Contribution of Mahatma Gandhi in India's

freedom struggle

Submitted by – Tanvi Ghai Submitted TO

Class – X-B MRs.SukhjeetBedi
 Mahatma Gandhi – The Father of Nation
•Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born
on October 2 1869 to a Modh baniya
family in Porbandar. Gandhi's father was
Karamchand Uttamchand Gandhi, his
mother was Putlibai Gandhi.
•Gandhi was an average student and
went to London in 1888 to study Law at
university of London and also earned to
become a barrister.
•He even studied in samaldas Arts
college and tried to establish his Career.
 The Satyagraha
Mahatma Gandhi returned to India in January 1915 , he
had come from South Africa where he had successfully
fought the racist regime with a novel method of mass
agitation, which he
called satyagraha. It suggested that if the cause
was true, if the struggle was against injustice, then
physical force was not necessary to fight the oppressor
 The satyagraha Movements
After arriving in India, Mahatma Gandhi successfully organised
satyagraha movements in various places.
• In 1917 he travelled to Champaran in Bihar to inspire the peasants to
struggle against the oppressive plantation system.
• Then in 1917, he organized a satyagraha to support the peasants of the
Kheda district of Gujarat.
• In 1918, Mahatma Gandhi went to Ahmedabad to organize
a satyagraha movement amongst cotton mill workers

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 Khilafat Movement
Khilafat movement was started by the Ali brothers to show the
protest against unjust done with the Turkey after the First World
War. Under the guidance of Mahatma Gandhi the movement was
launched against the British government to restore the collapsing
status of the Caliph in Turkey. All India Conference was held in Delhi
where Mahatma Gandhi was elected as a president. He also
returned the medals received from the British Empire in South
Africa. The success of the Khilafat movement made him the
national leader.
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 Non-Cooperation Movement
Non-Cooperation movement was launched in 1920 by Mahatma Gandhi
due to the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. Mahatma Gandhi thought that this
will continue and Britishers will enjoy their control over Indians. With the
help of Congress, Gandhi ji convinced people for starting non-cooperation
movement in a peaceful way which is key factor to attain independence.
He framed the concept of Swaraj and it became a crucial element in the
Indian freedom struggle. The movement gained momentum and people
started boycotting the products and establishments of British government
like schools, colleges, government offices. But due to Chauri Chaura
incident, Mahatma Gandhi ended the movement because in this incident
23 police officials were killed.
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 Civil Disobedience Movement
He started the movement with Dandi March from 12 March to 6
April, 1930. Mahatma Gandhi along with his followers marched
from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi in Nausari District, Ahmedabad
on the sea coast and broke the salt law by making salt on 6 April,
1930.
Under this movement student left college and government servant
resigned from the office. Boycott foreign clothes, communal
burning of foreign clothes, non-payment of government taxes,
women stage Dharna at the government liquor shop etc.
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 Quit India Movement
Mahatma Gandhi launches Quit India movement on 8 August, 1942 during Second
World War to drive British rule out of India. In the movement Mahatma Gandhi
delivered 'Do or Die' speech. As a result the entire members of Indian National
Congress were arrested by the British officials and imprisoned them without trial.
But the protest continued across the nation. By the end of World War II, British
government cleared that they will hand over the powers to India. Mahatma
Gandhi called off the movement which results in the release of thousands of
prisoners. 12
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 Role of symbols and icons
Nationalism spreads when people begin to believe that they are all part of the same
nation, when they discover some unity that binds them together. there were also a
variety of cultural processes through which nationalism captured people’s
imagination.
History and fiction, folklore and songs, popular prints and symbols, all played a
part in the making of nationalism. It was in the twentieth century, with the
growth of nationalism, that the identity of India came to be visually associated
with the image of Bharat Mata. Ideas of nationalism also developed through a
movement to revive Indian folklore. In late-nineteenth-century India,
nationalists began recording folk tales. 14
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 Conclusion
A growing anger against the colonial government was thus bringing together various
groups and classes of Indians into a common struggle for freedom in the first half of
the twentieth century. The Congress under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi tried to
channel people’s grievances into organized movements for independence. Through
such movements the nationalists tried to forge a national unity. But as we have seen,
diverse groups and classes participated in these movements with varied aspirations and
expectations. As their grievances were wide-ranging, freedom from colonial rule also
meant different things to different people.
In other words, what was emerging was a nation with many voices wanting freedom
from colonial rule. 16
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