Gender equality

Gender equality (also known as gender equity, gender egalitarianism, or sexual equality) is the goal of the equality of the genders or the sexes,[1]stemming from a belief in the injustice of myriad forms of gender inequality.
Contents
[hide]

1 Concept 2 Efforts to fight inequality 3 See also

o o o o o

3.1 General issues 3.2 Specific issues 3.3 Laws 3.4 Organizations and ministries 3.5 Other related topics

4 References 5 External links

[edit]Concept The movement towards gender equality, especially in Western countries, began with the suffragette movement of the late-19th century. Then there was a change in relation to a woman's property rights in marriage. (See for example, Married Women's Property Act 1882.) In the 1960s, a more general movement for gender equality developed based on women's liberation and feminism. However, actual changes in attitudes continued to focus on specific issues. The movement resulted in changes to laws, either relating to particular issues or general anti-sex discrimination laws. Changes to attitudes to equality in education opportunities for boys and girls has also undergone a cultural shift. Some changes came about by adopting affirmative action policies. The change has also involved changes to social views, including "equal pay for equal work" as well as most occupations being equally available to men and women, in many countries. For example, many countries now permit women to serve in the armed forces, the police force and to be fire fighters. Also, an increasing number of women are active in politics and occupy high positions in business. Conversely, men increasingly are working in occupations which in previous generations had been considered "female occupations", such as nursing. Also, in the home, while acknowledging the

biological differences between men and women, most notably in relation to child bearing, the role of child rearing is not as widely considered to be an exclusively female role. Another manifestation of the change in social attitudes is the non-automatic taking by a woman of her husband's surname on marriage, as well as a wife being free to pursue her career after marriage. Many people, feminist and not, still do not regard the objective of gender equality as having been achieved, especially in non-Western countries. A highly contentious issue relating to gender equality is the role of women in Christian churches, and female priests. The issue has caused splits in some churches. Not all ideas for gender equality have been popularly adopted. For example, the movement for topfreedom rights has remained a marginal issue, though breast feeding rights in semi-public places have been accepted. However, women embracing pornography and anti social behaviour at times associated with male groups is widely criticised. [edit]Efforts

to fight inequality

See also: Gender inequality World bodies have defined gender equality in terms of human rights, especially women's rights, and economic development.
[2][3]

UNICEF defines gender equality as "levelling the playing field for girls and

women by ensuring that all children have equal opportunity to develop their talents."[4] The United Nations Population Fund has declared that women have a right to equality.[5] "Gender equity" is one of the goals of the United Nations Millennium Project, to end world poverty by 2015; the project claims, "Every single Goal is directly related to women's rights, and societies where women are not afforded equal rights as men can never achieve development in a sustainable manner."
[3]

Thus, promoting gender equality is seen as an encouragement to greater economic prosperity. For example, nations of the Arab world that deny equality of opportunity to women were warned in a 2008 United Nations-sponsored report that this disempowerment is a critical factor crippling these nations' return to the first rank of global leaders in commerce, learning and culture.[6] In 2010, the European Union opened the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) in Vilnius, Lithuania to promote gender equality and to fight sex discrimination.

[2]

Mahatma Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Mahatma gandhi)

"Gandhi" redirects here. For other uses, see Gandhi (disambiguation).

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Born

2 October 1869 Porbandar, Bombay Presidency,British India

Died

30 January 1948 (aged 78) New Delhi, Union of India

Cause of death

Assassination (three bullets in the chest)

Resting pl

Rajghat, Ne

De hi, India

Nationality

Indian

Known for

Prominent figure of Indian independence movement Propounding the philosophy ofSatyagraha and Ahimsa Advocating non-violence

Religion

Hinduism

Spouse

Kasturba Gandhi

Children

Harilal a nilal

Ramdas Devdas

Karamchand Gandhi (Father)

Signature

as firmly founded upon ahi sa nonviolence).

G F

is philosophy and leadership helped India gain

movement. e pioneered sat agraha, resistance to tyranny t rough mass civil resistance. [
B A @ E

&

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) as a re-eminent
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liti al and ideologi al leade of India during t e Indian independence r

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54

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Mohandas Karamchand

andhi

Parents

Putlibai Gandhi ( other)

ti: tye ve;

Alma mater

Unive s ity College London,Unive s ity of London

Other names

a hatma Gandhi, Bapu

i: , O t r January

list n);

1 30 6

is philosophy

independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. Gandhi is often referred to as Mahatma ([m a t ma ]; Sanskrit: mah tm or "Great Soul"

(magnanimous), an honorific first applied to him by Rabindranath Tagore). [2] In India, he is also called Bapu (Gujarati: , b pu or "Father") and officially honoured in India as the Father of the Nation. His
H

birthday, 2

ctober, is commemorated as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and worldwide as

I

the International Day of Non-Violence. Gandhi was assassinated on 30 anuary 1948 by NathuramGodse. Gandhi first employed civil disobedience while an expatriate lawyer in South Africa, during the resident Indian community's struggle for civil rights. After his return to India in 1915, he organised protests by peasants, farmers, and urban labourers concerning excessive land -tax and discrimination. After assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns to ease poverty, expand women's rights, build religious and ethnic amity, end untouchability, and increase economic selfreliance. Above all, he aimed to achieve Swaraj or the independence of India from foreign domination. Gandhi famously led his followers in the Non-cooperation movement that protested the British-imposed salt tax with the 400 km (240 mi) Dandi Salt Marchin 1930. He launched the Quit India Movement in 1942, demanding immediate independence for India. Gandhi spent a number of years in jail in both South Afric a and India. As a practitioner of ahimsa, Gandhi swore to speak the truth and advocated that others do the same. He lived modestly in a self-sufficient residential community and wore the traditional Indian dhoti and shawl, woven from yarn that he had spun by hand himself. He ate simple vegetarian food, experimented for a time with a fruitarian diet, and undertook long fasts as a means of both self-purification and social protest.
Contents
[hide]

1 Early life and background 2 Civil rights movement in South Africa (1893 1914)

o o

2.1 Racism and controversy 2.2 Role in Zulu War of 1906

3 Struggle for Indian Independence (1915 1945)

o o o o o

3.1 Role in World War I 3.2 Champaran and Kheda 3.3 Non-cooperation 3.4 Salt Satyagraha (Salt March) 3.5 World War II and Quit India

4 Partition of India 5 Assassination 6 Principles, practices and beliefs

7 Literary works 8 Legacy and depictions in popular culture

X

o o o o o

8 1 Followers and international influence 8 2 Global holidays 8 3 Awards 8 4 Film and literature 8 5 Current impact within India
b a ` Y

9 See also 10 Notes 11 References 12 Further reading 13 External links

Early life and ackground

6 8 Swaraj, Self-Rule

6 7 Faith

6 6 Simplicity

6 5 Brahmacharya, sexuality

6 4 NaiTalim, Basic Education

6 3 Vegetarianism

6 2 Nonviolence

6 1 Truth & Satyagraha

[ was Karamchand's fourth wife, the first three wives having apparently died in childbirth. ] Growing up with a

would play an important role in his adult life; these included compassion for sentient beings,

vegetarianism, fasting for self-purification, and mutual tolerance among individuals of different creed [ s.
v g

he Indian classics, especially the stories of Shravana and

aharaja

Gandhi in his childhood. Gandhi, in his autobiography, admits that it left an indelible impression on his
v

mind. e writes: It haunted me and I must have acted

v

arishchandra to myself times without number.

Gandhi's early self-identification with ruth and o ve as supreme values is traceable to these epic

characters.[7][
s sr g

usually shortened to K asturba", and affectionately to "Ba") in an arranged child marriage, according to the

custom of the region.[

ecalling the day of their marriage he once said, "As we didn't know much about
v

marriage, for us it meant only wearing new clothes, eating sweets and playing with relatives." owever, as was also the custom of the region, the adolescent bride was to spend much time at her parents' house, and
xr x ssr

away from her husband.[

In

, when Gandhi was

, the couple's first child was born, but survived

]

remained an average student. e passed the matriculation exam for Samaldas o llege at Bhavnagar, Gujarat with some difficulty. become a barrister. hile there, he was unhappy, in part because his family wanted him to
v

Gandhi and his wife Kasturba

ur

7; and evdas, born in

. At his middle school in Porbandar and high school in

q usr

g s ssr

Kasturba had four more children, all sons: arilal, born in

v u sr

anilal, born in

; amdas, born in ajkot, Gandhi

[ only a few days, and Gandhi's father, Karamchand Gandhi, had died earlier that year.

d d

In

ay

, the

-year old

ohandas was married to

-year old Kasturbai akhanji h er first name was

devout mother and the Jaintraditions of the region, the young

ohandas absorbed early the influences that

arishchandra, had a great impact on

fondly called

tta Gandhi.

is mother, Putlibai, who came from the

indu PranamiVaishnava community,

small princely state in theKathiawar Agency of British India. [

belonged to the indu

v

odh community, served as the di an a high official) of Porbander state, a is grandfather was ttamchand Gandhi,

xssr qqsrw

then part of the Bombay Presidency, British India.

is father, Karamchand Gandhi

u ts r

i h

ohandas KaramchandGandhi[

ed

A young

andhi, c.

f
]

as orn on

October

in Porbandar, a coastal town which was ), who

ohandas and

abstinence from meat, alcohol, and promiscuity.

customstaking dancing lessons for examplehe could not stomach the bland vegetarian food offered by his landlady, and he was always hungry until he found one of ondon's few vegetarian restaurants.
nm i

Influenced by Salt's book, he joined the Vegetarian Society, was elected to its executive committee,[
[ ]

started a local Bayswater chapter. Some of the vegetarians he met were members of the heosophical
p q hg

Society, which had been founded in

l

7 to further universal brotherhood, and which was devoted to the

study of Buddhist and

r

indu literature. hey encouraged Gandhi to join them in reading the Bhagavad
]

attempts at establishing a law practice in Bombay failed and, later, after applying and being turned down for a part-time job as a high school teacher, he ended up returning to ajkot to make a modest living drafting petitions for litigants, a business he was forced to close when he ran foul of a British officer. In his autobiography, Gandhi refers to this incident as an unsuccessful attempt to lobby on behalf of his older
x w uh g nm o v

brother.[
k

][

It was in this climate that, in April

k

, he accepted a year-long contract from

ada Abdulla &

]

ivil rights movement in South Africa

r

Main arti l : Mohandas Karamchand

zy

andhi in South Africa

Gandhi in South Africa

In South Africa, Gandhi faced the discrimination directed at Indians. e was thrown off a train at Pietermaritzburg after refusing to move from the first class to a third-class coach while holding a valid first-class ticket.[
p m
]

ravelling farther on by stagecoach, he was beaten by a driver for refusing to move to

o., an Indian firm, to a post in the o lony of

atal, South Africa, then part of the British Empire.[

nm

that his mother had died while he was in ondon and that his family had kept the news from him.[
i

g uhg

tg

Gandhi was called to the bar on

June

[ . wo days later, he left ondon for India, ] where he learned

interested in religious thought and began to read both indu and

l p

nm o

nm

ita both in translation as well as in the original.[

ot having shown interest in religion before, he became hristian scriptures.[

][ ]

nm

Although Gandhi experimented with adopting "English"

mother in the presence of the Jain monk Becharji, upon leaving India, to observe the

~ | } {

to train as abarrister.

is time in ondon, the Imperial capital, was influenced by a vow he had made to his indu precepts of

hhh g

On

September

, Gandhi travelled to ondon, England, to study law at n iversity o llege ondon and

and

is

being barred from several hotels. In another incident, the magistrate of a urban court ordered Gandhi to remove his turban, which he refused to do.[
]

hese events were a turning point in Gandhi's life: they

shaped his social activism and awakened him to social injustice. After witnessing racism,prejudice and injustice against Indians in South Africa, Gandhi began to uestion his place in society and his people's standing in the British Empire.

.K. Gandhi while serving in the Ambulance orps during the Boer ar

Gandhi extended his original period of stay in South Africa to assist Indians in opposing a bill to deny them the right to vote. hough unable to halt the bill's passage, his campaign was successful in drawing attention

to the grievances of Indians in South Africa.

e helped found the atal Indian

ongress in

through this organisation, he moulded the Indian community of South Africa into a unified political force. In

January

7, when Gandhi landed in

urban, a mob of white settlers attacked him and he escaped only e, however, refused to press charges against

through the efforts of the wife of the police superintendent.

any member of the mob, stating it was one of his principles not to seek redress for a personal wrong in a

court of law.[

In

, the ransvaal government promulgated a new Act compelling registration of the colony's Indian September that year, Gandhi adopted

population. At a mass protest meeting held in Johannesburg on

his still evolving methodology of sat agraha d evotion to the truth), or non-violent protest, for the first time. e urged Indians to defy the new law and to suffer the punishments for doing so. he community adopted

this plan, and during the ensuing seven-year struggle, thousands of Indians were jailed, flogged, or shot for

make room for a European passenger.[

e suffered other hardships on the journey as well, including

,[

][

and

striking, refusing to register, burning their registration cards or engaging in other forms of non -violent resistance. The government successfully repressed the Indian protesters, but the public outcry over the harsh treatment of peaceful Indian protesters by the South African government forced South African General an Christiaan Smuts to negotiate a compromise with Gandhi. Gandhi's ideas took shape, and the concept of satyagraha matured during this struggle.

Ra ism and ontroversy

the Indian Opinion of his time in a South African prison: "Kaffirs are as a rule uncivilisedthe convicts even more so. They are troublesome, very dirty and live almost like animals."[16] Writing on the subject of immigration in 1903, Gandhi commented: "We believe as much in the purity of race as we think they do... We believe also that the white race in South Africa should be the predominating race."[1 ] During his time in South Africa, Gandhi protested repeatedly about the social classification of blacks with Indians, whom he described as "undoubtedly infinitely superior to the Kaffirs".[18] Remarks such as these have led some to accuse Gandhi of racism.[19] It is worth noting though that the word Kaffir had a different connotation in Gandhi's time than its current day meaning.[20] Two professors of history who specialise in South Africa, SurendraBhana and GoolamVahed, examined this controversy in their text, The Making of a Political Reformer: Gandhi in South Africa, 18931914. (New Delhi: Manohar, 2005). They focus in Chapter 1, "Gandhi, Africans and Indians in Colonial Natal" on the relationship between the African and Indian communities under "White rule" and policies which enforced

Some of Gandhi's early South African articles are controversial.

March 1908, Gandhi wrote in

segregation (and, they argue, led to inevitable conflict between these communities).

f this relationship,

[21] they state that, "the young Gandhi was influenced by segregationist notions prevalent in the 1890s." At

the same time, they state, "Gandhi's experiences in jail seemed to make him more sensitive to their plight...the later Gandhi mellowed; he seemed much less categorical in his expression of prejudice against Africans, and much more open to seeing points of common cause. His negative views in the ohannesburg jail were reserved for hardened African prisoners rather than Africans generally."[22] However, when plans to unveil a statue of Gandhi in ohannesburg were announced, a movement unsuccessfully tried to block it because of Gandhi's "racist" statements.[19]

Role in Zulu War of 1906

Main article: Bambatha Rebellion In 1906, after the British introduced a new poll-tax, Zulus in South Africa killed two British officers. In response, the British declared war against the Zulus. Gandhi actively encouraged the British to recruit Indians. He argued that Indians should support the war efforts in order to legitimise their claims to full citi enship. The British, however, refused to commission Indians as army officers. Nonetheless, they accepted Gandhi's offer to let a detachment of Indians volunteer as a stretcher-bearer corps to treat

wounded British soldiers. This corps was commanded by Gandhi.

n 21 uly 1906, Gandhi wrote inIndian

Opinion: "The corps had been formed at the instance of the Natal Government by way of experiment, in

connection with the operations against the Natives consists of twenty three Indians".[23] Gandhi urged the Indian population in South Africa to join the war through his columns in Indian Opinion: If the Government only realised what reserve force is being wasted, they would make use of it and give Indians the opportunity of a thorough training for actual warfare.[24]

In Gandhi's opinion, the Draft

rdinance of 1906 brought the status of Indians below the level o Natives. f

He therefore urged Indians to resist the rdinance along the lines of satyagraha by taking the example of "Kaffirs". In his words, "Even the half-castes and kaffirs, who are less advanced than we, have resisted the government. The pass law applies to them as well, but they do not take out passes."[25] In 192 , Gandhi wrote of the event: "The Boer War had not brought home to me the horrors of war with anything like the vividness that the [Zulu] 'rebellion' did. This was no war but a man -hunt, not only in my opinion, but also in that of many Englishmen with whom I had occasion to talk."[26]

Struggle for Indian Independence (1915 1945)

See also: Indian independence movement In 1915, Gandhi returned from South Africa to live in India. He spoke at the conventions of the Indian National Congress but was introduced to Indian issues, politics and the Indian people prima byGopal rily Krishna Gokhale, a respected leader of the Congress Party at the time.

Role in World War I

In April 1918, during the latter part of World War I, the Viceroy invited Gandhi to a War Conference in
[28] Delhi[2 ] Perhaps to show his support for the Empire and help his case for India's independence, Gandhi

agreed to actively recruit Indians for the war effort. [29] In contrast to the Zulu War of 1906 and the outbreak of World War I in 1914, when he recruited volunteers for the Ambulance Corps, this time Gandhi attempted to recruit combatants. In a une 1918 leaflet entitled "Appeal for Enlistment", Gandhi wrote "To bring about such a state of things we should have the ability to defend ourselves, that is, the ability to bear arms and to use them...If we want to learn the use of arms with the greatest possible despatch, it is our duty to enlist ourselves in the army."[30] He did, however, stipulate in a letter to the Viceroy's private secretary that he "personally will not kill or injure anybody, friend or foe."[31] Gandhi's war recruitment campaign brought into question his consistency on nonviolence as his friendCharlie Andrews confirms, "Personally I have never been able to reconcile this with his own conduct in other respects, and it is one of the points where I have found myself in painful disagreement."[32] Gandhi's private secretary also acknowledges that "The question of the consistency between his creed of 'Ahimsa' (non-violence) and his recruiting campaign was raised not only then but has been discussed ever since."[29]

Champaran and

heda

Main article: Champaran and Kheda Satyagraha

although in the latter it was indigo and other cash crops instead of the food crops necessary for their ere survival. Suppressed by the militias of the landlords mostly British), they w given measly compensation, leaving them mired in extreme poverty. he villages were kept extremely dirty and unhygienic; and alcoholism was rampant. ow in the throes of a devastating famine, the British levied a tax which they insisted on increasing. he situation was desperate. In Kheda in Gujarat, the problem was the same. Gandhi established an ashram there, organising scores of his veteran supporters and fresh volunteers from

the region.

e organised a detailed study and survey of the villages, accounting for the atrocities and

terrible episodes of suffering, including the general state of degenerate living. Building on the conf idence of villagers, he began leading the clean-up of villages, building of schools and hospitals and encouraging the village leadership to undo and condemn many social evils such as untouchability and alcoholism. is most important impact came when he was arrested by police on the charge of creating unrest and was

ordered to leave the province. undreds of thousands of people protested and rallied outside the jail, police stations and courts demanding his release, which the court reluctantly granted. Gandh led organised i protests and strikes against the landlords.

ith the guidance of the British government, these landlords

agreed to suspend revenue hikes until the famine ended and to grant the poor farmers of the region increased compensation and control over farming. It was during this agitation that Gandhi was addressed

by the people as Bapu

ather) and Mahatma Great Soul). In Kheda, Sardar Patel represented the

farmers in negotiations with the British, who suspended revenue collection and released all the prisoners. As a result, Gandhi became well-known in India.

Non-cooperation
Main article: on-cooperation movement

Gandhi's first major achievements came in

with the hamparan agitation and Kheda Sat agraha,

Gandhi in

, at the time of the Kheda and hamparansatyagrahas

Gandhi employed non-cooperation, non-violence and peaceful resistance as his "weapons" in the struggle

against the British

aj. In Punjab, the JallianwalaBagh massacre of civilians by British troops also known

as the Amritsar

assacre) caused deep trauma to the nation, leading to increased public anger and acts of

authored the resolution offering condolences to British civilian victims and condemning the riots which, after initial opposition in the party, was accepted following Gandhi's emotional speech advocating his principle

that all violence was evil and could not be justified.[

After the massacre and subsequent violence, Gandhi

began to focus on winning complete self-government and control of all Indian government institutions, maturing soon into S araj or complete individual, spiritual, political independence.

ahatma Gandhi's room at Sabarmati Ashram

Sabarmati Ashram, Gandhi's home in Gujarat

ongress. nder his leadership, the ongress was reorganised with a new constitution, with the goal embership in the party was opened to anyone prepared to pay a token fee. A hierarchy of

of S araj.

committees was set up to improve discipline, transforming the party from an elite organisati n to one of o mass national appeal. Gandhi expanded his non -violence platform to include the swadeshi policy the boycott of foreign-made goods, especially British goods. inked to this was his advocacy

In

ecember

, Gandhi was invested with executive authority on behalf of the Indian

violence. Gandhi criticised both the actions of the British

aj and the retaliatory violence of Indians.

ational

that khadi(homespun cloth) be worn by all Indians instead of British-made textiles. Gandhi exhorted Indian men and women, rich or poor, to spend time each day spinning khadi in support of the independence movement.[34] Gandhi even invented a small, portable spinning wheel that could be folded into the si e of a small typewriter.[35] This was a strategy to inculcate discipline and dedication to weeding out the unwilling and ambitious and to include women in the movement at a time when many thought that such activities were not respectable activities for women. In addition to boycotting British products, Gandhi urged the people to boycott British educational institutions and law courts, to resign from government employment, and to forsake British titles and honours. "Non-cooperation" enjoyed widespread appeal and success, increasing excitement and participation from all strata of Indian society. Yet, just as the movement reached its apex, it ended abruptly as a result of a violent clash in the town of ChauriChaura, Uttar Pradesh, in February 1922. Fearing that the movement was about to take a turn towards violence, and convinced that this would be the undoing of all his work, Gandhi called off the campaign of mass civil disobedience.[36] According to Andrew Roberts, this was the third time that Gandhi had called off a major campaign, "leaving in the lurch more than 15,000 supporters who were jailed for the cause".[3 ] Gandhi was arrested on 10 March 1922, tried for sedition, and sentenced to six years' imprisonment. He began his sentence on 18 March 1922. He was released in February 1924 for an appendicitis operation, having served only 2 years. Without Gandhi's unifying personality, the Indian National Congress began to splinter during his years in prison, splitting into two factions, one led by ChittaRanjan Das and Motilal Nehru favouring party participation in the legislatures, and the other led by Chakravarti Rajagopalachari and SardarVallabhbhai Patel, opposing this move. Furthermore, cooperation among Hindus and Muslims, which had been strong at the height of the non-violence campaign, was breaking down. Gandhi attempted to bridge these differences through many means, including a three-week fast in the autumn of 1924, but with limited success.[38]This may have been due to Gandhi's "uncanny ability to irritate and frustrate" India's Muslim

leadership.[3

Salt Satyagraha (Salt Mar h)

Main article: Salt Satyagraha

year, the British government had appointed a new constitutional reform commission under Sir John Simon, which did not include any Indian as its member. he result was a boycott of the commission by Indian

political parties. Gandhi pushed through a resolution at the

alcutta ongress in

ecember

the British government to grant India dominion status or face a new campaign of non -cooperation with complete independence for the country as its goal. Gandhi had not only moderated the views of younger men like Subhas handra Bose and Jawaharlal ehru, who sought a demand for immediate independence, but also reduced his own call to a one year wait, instead of two.[

]

he British did not was celebrated

respond. On

ecember

, the flag of India was unfurled in ahore.

January

commemorated by almost every other Indian organisation. Gandhi then launched a new satyagraha

against the tax on salt in

arch

. his was highlighted by the famous Salt kilometres

salt himself. housands of Indians joined him on this march to the sea. his campaign was one of his most

successful at upsetting British hold on India; Britain responded by imprisoning over

he government, represented by ord Edward Irwin, decided to negotiate with Gandhi. he GandhiIrwin

the suspension of the civil disobedience movement. Also as a result of the pact, Gandhi was invited to

attend the ound able

he conference was a disappointment to Gandhi and the nationalists, because it focused on the Indian

princes and Indian minorities rather than on a transfer of power. urthermore, ord Irwin's successor, ord

illingdon, began a new campaign of controlling and subduing the nationalist movement. Gandhi was

again arrested, and the government tried to negate his influence by completely isolating him from his followers. But this tactic failed.

Pact was signed in

arch

. he British Government agreed to free all political prisoners, in return for

onference in ondon as the sole representative of the Indian

arch to

April, where he marched

miles) from Ahmedabad to

as India's Independence ay by the Indian

ational ongress meeting in ahore. his day was

arch to

against untouchability, alcoholism, ignorance and poverty.

e returned to the fore in

resolving the wedge between the Swaraj Party and the Indian

ational ongress, and expanding initiatives . In the preceding

Gandhi stayed out of active politics and, as such, the limelight for most of the

Gandhi at

andi,

April

, at the end of theSalt

arch

s. e focused instead on

calling on

andi from

andi, Gujarat to make

people.

ational ongress.

ahadev esai left) reading out a letter to Gandhi from theviceroy at Birla ouse, Bombay, 7 April

untouchables separate electorates under the new constitution. In protest, Gandhi embarked on asix-day

fast in September

. he resulting public outcry successfully forced the government to adopt an

equitable arrangement through negotiations mediated byPalwankarBaloo. his was the start of a new

campaign by Gandhi to improve the lives of the untouchables, whom he named God.

On

ay

, Gandhi began a

-day fast of self-purification to help the arijan movement.[

campaign was not universally embraced within the alitcommunity, as prominent leader B. .

Ambedkar condemned Gandhi's use of the term Harijans as saying that

alits were socially immature, and

that privileged caste Indians played a paternalistic role. Ambedkar and his allies also feltGandhi was

undermining

alit political rights. Gandhi had also refused to support the untouchables in

they were campaigning for the right to pray in temples. Because of Gandhi's actions, Ambedkar described

him as "devious and untrustworthy".[

7]

Gandhi, although born into the Vaishya caste, insisted that he was alit activists such as Ambedkar.

able to speak on behalf of alits, despite the presence of In the summer of

, three unsuccessful attempts were made on Gandhi's life.

hen the ongress Party chose to contest elections and accept power under the ederation scheme, e did not disagree with the party's move, but felt that if he

Gandhi resigned from party membership.

resigned, his popularity with Indians would cease to stifle the party's membership, which actually varied, including communists, socialists, trade unionists, students, religious conservatives, and those with probusiness convictions, and that these various voices would get a chance to make themselves heard. Gandhi

also wanted to avoid being a target for political accommodation with the aj.

aj propaganda by leading a party that had temporarily accepted

ongress. Although Gandhi wanted a total focus on the task of winning independence and not speculation

Gandhi returned to active politics again in

, with the

ehru presidency and the ucknow session of the

In

, through the campaigning of the alit leader B. . Ambedkar, the government granted

arijans, the children of

his new

when

about India's future, he did not restrain the ongress from adopting socialism as its goal. Gandhi had a

Bose's lack of commitment to democracy

[citation needed]

and lack of faith in non-violence. Bose won his second

term despite Gandhi's criticism, but left the ongress when the All-India leaders resigned en masse in protest of his abandonment of the principles introduced by Gandhi.[

World War II and Quit India

Main article: Quit India Movement

"non-violent moral support" to the British effort, but other

unilateral inclusion of India in the war, without consultation of the people's representatives. All ongressmen resigned from office.[

party to a war ostensibly being fought for democratic freedom, while that freedom was denied to India itself. As the war progressed, Gandhi intensified his demand for independence, drafting a resolution calling for the British toQuit India. his was Gandhi's and the ongress Party's most definitive revolt aimed at securing the British exit from India.[

Gandhi was criticised by some ongress party members and other Indian political groups, both pro -British and anti-British. Some felt that not supporting Britain more in its struggle against azi Germany was unethical. Others felt that Gandhi's refusal for India to participate in the war was insufficient and more direct opposition should be taken, while Britain fought against azism yet continued to contradict itself by refusing to grant India Independence. Quit Indiabecame the most forceful movement in the history of the struggle, with mass arrests and violence on an unprecedented scale.[

housands of freedom fighters were killed or

injured by police gunfire, and hundreds of thousands were arrested. Gandhi and his supporters made it clear they would not support the war effort unless India were granted immediate independence. e even clarified that this time the movement would not be stopped if individual acts of violence werecommitted, saying that the o rdered anarchy around him was worse than real anarchy." e called on all ongressmen and Indians to maintain discipline via ahimsa, and KaroYaMaro "Do or Die") in the cause of ultimate freedom.

'

# $!

&

"!

!!

&

 

orld

ar II broke out in

when azi Germany invaded Poland. Initially, Gandhi favoured offering ongressional leaders were offended by the

After long deliberations, Gandhi declared that India could not be



Jawaharlal ehru sitting next to Gandhi at the AI

General Session,

 

clash with Subhas Bose, who had been elected president in

. heir main points of contention were

&

. Gandhi was held for two years in the Aga Khan Palacein Pune. It was here that Gandhi suffered two

because of his failing health and necessary surgery; the aj did not want him to die in prison and enrage

a few years earlier had appeared marginal, "now occupied the centre of the political stage"[

of Jinnah's campaign for Pakistan was a major talking point. Gandhi met Jinnah in September

Bombay but Jinnah rejected, on the grounds that it fell short of a fully independent Pakistan, his proposal of

movement

[clarification needed]

brought order to India by the end of

clear indications that power would be transferred to Indian hands. At this point Gandhi called off the

Partition of India
See also: Partition of India

eague passed a resolution for them to divide and quit, in

[ 7]

Gandhi is believed to have been

opposed to the partition during independence and suggested an agreement which required the ongress

most riot prone areas to stop the massacres, personally.

9 T H

C6

majority.

hen Jinnah called for Direct Action, on

August
]

, Gandhi was infuriated and visited the

e made strong efforts to unite the Indian

question of partition could be resolved by a plebiscite in the districts with a

C 56 7

4 SH

and

u slim eague to cooperate and attain independence under a provisional government, thereafter, the uslim

Q 56 H 7

hile the Indian

ational ongress and Gandhi called for the British to quit India, the

AA A AA 6

struggle, and around

political prisoners were released, including the ongress's leadership.

Q 56 7

Although the

the right of

u slim provinces to opt out of substantial parts of the forthcoming political union. u it India movement had moderate success in its objective, the ruthless suppression of the . At the end of the war, the British gave

uslim

56 77

IH

the nation. e came out of detention to an altered political scene the

uslim eague for example, which

]

BC

Gandhi suffered a severe malaria attack. e was released before the end of the war on

ay

and the topic in

56 77

E 88

D6

later and his wife Kasturba died after

months imprisonment on

ebruary

; six weeks later

56 77

A@ 9

terrible blows in his personal life.

is

-year old secretary

ahadev Desai died of a heart attack

Gandhi and the entire ongress

orking

ommittee were arrested in Bombay by the British on

210)
August days

"I want world sympathy in this battle of right against might" Dandi

April

8 56 7 4 G

society.[ On the

followers, and his own presence, there would have been much more bloodshed during the partition,

Stanley

olpert's words sum up Gandhi's role and views on the partition perfectly:

heir plan to carve up British India was never approved of or accepted by Gandhi, however, who realised too late

that his closest comrades and disciples were more interested in power than principle, and that his own vision had long been clouded by the illusion that the struggle he led for India's freedom was a nonviolent one.

Assassination
r
See also: Assassination of Mohandas Karamchand andhi

aj Ghat, Delhi is a memorial to

ahatma Gandhi that marks the spot of his cremation

Gandhi's ashes at Aga Khan Palace Pune, India)

Stanley Wolpert,

andhi's Passion, he Life and Legacy of Mahatma

fW

according to prominent orwegian historian, Jens Arup Seip.[

dW

loss of life varying from several hundred thousand to a million.[

a cY

witnessed a displacement of up to

aY

th

and

August

bY `

XW U g

Hindus,

u slims and

hristians and struggled for the emancipation of the " untouchables" in Hindu

Y `

7 the Indian Independence Act was invoked and the following carnage . million people in the former British Indian Empire with an estimated
]

But for his teachings, the efforts of his

andhi,

xford University Press

prayer meeting. he assassin, athuramGodse, was a Hindu nationalist with links to the extremist Hindu ahasabha, who held Gandhi responsible for weakening India by insisting upon a payment to

believed to be Gandhi's last words after he was shot, though the veracity of this statement has been

"Friends and comrades, the light has gone out of our lives, and there is darkness everywhere, and I do not quite know what to tell you or how to say it. Our beloved leader, Bapu as we called him, the father of the nation, is no more. Perhaps I am wrong to say that; nevertheless, we will not see him again, as we have seen him for these many years, we will not run to him for advice or seek solace from him, and that is a terrible blow, not only for me, but for millions and millions in this country." Jawaharlal ehru's address to Gandhi

7, ushar Gandhi immersed the contents of one urn, found in a bank vault and reclaimed through the

another urn were immersed at GirgaumChowpatty by the family after a Dubai-based businessman had sent

Angeles.

he family is aware that these enshrined ashes could be misused for political purposes but
]

Principles, practices and beliefs

See also: andhism

Truth & Satya raha

[ does not want to have them removed because it would entail breaking the shrines.

had been imprisoned from

to

it to a

) and another in the Self-Realization Fellowship ake Shrine in o s

j e

umbai museum.[

Another urn has ended up in a palace of the Aga Khan in Pune[

di i

ih

iver near Jinja, g anda, and a memorial plaque marks the event. On

January

the contents of

where he

courts, at the Sangam at Allahabad.[

][ 7 ]

Some of Gandhi's ashes were scattered at the source of the

immersed at the Sangam at Allahabad on

February

but some were secretly taken away.[

Gandhi's ashes were poured into urns which were sent across India for memorial services.

disputed.[

Jawaharlal ehru addressed the nation through radio:[

am", Devanagari:

or, He

m), which may be translated as "Oh God". hese are widely

on

ovember

. Gandhi's memorial orSam dhi) at

y yx

Pakistan.[

Godse and his co-conspirator arayan Apte were later tried and convicted; they were executed jGh t, ew Delhi, bears the epigraph "H

wv

On

January

yx

, Gandhi was shot while he was walking to a platform from which he was to address a

ost were
]

In

ile

Gandhi dedicated his life to the wider purpose of discovering truth, or Satya. He tried to achieve this by learning from his own mistakes and conducting experiments on himself. He called his autobiographyThe Story of My E periments with Truth. Gandhi stated that the most important battle to fight was overcoming his own demons, fears, and insecurities. Gandhi summarised his beliefs first when he said "God is Truth". He would later change this statement to "Truth is God". Thus, Satya (Truth) in Gandhi's philosophy is "God". eld, who claims that Gandhi asked Gandhi's commitment to truth has been questioned by oseph Lelyv journalists to quote "not the words that had actually come from his mouth but a version he authorised after

The essence of Satyagraha(lit. 'insistence/holding of truth') is that it seeks to eliminate antagonisms without harming the antagonists themselves and seeks to transform or purify it to a higher level. A euphemism sometimes used for Satyagraha is that it is a silent force or a soul force (a term also used by Martin Luther King r. during his famous I Have a Dream speech). It arms the individual with moral power rather than physical power. Satyagraha is also termed a universal force, as it essentially makes no distinction between kinsmen and strangers, young and old, man and woman, friend and foe.[59] Gandiji wrote: There must be no impatience, no barbarity, no insolence, no undue pressure. If we want to cultivate a true spirit of democracy, we cannot afford to be intolerant. Intolerance betrays want of faith in one's cause.[60] Civil disobedience and non-cooperation as practised under Satyagraha are based on the law ofsuffering,[61] a doctrine that the endurance of suffering is a means to an end. This end usually implies a moral upliftment or progress of an individual or society. Therefore, non-cooperation in Satyagraha is in fact a means to secure the cooperation of the opponent consistently with truth and justice.

Nonviolen e
Although Gandhi was not the originator of the principle of non-violence, he was the first to apply it in the political field on a large scale.[62] The concept of nonviolence (ahimsa) and nonresistance has a long history in Indian religious thought and has had many revivals in Hindu, Buddhist, ain, ewish and Christian contexts. Gandhi explains his philosophy and way of life in his autobiography The Story of My E periments with Truth. He was quoted as saying: "When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall think of it, always." "What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy?" "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." "There are many causes that I am prepared to die for but no causes that I am prepared to kill for."

his sometimes heavy editing of the transcripts".[3

"God is truth. The way to truth lies through ahimsa (non-violence)"

Sabarmati13 March 192

Gandhi nurses ParchureShastri, asanskrit scholar afflicted by leprosy, atSabarmati Ashram,

In applying these principles, Gandhi did not balk from taking them to their most logical extremes in envisioning a world where even government, police an armies were nonviolent. he quotations below are d

he science of war leads one to dictatorship, pure and simple. he science of non -violence alone can lead

one to pure democracy...Power based on love is thousand times more effective and permanent than power derived from fear of punishment....It is a blasphemy to say non-violence can be practiced only by individuals and never by nations which are c omposed of individuals... he nearest approach to purest anarchy would be a democracy based on non-violence...A society organised and run on the basis of complete non-violence would be the purest anarchy I have conceded that even in a non-violent state a police force may be necessary...Police ranks will be composed of believers in non-violence. he people will instinctively render them every help and through mutual cooperation they will easily deal with the ever decreasing disturbances...Violent quarrels bet een w labor and capital and strikes will be few and far between in a non-violent state because the influence of the non-violent majority will be great as to respect the principle elements in society. Similarly, there will be no room for communal disturbances.... A non-violent army acts unlike armed men, as well in times of peace as in times of disturbances. heirs will be the duty of bringing warring communities together, carrying peace propaganda, engaging in activities that would bring and keep them in touch with every single person in their parish or division. Such an army should be ready to cope with any emergency, and in order to still the frenzy of mobs should risk their lives in numbers sufficient for that purpose. ...Satyagraha truth-force) brigades can be organised in every village and every block of buildings in the cities. [If the non-violent society is attacked from without] there are two ways open to non-violence. o yield possession, but non-cooperate with the aggressor...prefer death to submission. he second way would be non-violent resistance by the people who have been trained in the non-violent way... he unexpected spectacle of endless rows upon rows of men and women simply dying rather than surrender to the will of an aggressor must ultimately melt him and his soldiery...A nation or group which has made non-violence its final policy cannot be subjected to slavery even by the atom bomb.... he level of non-violence in that nation, if that even happily comes to pass, will naturally have risen so high as to command universal respect.

imminent, Gandhi offered the following advice to the British people Non-Violence in Peace and War):[

"I would like you to lay down the arms you have as being useless for saving you or humanity. You will invite

Herr Hitler and Signor

ussolini to take what they want of the countries you call your possessions...If these

In accordance with these views, in

, when invasion of the British Isles by

azi Germany looked

]

~} 

{z

from the book "For Pacifists."[

xw u v

gentlemen choose to occupy your homes, you will vacate them. If they do not give you free passage out, you will allow yourselves, man, woman, and child, to be slaughtered, but you will refuse to owe allegiance to them." In a post-war interview in 1946, he offered a view at an even further extreme: "Hitler," Gandhi said, "killed five million ews. It is the greatest crime of our time. But the ews should have offered themselves to the butchers knife. They should have thrown themselves into the sea from cliffs... It would have aroused the world and the people of Germany... As it is they succumbed anyway in their millions."[65] However, Gandhi realised that this level of nonviolence required incredible faith and courage, which he believed everyone did not possess. He therefore advised that everyone need not keep to nonviolence, especially if it were used as a cover for cowardice: "Gandhi guarded against attracting to his satyagraha movement those who feared to take up arms or felt themselves incapable of resistance. 'I do believe,' he wrote, 'that where there is only a choice between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence.'"[66] "At every meeting I repeated the warning that unless they felt that in non-violence they had come into possession of a force infinitely superior to the one they had and in the use of which they were adept, they should have nothing to do with non-violence and resume the arms they possessed before. It must never be said of the KhudaiKhidmatgars that once so brave, they had become or been made cowards under Badshah Khan's influence. Their bravery consisted not in being good marksmen but in defying death

Gandhi also came under some political fire for his criticism of those who attempted to achieve independence through more violent means. According to a report in the Frontline maga ine, he did plead several times for the commutation of the death sentence of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev including a personal visit on 19 March 1931 and in a letter to the Viceroy on the day of their execution, pleading fervently for the commutation.[68] Winston Churchill said that it was "nauseating" to see Gandhi, "a seditious Middle Temple lawyer, now posing as a fakir of a type well-known in the Middle East, striding half-naked up the steps of the Vice-regal palace. ..to parley on equal terms with the representative of the King-Emperor".[69] He continued this argument in a number of articles reprinted in Homer ack's The Gandhi Reader: A

commented upon the 1930s persecution of the ews in Germany within the context of Satyagraha. He offered non-violence as a method of combating the difficulties ews faced in Germany, sta ting, If I were a ew and were born in Germany and earned my livelihood there, I would claim Germany as my home even as the tallest Gentile German might, and challenge him to shoot me or cast me in the dungeon; I would refuse to be expelled or to submit to discriminating treatment. And for doing this I should not wait

Sourcebook of His ife and

ritings. In the first, "Zionism and Anti-Semitism," written in 1938, Gandhi

and being ever ready to bare their breasts to the bullets."[6

for the fellow ews to join me in civil resistance, but would have confidence that in the end the rest were bound to follow my example. If one ew or all the ews were to accept the prescription here offered, he or they cannot be worse off than now. And suffering voluntarily undergone will bring them an inner strength and joy...the calculated violence of Hitler may even result in a general massacre of the ews by way of his first answer to the declaration of such hostilities. But if the ewish mind could be prepared for voluntary suffering, even the massacre I have imagined could be turned into a day of thanksgiving and joy that ehovah had wrought deliverance of the race even at the hands of the tyrant. For to the God-fearing, death
0]

Gandhi was highly criticised for these statements and responded in the article "Questions on the ews" with "Friends have sent me two newspaper cuttings criticising my appeal to the ews. The two critics suggest that in presenting non-violence to the ews as a remedy against the wrong done to them, I have suggested nothing new...what I have pleaded for is renunciation of violence of the heart and consequent active

Gandhi's statements regarding ews facing the impending Holocaust have attracted criticism from a

1939. Buber asserted that the comparison between British treatment of Indian subjects and Na i treatment of ews was inappropriate; moreover, he noted that when Indians were the victims of persecution, Gandhi

Gandhi commented upon the 1930s persecution of the ews in Germany within the context of Satyagraha. In the November 1938 article on the Na i persecution of the ews quoted above, he offered non-violence as a solution: The German persecution of the ews seems to have no parallel in history. The tyrants of old never went so mad as Hitler seems to have gone. And he is doing it with religious eal. For he is propounding a new religion of exclusive and militant nationalism in the name of which any inhumanity becomes an act of humanity to be rewarded here and hereafter. The crime of an obviously mad but intrepid youth is being visited upon his whole race with unbelievable ferocity. If there ever could be a justifiable war in t e name of h and for humanity, a war against Germany, to prevent the wanton persecution of a whole race, would be completely justified. But I do not believe in any war. A discussion of the pros and cons of such a war is therefore outside my hori on or province. But if there can be no war against Germany, even for such a crime as is being committed against the ews, surely there can be no alliance with Germany. How can there be alliance between a nation which claims to stand for justice and democracy and one which is the

Vegetarianism
As a child, Gandhi experimented with meat-eating. This was due partially to his inherent curiosity as well as his rather persuasive peer and friend Sheikh Mehtab. The idea of vegetarianism is deeply ingrained in Hindu and ain traditions in India, and, in his native land of Gujarat, most Hindus are vegetarian and so are

declared enemy of both?"[

4][ 5 ]

had, on occasion, supported the use of force.[

3]

number of commentators.[

2]

Martin Buber wrote a sharply critical open letter to Gandhi on 24 February

exercise of the force generated by the great renunciation.[

1]

has no terror.[

made a promise to his mother, Putlibai and his uncle, Becharji Swami that he would abstain from eating meat, taking alcohol, and engaging in promiscuity. He held fast to his promise and gained more than a diet: he gained a basis for his life-long philosophies. As Gandhi grew into adulthood, he became a

subject, some of which were published in the London Vegetarian Society's publication, The

Having also read and admired the work of Henry Stephens Salt, the young Mohandas met and often corresponded with the vegetarian campaigner. Gandhi spent much time advocating vegetarianism during and after his time in London. To Gandhi, a vegetarian diet would not only satisfy the requirements of the body, it would also serve an economic purpose as meat was, and still is, generally more expensive than grains, vegetables, and fruits. Also, many Indians of the time struggled with low income, thus vegetarianism was seen not only as a spiritual practice but also a practical one. He abstained from eating for long periods, using fasting as a form of political protest. He refused to eat until his death or his demands were met. Gandhi noted in his autobiography that vegetarianism was the beginning of his deep commitment to Brahmacharya; without total control of the palate, his success in Bramacharya would likely falter. Gandhi also experimented with fruitarianism, stating in his autobiography, "I decided to live on a pure fruit diet, and that too composed of the cheapest fruit possible ... Raw groundnuts, bananas, dates, lemons and olive oil composed our usual diet."[80] However, late in life he broke his discipline and started taking goat's milk on the advice of his doctor. This lapse of discipline bothered him to his dying day, and he wrote, "The memory of this action even now rankles my breast and fills me with remorse, and I am constantly thinking how to give up goat's milk." He never took dairy products obtained from cows because of his view initially that milk is not the natural diet of man, disgust for cow blowing,[81] and, specifically, because of a vow to his late mother.

NaiTalim, Basi Edu ation

Main article: NaiTalim NaiTalim is a spiritual principle which states that knowledge and work are not separate. Gandhi promoted
[82] an educational curriculum with the same name based on this pedagogical principle.

It can be translated with the phrase 'Basic Education for all'.[83] However, the concept has several layers of meaning. It developed out of Gandhi's experience with the English educational system and with colonialism in general. In that system, he saw that Indian children would be alienated and 'career -based thinking' would become dominant. In addition, it embodied a series of negative outcomes: the disdain for manual work, the development of a new elite class, and the increasing problems of industrialisation and urbanisation.

befriended by the chairman of the London Vegetarian Society, Dr. osiah

Vegetarian.[

9]

During this period, the young Gandhi became inspired by many great minds and was ldfield.

strict vegetarian. He wrote the book The Moral Basis of Vegetarianism[

almost all ains.[

6 ][

The Gandhi family was no exception. Before leaving for his studies in London, Gandhi

8]

and several articles on the

The three pillars of Gandhi's pedagogy were its focus on the life-long character of education, its social character and its form as a holistic process. For Gandhi, education is 'the moral development of the person', a process that is by definition 'life-long'.[

Brahmacharya, sexuality

Gandhi with textile workers at Darwen, ancashire,

September

father at all times during his illness. However, one night, Gandhi's uncle came to relieve Gandhi for a while. Gandhi retired to his bedroom and had sex with his wife. Shortly afterward a servant came to report that Gandhi's father had just died. Gandhi felt tremendous guilt and never could forgive himself. He came to refer to this event as "double shame." The incident had significant influence in Gandhi becomingcelibate at

This decision was deeply influenced by the philosophy ofBrahmacharya spiritual and practical purity largely associated with celibacy and asceticism. Gandhi saw Brahmacharya as a means of becoming close with God and as a primary foundation for self-realisation. In his autobiography he tells of his battle against lustful urges and fits of jealousy with his childhood bride, Kasturba. He felt it his personal obligation to remain celibate so that he could learn to love, rather than lust. For Gandhi, Brahmacharya meant "control of

ithin a year of his chastity vow, Gandhi's newspaper, the Indian Opinion, wrote "It is the duty of every

thoughtful Indian not to marry. In case he is helpless in regard to marriage, he should abstain from sexual intercourse with his wife". Gandhi also conducted sexual experiments in his ashrams. In these ashrams,

women were segregated. Gandhi also advised that husbands should not be alone with their wives, and,

elyveld, has led to claims that he was "a sexual weirdo".

relationship with Hermann Kallenbach, a "German-Jewish architect and bodybuilder". Andrew

continued to send letters after they were separated by Gandhi's return to India in that the press coverage "grossly distort[s]" the overall message of the book.

Towards the end of his life, it became public knowledge that Gandhi had been sharing his bed for a numb er

actions as "nature cure". ater in his life he started experimenting with brahmacharya in order to test his

of years with young women.[

][

He explained that he did this for bodily warmth at night and termed his

prevent the government of the Indian state Gujarat, Gandhi's birth state, from banning the book.[

However, this did not

]

Roberts for The

all Street Journal says that Gandhi left his wife for Kallenbach in

A recent biography of Gandhi, Great Soul:

ahatma Gandhi and His Struggle

[ 7]

The controversy surround's Gandhi's

when they felt sexual desire, should take a cold bath.[

7]

ith India by Joseph

. The pair

. elyveld has stated

boys and girls bathed together, slept in the same beds, but were punished for any sexual talk.

the senses in thought, word and deed.".[

the age of

, while still married.[

hen Gandhi was

his father became very ill. Being very devoted to his parents, he attended to his

en and

self-control. His letter to Birla in April 1945 referring to 'women or girls who have been naked with me' indicates that several women were part of his experiments.[92] He wrote five editorials in Harijan discussing the practice of brahmacharya.[93] As part of these experiments, he initially slept with his women associates in the same room but at a distance. Afterwards he started to lie in the same bed with his women disciples and later took to sleeping naked alongside them.[92] According to Gandhi active-celibacy meant perfect self-control in the presence of the opposite sex. Gandhi conducted his experiments with a number of women such as Abha, the sixteen year-old wife of his grandnephew Kanu Gandhi.[94] Gandhi acknowledged "that this experiment is very dangerous indeed", but thought "that it was capable of yielding great results".[95] His nineteen-year-old grandniece, Manu Gandhi, too was part of his experiments. Gandhi had earlier written to her father, aisukhlal Gandhi, that Manu had started to share his bed so that he may "correct her sleeping

posture".[95] Gandhi saw himself as a mother to these women and would refer to Abha and Manu as "my walking sticks". Gandhi called Sarladevi, a married woman with children and a devout follower, his "spiritual wife". He later said that he had come close to having sexual relations with her.[96] He had told a correspondent in March, 1945 that "sleeping together came with my taking up of bramhacharya or even before that"; he said he had experimented with his wife "but that was not enough".[95] Gandhi felt satisfied with his experiments and wrote to Manu that "I have successfully practised the eleven vows taken by me. This is the culmination of my striving for last thirty-six years. In this yajna I got a glimpse of the ideal truth and purity for which I have

According to Gandhi's letters, some of his "experiments" included stripteases and other non-contact sexual activity. Explicit material has been found in his letters, although much of it was destroyed, with one reading

Gandhi complained of experiencing "involuntary discharges" more frequently since his return to India. He believed, however, that semen held special power, saying "one who conserves his vital fluid acquires

Gandhi had to take criticism for his experiments by many of his followers and opponents. His stenographer, R. P. Parasuram, resigned when he saw Gandhi sleeping naked with Manu.[98] Gandhi insisted that he never felt aroused while he slept beside her, or with SushilaNayar or Abha. "I am sorry" Gandhi said to Parasuram, "you are at liberty to leave me today." Nirmal Kumar Bose, leading anthropologist and close associate of Gandhi, parted company with him in April, 194 post Gandhi's tour of Noakhali, where some sort of altercation had taken place between Gandhi and Sushila in his bedroom at midnight that caused Gandhi to slap his forehead. Bose said, "there was no immorality on part of Gandhi. Moreover Gandhi tried to conquer the feeling of sex by consciously endeavouring to convert himself into a mother of those who were under his case, whether men or women". This maternal emphasis has also been pointed out by DattatreyaBalkrushnaKalelkar, a revolutionary turned disciple of Gandhi.[99]

unfailing power".[8

[8 "Vina's sleeping with me might be called an accident. All that can be said is that she slept close to me".

been striving".[9

Simplicity

Gandhi having tea with ord

Gandhi earnestly believed that a person involved in public service should lead asimple life. He first displayed this principle when he gave up wearing western -style clothing, which he associated with wealth and success.

hen he returned to India he renounced the western lifestyle he led in South Africa, where

he had enjoyed a successful legal practice. Gandhi dressed to be accepted by the poorest person in India, advocating the use of homespun cloth khadi). He and his followers adopted the practice of weaving their own clothes from thread they

themselves spun on a charkha, and encouraged others to do so.

to unemployment, they had often bought their clothing from industrial manufacturers owned by British interests. The Swadeshi movement held that if Indians made their own clothes, it would deal an economic blow to the British establishment in India. Gandhian simplicity was a sign and expression

Congress. He subsequently wore a dhoti for the rest of his life to express the simplicity of his life. The practice of giving up unnecessary expenditure, embracing a simple lifestyle and washing his own

Gandhi spent one day of each week in silence. He believed that abstaining from speaking brought him inner peace and made him a better listener. This influence was drawn from the Hindu principles ofmauna S anskrit: silence) and shanti S anskrit: peace). On such days he communicated with others by writing on paper. For three and a half years, from the age of 7, Gandhi refused to read newspapers, claiming that the tumultuous state of world affairs caused him more confu sion than his own inner unrest. After reading John Ruskin's Unto his Last, he decided to change his lifestyle and create a commune called Phoenix Settlement.

Faith
Gandhi was born a Hindu and practised Hinduism all his life. As a common Hindu, he believed all religions to be equal, and rejected all efforts to convert him to a different faith. He was an avid theologian and read extensively about all major religions. He had the following to say about Hinduism: Hinduism as I know it entirely satisfies my soul, fills my whole being...

disappointments stare me in the face, and when I see not one ray of light on the horizon, I turn to

the Bhagavad

ita, and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of

from the

atals for his diligent service to the community.[

clothes, Gandhi called "reducing himself to zero".[

On one occasion he returned the gifts bestowed to him

]

hen doubts haunt me, when

of swadeshiprinciples. Consequently, the charkha was later incorporated into the flag of the Indian

ountbatten

hile Indian workers were often idle due

ational

Gandhi wrote a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita in Gujarati. The Gujarati manuscript was translated into

a Foreword by Gandhi in

Gandhi believed that at the core of every religion was truth and love compassion, nonviolence andthe Golden Rule). He also questioned what he saw as hypocrisy, malpractices, and dogma in all religions, including his own, and he was a tireless advocate for social reform in religion. Some of his comments on various religions are: Thus if I could not accept Christianity either as a perfect, or the greatest religion, neither was I then convinced of Hinduism being such. Hindu defects were pressingly visible to me. If untouchability could be a part of Hinduism, it could but be a rotten part or an excrescence. I could not understand the raison d'tre of a multitude of sects and castes. hat was the meaning of saying that the Vedas were the inspired

God? If they were inspired, why not also the Bible and the Koran? As Christian friends were endeavouring

course he had always something to say regarding its beauty. Gandhi's autobiography As soon as we lose the moral basis, we cease to be religious. There is no such thing as religion overriding -

I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ. God has no religion. ater in his life, when he was asked whether he was a Hindu, he replied, "Yes I am. I am also a Christian, a uslim, a Buddhist and a Jew."

Gandhi met the Indian spiritual teacher eher Baba aboard the S.S. Rajputana on his way to the second

to break his silence.

In spite of their deep reverence to each other, Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore engaged in protracted debates more than once. These debates exemplify the philosophical differences between the two most

Round Table Conference in ondon in

, saying that he was very happy to meet Baba and asking him

The sayings of

morality.

an, for instance, cannot be untruthful, cruel or incontinent and claim to have God on his side. uhammad are a treasure of wisdom, not only for u slims but for all of mankind.

to convert me, so were

u slim friends. Abdullah Seth had kept on inducing me to study Islam, and of

English by

ahadev Desai, who provided an additional introduction and commentary. It was published with .[
][ ]

Gandhi Smriti The house Gandhi lodged in the last

months of his life has now become a monument,

effect on me, I owe it to the teachings of the Bhagavad

overwhelming sorrow.

y life has been full of tragedies and if they have not left any visible and indelible ita.

ew Delhi)

ord of

and loss of life. Gandhi maintained this was because of the sin committed by upper caste Hindus by not letting untouchables in their temples Gandhi was committed to the cause of improving the fate of untouchables, referring to them as Harijans). Tagore vehemently opposed Gandhi's stance, maintaining that an earthquake can only be caused by natural forces, not moral reasons, however repugnant the

Gandhi took a keen interest in theosophy. He empathised with theosophy's message of "universal brotherhood and consequent toleration", as he put it in

Swaraj, Sel -Rule

Main article: Swaraj

underlying government. anarchy."

[

hile political systems are largely hierarchical, with each layer of authority from the individual

to the central government have increasing levels of authority over the layer below, Gandhi believed that society should be the exact opposite, where nothing is done without the consent of anyone, down to the individual. His idea was that true self-rule in a country means that every person rules his or herself and that

conflict mediation, as power is divested from layers of hierarchical authorities, ultimately to the individu al, which would come to embody the ethic of nonviolence. Rather than a system where rights are enforced by a higher authority, people are self-governed by mutual responsibilities. On returning from South Africa, when Gandhi received a letter asking for his participation in writing a world charter for human rights, he

India for him meant the existence of thousands of self-sufficient small communities an idea possibly from Tolstoy) who rule themselves without hindering others. It did not mean merely transferring a British established administrative structure into Indian hands which he said was justmaking Hindustan into Englistan.[
]

He wanted to ultimately dissolve the Congress Party after independence and establish a

iterary works

system of direct democracy in India,[

having no faith in the British styled parliamentary system.[

responded saying, "in my experience, it is far more important to have a charter for human duties."[

there is no state which enforces laws upon the people.[

He once said that "the ideally nonviolent state would be an ordered

Gandhi was a self-described philosophical anarchist,[

Gandhi with Rabindranath Tagore,

7][

practice of untouchability may be.[

famous Indians at the time. On

January

, an earthquake hit Bihar and caused extensive damage

.[

and his vision of India meant India without an

This would be achieved over time with nonviolent

A free

Young India, a journal published by Gandhi

Gandhi was a prolific writer. For decades he edited several newspapers including Harijan in Gujarati,

addition, he wrote letters almost every day to individuals and newspapers. However, Andrew Roberts writes that 'we cannot be certain that he really made all the pronouncements attributed to him, since,

Gandhi also wrote several books including his autobiography, An Autobiography of My Experiments with ruth Gujar t " " , of which he bought the entire first edition to
[ 7]

make sure it was reprinted.

His other autobiographies included: Satyagraha in South Africa about his ule, a political pamphlet, and a paraphrase in Gujarati of John

wrote extensively on vegetarianism, diet and health, religion, social reforms, etc. Gandhi usually wrote in Gujarati, though he also revised the Hindi and English tran slations of his books.

argue that the government incorporated the changes for political purposes. The Indian government later

egacy and depictions in popular culture

See also: List of artistic depictions of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi The word Mahatma, while often mistaken for Gandhi's given name in the

the Sanskrit words maha m eaning Great) and atma m eaningSoul). Rabindranath Tagore is said to have

Followers and international influence

ahatma Gandhi on a

postage stamp of the Soviet

the title, and was often pained by it.[

accorded the title to Gandhi.[

In his autobiography, Gandhi nevertheless explains that he never valued

]

nion.

withdrew the revised edition.[

volumes. In

, a revised edition of the complete works sparked a controversy, as Gandhian followers

7]

of Mahatma Gandhi in the

s. The writings comprise about

pages published in about a hundred

est, is taken from

Gandhi's complete works were published by the Indian government under the name he

Ruskin's Unto his Last.[

This last essay can be considered his programme on economics. He also

struggle there, Hind Swaraj or Indian Home

mouth but a version he authorised after his sometimes heavy editing of the transcripts."'.[

according to

r. elyveld, Gandhi insisted that journalists file "not the words that had actually come from his
7]

avajivan, a Gujarati monthly, on his return to India. ater,

ollected Works

in Hindi and in the English language; Indian

pinion while in South Africa and, Young India, in English, and avajivan was also published in Hindi.[
]

In

1934. Martin Luther King, r. also stayed here in the 1950s.

Gandhi influenced important leaders and political movements. Leaders of thecivil rights movement in the United States, including Martin Luther King and ames Lawson, drew from the writings of Gandhi in the development of their own theories about non-violence.[120][121][122] Anti-apartheid activist and former

President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, was inspired by Gandhi.[123]

thers include Khan Abdul Ghaffar

Khan,[124] Steve Biko, Aung San SuuKyi,[125] and Benigno Aquino, r. (the Philippine opposition leader during the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos and father of current Philippine president Benigno Aquino III). "Christ gave us the goals and Mahatma Gandhi the tactics." Martin Luther King r, 1955[126] In his early years, the former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela was a follower of the non-violent resistance philosophy of Gandhi.[123] Bhana and Vahed commented on these events as "Gandhi inspired succeeding generations of South African activists seeking to end White rule. This legacy connects hi m

to Nelson Mandela...in a sense Mandela completed what Gandhi started."[12

Gandhi's life and teachings inspired many who specifically referred to Gandhi as their mentor or who dedicated their lives to spreading Gandhi's ideas. In Europe,Romain Rolland was the first to discuss Gandhi in his 1924 book Mahatma Gandhi, and Bra ilian anarchist and feminist Maria Lacerda de Moura wrote about Gandhi in her work on pacifism. In 1931, notable European physicist Albert Einstein exchanged written letters with Gandhi, and called him "a role model for the generations to come" in a later writing about him.[128] Lan adelVasto went to India in 1936 intending to live with Gandhi; he later returned to Europe to spread Gandhi's philosophy and founded the Community of the Ark in 1948 (modelled after Gandhi's ashrams). Madeleine Slade (known as "Mirabehn") was the daughter of a British admiral who spent much of her adult life in India as a devotee of Gandhi. In addition, the British musician ohn Lennon referred to Gandhi when discussing his views on nonviolence.[129] At the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in 200 , former U.S. Vice-President and environmentalist Al Gore spoke of Gandhi's influence on him.[130]
  

President of the United States Barack India said that:

bama in an address to a oint Session of the Parliament of

"I am mindful that I might not be standing before you today, as President of the United States, had it not

been for Gandhi and the message he shared with America and the world." to a oint Session of the Parliament of India, 2010

[131]

Barack

bama in an address

bama at the Wakefield High School speech in Sept 2009, said that his biggest inspiration came from

Mahatma Gandhi. His reply was in response to the question 'Who was the one person, dead or live, that you would choose to dine with?'. He continued that "He's somebody I find a lot of inspiration in. He inspired Dr. King with his message of nonviolence. He ended up doing so much and changed the world just by the power of his ethics."

President Barack

bama and First LadyMichelle

bama visiting Mani Bhavan where Gandhi stayed from year 191 to

naming ceremony.

Global holidays
adopted" a resolution declaring

every year is observed the School Day of on-violence and Peace in schools of many countries.[

Awards

all religions".

ahatma Gandhi's life achievement stands unique in political history. He has invented a completely new

and humane means for the liberation war of an oppressed country, and practised it with greatest energy and devotion. The moral influence he had on the consciously thinking human being of the entire civilized world will probably be much more lasting than it seems in our time with its overestimation of brutal violent forces. Because lasting will only be the work of such statesmen who wake up and strengthen t e moral h power of their people through their example and educational works.

destiny gifted us with such an enlightened contemporary, a role model for the generations to come.

heirs to non-violence.

eradicate racial discrimination and segregation, is a prominent non -Indian recipient. In

, including the first-ever nomination by the American Friends Service Committee, 7 and

[ regret for the omission, and admitted to deeply divided nationalistic opinion denying the award. ] Gandhi

was nominated in

but was assassinated before nominations closed. That year,the committee chose

not to award the peace prize stating that "there was no suitable living candidate" and later research shows that the possibility of awarding the prize posthumously to Gandhi was discussed and that the reference to

EF

1 0)

the short list only twice, in

7.[

Decades later, the Nobel Committee publicly declared its

C43

though he made

10 )

Gandhi never received the Nobel Peace Prize, although he was nominated five times between

@9

, Time magazine named Gandhi as one of the top

A43

social workers, world leaders and citizens. Nelson

E D3 70)

B 0) 7

43

7]

The Government of India awards the annual Gandhi Peace Prize to distinguished andela, the leader of South Africa's struggle to

SuuKyi, Benigno Aquino, Jr., Desmond Tutu, andNelson

andela as Children of Gandhi and his spiritual

[ political icons of all time.

Time Magazine named The

th Dalai ama, ech

a sa,

artin uther King, Cesar Chavez, Aung San

0 00)

Einstein as "Person of the Century" [

at the end of

2 1 0)

543 (

Time magazine named Gandhi the

'

) 7

&

onument to

ahatma Gandhi in ew Belgrade, Serbia. On the monument is written "Non -violence is the essence of

an of the Year in

. Gandhi was also the runner-up to Albert

. Einstein said of Gandhi:

e may all be happy and grateful that

 #

countries with a Southern Hemisphere school calendar, it can be observed on

arch.

% $

 #  

October as "theInternational Day of on-Violence."[

"

"

"

 

!

On

June

7, it was announced that the "United



ations General Assembly" has "unanimously

]

 



Gandhi. The district officially received its named on

The

ahatma Gandhi District in Houston, Texas, n ited States, an ethnic Indian enclave, is named after January when the City of Houston held a

January of
][ ]

In

)) 29

B 0) 7

&

7 and

no suitable living candidate was to Gandhi.[140] When the 14th Dalai Lama was awarded the Pri e in 1989, the chairman of the committee said that this was "in part a tribute to the memory of Mahatma Gandhi."[140]
G

Film and literature

Mahatma Gandhi has been portrayed in film, literature, and in the theatre. Ben Kingsley portrayed Gandhi in the 1982 film Gandhi, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Gandhi is also a central theme in the 2006 Bollywood film ageRahoMunnaBhai. The 200 film, Gandhi, My Father explores the relationship between Gandhi and his son Harilal. The 1996 film, The Making of the Mahatma, documents Gandhi's time in South Africa. Several biographers have undertaken the task of describing Gandhi's life. Among them are: D. G. Tendulkar with his Mahatma. ife of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in eight volumes, and Pyarelal andSushilaNayar with their Mahatma Gandhi in 10 volumes. There is also another documentary, titled Mahatma: Life of Gandhi, 1869 1948, which is 14 chapters and 6 hours long. In April 2010, Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle With India by oseph Lelyveld was released. It contains controversial claims that Gandhi was "a sexual weirdo, a political incompetent and a fanatical faddistone who was often downright cruel to those around him."[3 ] Lelyveld has stated that the press coverage "grossly distort[s]" the overall message of the book.[88] However, this did not prevent the government of the Indian state Gujarat, Gandhi's birth state, from banning the book.[89]
R Q P H I H

Current impa t within India

"Gandhi remains Indias patriarch, the founding father whose face is printed on the currency, but modern India is hardly a Gandhian nation, if it ever was one. His vision of a village-dominated economy was shunted aside during his lifetime as rural romanticism, and his call for a national ethos of personal austerity and nonviolence has proved antithetical to the goals of an aspiring e conomic and military power ... Gandhi is still revered here, and credited with shaping Indias political identity as a tolerant, secular democracy. But he can sometimes seem to hover over modern India like a parent whose expectations are rarely met."