GANDHIAN

PRINCIPLES
AND
THE UMBRELLA
REVOLUTION

By
Simran Ubee
Introduction
Mahatma Gandhi is known around the world for his policy of non-violence and tolerance.
Known as ‘the father of the nation’ in India and called lovingly as ‘bapu’, he was born
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in the city of Porbander, Gujarat. He went to South Africa at
the age of 23, where he fought for the rights of the South African Indians. He returned to
India after 21 years, where he united thousands of Indians against the colonial rule of Britain.
His contribution was monumental in getting our country its freedom. His principles of non-
violence and primarily his policy of satyagraha played a vital role in our independence.

Gandhi was not born a leader, but was influenced greatly by the events in his life. When he
was in England, he first tried to live the lavish English lifestyle, but soon realized it to be a
waste of time and money. He also faced a lot of prejudice because of his skin color in South
Africa. He was shunned everywhere he went. Instead of returning back to India however, he
decided to fight for his rights and brought a revolution with his efforts. He was most
influenced by the Bhagwat Gita, and Tolstoy’s ‘The Kingdom of God is Within You’ 1.

“Generati ons to come, it may well be, will scarce believe that such a man as this
one ever in fl esh and blood walked upon this earth.”
- Albert Einstein on Mahatma Gandhi

The Principles of Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi strongly believed in the principles of truth and non-violence. He developed
a concept of satyagraha coupled with ahimsa- a method to protest against injustice by non-
violent resistant. This method of peaceful protest is what he used both in South Africa and
India to successfully revolt against the injustice being faced by people in both the countries.

Gandhi followed and preached eleven principles, which he called the ‘eleven ashrama vows’.
They were non-violence, truth, non-stealing, self-discipline, non-possession, bread labour,
control of palate, fearlessness, equality of religion, use of locally made goods and the

1
Ramachanadra Guha, Gandhi Before India, pg 85, 2013
abolishment of untouchability2. His principles resemble what most of the sacred books teach,
and are a way of making life simpler yet fulfilling.

Despite being a famous activist, Gandhi was a very humble man. Unlike many other leaders,
he led a very simple life, wearing khadi clothes, indulging only in the basic necessities of life
and shunning every luxury. This was also the reason why he became so famous among the
people in India- they could relate with him.

“There can be few men in history who, by personal character and example have
been able so deeply to infl uence the thought of their generati on.”
-Lord Irwin, India's former Viceroy

His principles, compiled almost a century back, still hold true. They can be considered as a
trailblazer to an ideal life. India may have gained freedom almost 70 years ago, but it is still a
struggling democracy, trying to accommodate the various different religions and custom,
while being disrespectful to none, and trying to ensure equality across all groups. We may
call Gandhi the father of the nation, but today his name is mostly invoked during political
speeches or when learning history. The best way we can honour the great man that was
Gandhi is by adopting his principles for a better life, the principles that made people call him
a ‘mahatma’.

The principles of Gandhi being discussed in this article are ahimsa or non-violence, and
satyagraha. Gandhi advocated peaceful revolt and non-cooperation against any form of
injustice.

The Umbrella Revolution

There are very few protests we see today that are peaceful. Even though most start
peacefully, they soon turn violent with the protestors clashing with the police. The Hong
Kong Protests in 2014 started out peacefully and for the most part remained that way. The
purpose of this article is to analyse the protests in light of Gandhi’s principles of non-violent
civil disobedience.

Hong Kong protest in 2014, also called the Umbrella revolution, was started mostly by
students demanding full democracy. Protesters wanted the right to nominate and directly elect
the head of the Hong Kong government, known as the Chief Executive. The main idea
proposed by the Chinese government after Hong Kong got its independence from Britain in

2
Gandhi’s 11 Vows, http://www.mkgandhi.org/faq/q9.htm,
1997 was of “One Country, Two Systems” 3, in which the liberty of Hong Kong would be
preserved. But China later insisted that candidates for the Chief Executive position must be
vetted by pro-Beijing figures, which was against Article 45 4 of Hong Kong Basic Law. Hong
Kong has an independent judiciary, common law, freedom of information and movement and
a reasonably free press5.

The protests started with the Hong Kong Federation of Students outside the government
headquarters in September, 2014. They were soon joined by Occupy Central with Love and
Peace, a civil disobedience started to pressurize the government into providing an electoral
system which is in accordance with international standards of universal suffrage. They also
demanded for the removal of Chief Executive of Hong Kong, C.Y. Leung. The protestors
peeked sometimes to 100,000 and to combat the use of tear gas by the police, umbrellas were
used in great numbers; hence the name the Umbrella Revolution6.

The Quartz magazine called the Umbrella revolution ‘the politest protest ever’ 7. Though this
was at the start of the revolution, but the spirit of non-violence could be seen throughout the
protest. Among the heavy protests with a crowd consisting mostly of teenagers and the youth,
signs saying ‘Sorry for the inconvenience. Fighting for Democracy’ 8 could be seen posted
where a block had been caused by the protesters. They could be seen picking up trash,
keeping the streets clean and apologising for any inconvenience caused because of the road
block. In a picture circulated widely over the Internet, the protestors were seen keeping away
from a grassy open land because of a sign that said ‘Please keep of the grass’- imagine
hundreds of people following such a sign among growing unrest in the city. This might be a
prime example of Gandhi’s satyagraha in today’s world.

After a few days from the start of the protests, when the police fired tear gas to disperse a
non-violent crowd of youngsters, even more people swarmed the streets protesting against the

3
The principle of “one country, two systems” was first proposed by Deng Xiaoping in the early 1980s as way to
reconcile the communist mainland with historically Chinese territories—Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau—that
had capitalist economies.
4
Hong Kong Basic Law Article 45 states that the Chief executive should be chosen by universal suffrage upon
nomination by a broadly representative nominating committee
5
Rishi Iyengar, 6 Questions You Might Have About Hong Kong's Umbrella Revolution, TIME, (October 05,
2014) http://time.com/3471366/hong-kong-umbrella-revolution-occupy-central-democracy-explainer-6-
questions/
6
The name 'Umbrella Revolution' was coined by Adam Cotton on Twitter on 29 September 2014, in reference
to the umbrellas used for defence against tear gas, and quickly gained widespread acceptance.
7
Heather Timmons, Hong Kong’s umbrella revolution may be the politest protest ever, Quartz Media LLC,
(September 30, 2014) https://qz.com/273446/hong-kongs-umbrella-revolution-may-be-the-politest-protest-ever/
8
Elizabeth Barter, Pro-Democracy Protesters Swarm Hong Kong, Violent Clashes With Police, (Sept. 28, 2014,
2:21 p.m.), http://time.com/3439242/hong-kong-democracy-china-ocuppy-central/
government. Joshua Wong, the 17-year-old face of the revolution, along with other scholars
attended the official National Flag Day ceremony on October 1, 2017 but showed their
discontent by turning away from the flag when it was being hosted. On the next day, Paul
Zimmerman, a District Councillor, raised a yellow umbrella, the symbol of Hong Kong
protest, during a local ceremony for China's National Day 9. These events can be considered
similar to what Gandhi did during the Dandi March, where he along with his was a mass civil
disobedience by breaking the salt law.

The prime idea behind Gandhi’s principle of satyagraha is mass civil disobedience non-
violently. The crowds in the protests in Hong Kong consisted mainly of the youth. While they
were protesting outside the government buildings and mocking Leung, students could also be
seen doing their homework and making sure the trash was being recycled.

The government had decided to talk with the student association in the month of October but
did not do so, inciting the waning crowd to increase even more. This was perhaps the turning
point of the protest. In a video of the days that followed, a protestor was beaten badly after
being carried into a dark alley by the police, while the other officers kept watch 10. This
unprovoked and violent act outraged the crowd even more. What followed was more than a
month of protests, which however started to die down.

Among the courts granting injunction to vacate the streets for the use of vehicles and the
increasing violence from the police, the tents that were placed around the government
buildings started to be removed11. Suffragists poured into Mong Kok after the first day's
clearance, and there was a stand-off between protesters and police. Protesters broke into a
side-entrance to the Legislative Council Complex, breaking glass panels with concrete tiles
and metal barricades12. Other suffragists tried to stop the radical activists, but were pushed
aside. The break-in was criticised by the main activist groups of the protests. Three police
were injured and six men were arrested for criminal damage and assault.

9
William McGurn, Red (Faced) China—Hong Kong mocks on, New York Post, (October 2, 2014, 08:44pm),
http://nypost.com/2014/10/02/red-faced-china-hong-kong-mocks-on/
10
Hilary Whiteman, Hong Kong authorities vow to probe alleged police beating at protest, CNN, (October 15,
2014 15:20 GMT), http://edition.cnn.com/2014/10/15/world/asia/hong-kong-police-protest-video/index.html
11
Hong Kong protesters show little resistance as bailiffs remove barriers in Admiralty, South China Morning
Post, (November 18, 2014 09:11 AM) http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1642742/live-students-
pack-tents-bailiffs-move-clear-occupy-area-outside
12
James Pomfret, Hong Kong protesters break into government building as tensions flare again, (November 19,
2014 12:12 AM) https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-china/hong-kong-protesters-break-into-
government-building-as-tensions-flare-again-idUSKCN0J225X20141118
Amidst the declining support and escalated violence, the OCLP members surrendered
themselves to the police in December. They also urged people to leave and transform the
govement into a community campaign, citing concerns for their safety amidst the police's
escalation of force13.

Analysing the movement in hindsight, a lot of problems and short-comings could be seen.
Considering this was the first such large-scale movement in Hong Kong after its
independence, there was a lack of organization. Mostly the elder population remained out of
the picture; they only protested when the youth was being assaulted by the police.

The movement though started out to be non-violent, soon turned violent amidst rising radical
groups. It started in accordance with the principles of Gandhi, but soon turned like the Non-
Cooperation Movement did in India in the 1920s.

The movement was mostly unsuccessful but it did accomplish a few things- most important
was shaming the Chinese Government. The demonstrations also managed to successfully
gain widespread international support and awareness for the cause, but China’s iron grip on
domestic media outlets and the internet meant that international support did not tangibly
affect the affairs of Hong Kong. “The major protest sites at Central, Wan Chai, and Mong
Kok all appeared as they had when I left for the US; people carried on as if nothing had
happened. With a year of hindsight to reflect on the movement, the protests seemed to
accomplish little other than strike sharp divisions into the ordinarily moderate society of
Hong Kong.”14

Conclusion
The principles of Gandhi are too idealistic sometimes and the proper implementation of them
on such a large scale is near impossible. They may be possible and even beneficial on a
private or very small scale, but as seen in the Hong Kong protests, they may not be ideal for
faster results. If the non-violent protests in Hong Kong had continued the way they started,
perhaps then the outcome would have been better. In my personal view, even then the
protests would not have accomplished anything fast. Non-violent civil disobedience is a very
slow process as is evident in the case of freedom struggles in India.

13
"Occupy Central Trio's Letter to the Hong Kong People", Occupy Central with Love and Peace. (Retrieved 6
December 2014), http://oclp.hk/index.php?route=occupy/eng_detail&eng_id=61
14
Jordan Barrett Choy, A Year On: What Did the Umbrella Revolution Achieve?, Political Review, (January 26,
2016 08:41 PM), http://www.nupoliticalreview.com/2016/01/26/a-year-on-what-did-the-umbrella-revolution-
achieve/
Bibliography
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