 miles) long Dandi Yatra. In 1942, he started the Quit India Movement against the British.  He was often imprisoned in India as well as in South Africa for other reasons.

 Gandhiji advocated truth and non-violence throughout his life, lived by these principles himself and suggested that others should do the same. He saw villages as the origin of true India and rewarded self-sufficiency. Western Churchill in Britain denounced him as a "half-naked fakir." He lived a simple life of self-spinning dhoti and shawl.

                  Gandhi spent 21 years of  his life in South Africa, where he developed his political outlook, moral and political leadership skills. Wealthy Muslims, led by Indians in South Africa, and poor Hindus with very few rights hired Gandhi. Throughout his life, Gandhi considered all of them to be Indians, believing that ‘Indianness’ has permeated all religions and castes. He came to India believing in himself that we could make historical differences, mainly in terms of religion.

Here he tried to enforce this belief. In South Africa, the Ganges was identified as a social disability. He realized that we were far from the intricacies of Indian religion and culture, and began to believe that he understood India by understanding and leading Indians in South Africa.

 In South Africa, Gandhi faced discrimination against non-Indians, experiencing unequal treatment of Indians there. Despite having a first-class ticket, he was asked by train officials in Pietermaritzburg to board a third-class coach. As soon as Gandhiji refused, he was insulted and pushed off the train. Gandhi spent the whole night in the guest room on the platform. If Gandhi had decided, he could have punished the arrogant railway official. But it was not his intention to punish anyone with revenge, but to change the unjust system. Next time, the driver hit them for not letting the passengers wait.

 They had to endure many hardships throughout the journey. They were evicted from several hotels. In Durban, a judge in Durban ordered them to remove their hats. Gandhiji refused even then. These events turned his life upside down. After experiencing all this, Gandhi began to question his own place in society and the value of his people in the British Empire. Thus, after facing racism and inequality against Indians, Gandhiji started raising his voice against this injustice and creating his own place in the society. Gandhiji extended his stay in South Africa for some time to help Indians who opposed the enactment of a law that would deprive Indians of the right to vote. Although he failed to repeal the law, his movement succeeded in drawing attention to the injustice done to Indians.

He  Natal founded the Indian Congress in 1894, thereby transforming the scattered Indians in South Africa into a political party. After settling in India for some time in 1897, while landing in Durban, he was attacked by a mob of whites and tried to kill him. And only with the help of the Superintendent of Police's wife was he released.  His mouth was injured and two teeth were broken in the incident. But he refused to file a complaint in court. Going to court about personal harassment was not in their principles.

                    In 1906 the Transvaal government announced a new law. According to this law, every Indian was required to register himself. In a meeting called to oppose this, on September 11 of that year, Gandhiji, for the first time, adopted his still-evolving Satyagraha or non-violent system. He urged the Indian brothers to oppose the law in a non-violent manner and to endure the atrocities committed in doing so.

The community responded to the call, and over the next seven years, thousands of Indians went on strike, refused to register, burned registration sheets, and engaged in similar non-violent activities, leading to imprisonment, flogging, and even bullets. Although the government successfully crushed the protests of the Indian protesters, South African leader John Christian Smuts, who was himself a philosopher, was forced to take note of the non-violent movement and public outcry and negotiate with Gandhi. The South African government's crackdown on peaceful protesters has sparked outrage. Gandhi's ideas took shape and the concept of Satyagraha matured during this struggle.

 In 1915, Gandhiji returned to India permanently. He had an international reputation as a leading Indian nationalist, theorist and organizer. He spoke at several meetings of the Indian National Congress. Gopal Krishna Gokhale introduced him to the real politics and problems of India. Gopal Krishna Gokhale was then a prominent leader in the Indian National Congress. Gokhale was known for his patience, balance and insistence on working within the system. Even today, he is known as Gandhiji's political guru. Gandhi followed Gokhale's liberal approach based on British Vegish traditions, and it changed to look completely Indian Low in 1920. After Tilak's death, he became the main leader of the National Assembly.

                 Gandhiji's first major achievement came in 1918 in the Satyagraha in Champaran and Kheda. The landlords of Champaran, Bihar, who were mainly British, were forcing the local farmers to produce indigo. They were not getting proper compensation. As a result, they lived in constant poverty. Farmers' villages were kept very dirty and unhealthy.

There were also many problems in these villages like alcohol, untouchability, curtain method. The emphasis was on the famine, but the British still imposed many oppressive taxes and it was increasing. The situation was no different in the villages of Gujarat. Gandhiji built an ashram there. There he gathered all his followers, young and old. They gathered information about the situation in the area and studied it thoroughly. Convincing the villagers, he undertook the task of cleaning the village as well as building schools and hospitals. At the same time, he urged the village chiefs to destroy the above mentioned practices.

                  Gandhi took over the leadership of the Congress in 1920. December In 1921, Gandhiji was given full authority of the Indian National Congress.

Under his leadership, the Congress was restructured in accordance with the new constitution. Whose main objective was - Swarajya. After that the Congress declared India's independence on 26th January 1930, constantly increasing the demands (stopping and compromising in some places). More and more negotiations took place and the British did not recognize this until the Congress joined the provincial government in 1930. When the Viceroy declared war on Germany in September 1939 without consulting anyone, Gandhi and the Congress withdrew their support for the British government. Tensions continued to rise until Gandhi demanded immediate independence in 1942, and the British government responded by imprisoning him and millions of Congress leaders. The Muslim League, meanwhile, co-operated with Britain, and in the face of Gandhi's fierce opposition, demanded a completely independent Muslim nation, Pakistan. In 1947, the British divided the land and India and Pakistan gained separate independence on the terms rejected by Gandhi.

 Non-Cooperation Movement 

                Gandhi used non-cooperation, non-violence and peaceful protest as weapons against the British.  In Punjab, the Jallianwala Bagh massacre sparked outrage and violent protests in many places. Gandhiji condemned both the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and the subsequent violent protests. He moved a resolution expressing sympathy for the victims of the riots and condemning the riots. The resolution was initially opposed in Congress. But according to Gandhiji's principles, any kind of violence was a sin and could not be justified. After his emotional speech on this principle, the Congress accepted his resolution. But in the aftermath of this massacre and the ensuing violence, Gandhi turned his attention to full self-government. Their idea of ​​complete self-government included complete personal, religious and political freedom. The non-cooperation movement received overwhelming response from all walks of life but was stopped abruptly while the non-cooperation movement was in full swing.

This was due to the violent turn taken by the movement in Chauri Chaura village in Uttar Pradesh. Police in riot gear stormed a rally on February 4, 1922, removing hundreds of protesters by truck. Three people were killed in the firing while 23 policemen were burnt to death in the police station. Fearing further violence, Gandhiji suspended the movement On March 10, 1922, Gandhi was arrested on charges of treason and sentenced to six years in prison. He was released in 1924 after serving two years in prison for appendix surgery. While Gandhiji was in jail, the Congress began to split due to his lack of leadership. Eventually the Congress split into two factions. One group was led by Chittaranjan Das and Motilal Nehru. The group tended to participate in parliamentary proceedings.

But another group led by Chakravarti Rajagopalachari and Sardar Patel opposed it. The growing unity between Hindus and Muslims during the movement was also gradually diminishing. Gandhi made several attempts to resolve these differences. In 1924, he fasted for three weeks. But these efforts have not been as successful.

Satyagraha of Swarajya and Salt

                 Gandhiji passed a resolution at the 1928 Congress session in Calcutta.  It called on the British government to grant India sovereignty and warned that if the demand was not met, the non-cooperation movement would be resumed.  The demand for young leaders in the party like Subhash Chandra Bose and Jawaharlal Nehru was for immediate self-government. But Gandhiji gave the British government one year to respond, but the British government did not respond. The Indian flag was hoisted at the Lahore Convention in 1929. This day was celebrated by the Congress as Swarajya Din.

Gandhiji then in March In 1930, a satyagraha was declared against the salt tax and it resulted in the famous Dandi Yatra. Yatra started from Ahmadabad on 12th March, 400 km on 6th April. (250 miles) and reached Dandi. Thousands of Indians participated in the Yatra. The visit was one of the most successful attempts by the British to uproot India. The British later imprisoned more than 60,000 people. Eventually, the British government, led by Lord Edward Irwin, decided to negotiate with Gandhi March . The Gandhi-Irwin Agreement was signed in 1931.

Under the agreement, the British government agreed to release all Indian prisoners and demanded an end to the lawlessness movement. He also invited Gandhiji to the Round Table Conference in London as the sole representative of the Indian National Congress. The conference was disappointing for Gandhiji and the party, as it focused more on the monarchs and minorities in India than on independence. In addition, Lord Willingdon, who came after Irwin, continued his efforts to soften the nationalist movement. Gandhiji was arrested. It was a ploy to isolate them in order to reduce their influence on their followers. But their efforts were not successful.

                  In 1932, at the request of  Babasaheb Ambedkar, the British government decided to give separate constituencies to Dalits. Against this, Gandhiji went on a six-day fast. This forced the British government to further divide the constituencies on the basis of equality. The talks were mediated by Palvankar Balu (a former cricketer) from the Dalit community. The agreement reached between Gandhiji and Ambedkar in Pune is called the Pune Agreement.  From here, Gandhiji started working for the emancipation of Dalits. They called Dalits Harijans (God's people). May 8 Gandhiji started a 21-day fast for the Dalit movement in 1933. His efforts were not so successful.  He did not get enough support from the Dalit community.

In the summer of 1934, there were three failed assassination attempts on Gandhiji.  When the Congress decided to contest the elections and take power under the Federation framework, Gandhiji resigned from his party membership. Gandhiji did not disagree with the party's decision. But he felt that if he resigned, his popularity among Indians, the party's other communist, socialist, labor representatives, students, religious conservatives and business class representatives would not be prevented from expressing their views to the public. also Gandhiji did not want to give another chance to the British to speak against him by leading the party (Congress) which had accepted participation in the Raj (British) government.

                   Gandhiji  When he returned to the party in 1936, the party was holding a convention in Lucknow under the chairmanship of Jawaharlal Nehru. Gandhiji was of the view that the focus should be on how to achieve full Independence before thinking about the future of India after independence.

 Subhash Chandra Bose, who was elected party president in 1938, and Gandhiji had many disputes. The root cause of Gandhiji's opposition was Subhash Chandra's distrust of non-violence. Despite Gandhiji's opposition, Bose was elected president for the second time in a row. However, when Subhash Chandra Bose resigned from the post, citing the fact that many party leaders across the country resigned on the grounds that he had abandoned Gandhiji's principles.

World War II and Quit India Movement 

          In 1939, Germany invaded Poland and World War II began. Initially, Gandhiji was in favor of 'non-violent moral support' to the British. But other party leaders were unhappy that India was unilaterally dragged into the war without the consent of the Indian people. All the Congress leaders decided to resign from the cabinet. After much deliberation, Gandhi declared that India would not be a part of this war, as the war was being fought for democratic independence on the one hand, and the same independence was being denied to India on the other. As the war progressed, Gandhiji intensified his demand for Independence. He proposed a resolution urging the British to 'leave India'. This was the clearest and last attempt of Gandhiji and the party to expel the British from India. Gandhiji was criticized by some leaders of the party and others. It included both pro-British and anti-British groups.

Some felt that it was unethical to oppose the British in such a life-and-death battle, while others felt that Gandhiji was not taking full advantage of the opportunity. The Quit India Movement became the most influential movement in India's freedom struggle. Millions of people were arrested, unprecedented atrocities were committed. Thousands of protesters were killed in police firing. Gandhiji and his associates made it clear that India would not help in the Great War unless it was given immediate independence. Gandhiji also made it clear that this time the movement would not be withdrawn due to another violent incident. True chaos is better than chaos. Suggesting this, he appealed to the Congress members to adhere to non-violence and gave the motto to the Indians, "Do or die".

 Gandhiji and the full executive committee of the Congress were appointed by the British on 9 August. Arrested in 1942 in Mumbai. Gandhiji was imprisoned for two years at the Aga Khan Palace in Pune. In reality, Gandhiji had to endure two setbacks in his personal life. Six days later, his private secretary, Mahadev Desai, died of a heart attack at the age of 50, and his wife, Kasturba, died on February 22 ,1944 after 18 months in captivity  Only 6 weeks later, Gandhi contracted severe malaria. Due to his deteriorating condition and the need for an operation, before the end of the war Released in 1944. The British government feared that if he died in captivity, the whole country would be outraged.

Although the Quit India Movement was a moderate success, the British with a hard time and tough measures  By the end of 1943, our state in India was in order.  At the end of the war, the British gave a clear signal of handing over power to the Indians. Gandhiji then ended the agitation and released about one lakh political prisoners, including Congress leaders.

Independence and Partition of India 

                   Gandhi instructed the Congress to reject the recommendation of the British Cabinet Mission in 1946. Gandhiji was skeptical about the unification of the Muslim-majority states in these recommendations. According to him, this was a prelude to partition, but although the party certainly followed Gandhiji's advice, this time they did not follow it. Because Pandit Nehru and Patel knew that if the British recommendation was not accepted, control of the state would go to the Muslim League .1946 and more than 5,000 people were killed in riots during 1948. Gandhi strongly opposed any plan that would divide India into two nations. The majority of  Muslims in India, who lived with Hindus and Sikhs, favored partition.  Moreover, the leader of the Muslim League, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, had a lot of support in West Punjab, Sindh, the North-West Frontier Province and East Bengal.

The Congress approved the partition plan as the only way to avoid civil war between Hindus and Muslims. The Congress leaders knew that Gandhiji would vehemently oppose partition and that support from Gandhiji's party and the country would not allow them to proceed without his permission. Gandhiji's close associates had accepted partition as the best option (in that situation). Sardar Patel tried to convince Gandhi that partition was the only way to avoid civil war. He held lengthy discussions with leaders of the Hindu and Muslim communities in North India as well as in Bengal to calm the agitated crowd. Even against the backdrop of the Indo-Pakistani war of 1947, he did not like the decision of the Indian government not to give Rs 55 crore to Pakistan as per the partition agreement. Also Hindu and Muslim leaders were showing inability to understand each other. For all these reasons, Gandhiji was extremely distressed. He went on a hunger strike to demand an end to the riots and Rs 55 crore to Pakistan.

Gandhiji feared that instability and insecurity in Pakistan would increase the anger of the people there towards India and that the riots would cross the country's borders, as well as bring back the animosity between Hindus and Muslims and lead to internal rebellion. After many debates with his lifelong colleague, Gandhiji did not back down from his decision and finally the government reversed its decision and gave Rs 55 crore to Pakistan. Leaders of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha as well as other Hindu leaders, Muslim leaders and Sikh leaders pledged to stop the violence and demand peace from the people. After this, Gandhiji stopped his fast by drinking orange juice.

                   Gandhiji was shot dead on January 30, 1948, while walking with people in the garden of  Birla Bhavan in Delhi. His killer Nathuram Godse was a progressive Hindu and had links with the extremist Hindu Mahasabha. According to him, Gandhiji was responsible for weakening India by paying Pakistan. Godse and his accomplice Narayan Apte were charged and convicted. He was hanged on November 15, 1949.

His last words were 'Hey Ram' written on Gandhiji's tomb at Raj Ghat.

Ø   After Gandhiji's death, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru addressed the Nation on the radio

                 “My friends and colleagues, the light has gone out of your life and the realm of darkness has spread everywhere and I do not know what and how to tell you. Our favorite leader-father, whom we affectionately call 'Bapu', is no more with us. It would be wrong to say so, but we will not be able to see them now, as we have been seeing them for so many years. You can no longer rush to seek their advice in times of crisis. We will not find peace and contentment in their company.  It's a huge shock, not just for me, but for the billions of people in this country. "

                   Gandhiji's bones were packed in rakshapatras and sent across the country to pay homage to him. Almost all the bones were exhumed on February 12, 1948 at the confluence at Allahabad but some of the bones were hidden. In 1997, Tushar Gandhi immersed a Rakshapatra. The defense was found in a bank locker and was seized after a lawsuit was filed in court. On January 30, his family immersed another Rakshapatra at Girgaon Chowpatty in Mumbai. The characters were sent to a museum in Mumbai by a Dubai-based merchant. Another character is in the Aga Khan Palace in Pune (where Gandhiji was in captivity between 1942 and 1944) and another character is in Self Realization Lake Shrine in Los Angeles. His family is aware that the bones could be used for political gain. But Gandhiji's descendants do not want to remove the Rakshapatra for fear that the monastery will be closed if the pot is removed from there.

Gandhiji's Principles 

                Gandhiji had accepted eleven (eleven) vows. That as follows- No Violence      ( Ahinsa), Truth (Satya),Untruth (Asteya), Bramhacharya, Aparigraha, Sharirmash, Aswad, Nirbhayata (Fearlessness), Sarvadharma Samantavya (Sarvadharma Sambhav) Respect for all Religion, Swadeshi, Sparshabhavana (renunciation of untouchability) Gandhiji considered this principle of fearlessness as the basis. According to him, other principles can be followed only through fearlessness.

                    Gandhiji had dedicated his life to the search for truth. His autobiography is known as My Truth Experiment. Gandhiji said that the most important battle is to overcome one's own bad tendencies, fears and insecurities. "The Lord is true." That was his opinion. Then He said, "The truth is the Lord. "That changed. Although Gandhiji himself did not propose the principle of non-violence, he was the first person to adopt non-violence on such a large political level. He always said "When I am depressed, I remember that every time in history, truth and love have triumphed. (In history) many atrocities have taken place and for a while they seemed invincible, but they have always been defeated in the end.

"If the destruction was carried out in the name of universalism, in the name of freedom and democracy, what will be the difference between the dead, the orphans and the homeless?"

                   "Eye for eye will blind the whole world."

                   "There are many goals for which I am ready to give my life. But there is no goal for which I will take anyone's life. ”

Gandhiji was died on January 30, 1948