Mahatma Gandhi: The non-violent freedom fighter
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Mahatma Gandhi is one of the greatest world leaders of all time. Perhaps the greatest of all. His struggle was waged on the principle of resistance to tyranny through the non-violent disobedience of fellow citizens. He fought on various fronts such as the struggle for a free and independent India, for women’s rights, religious and ethnic harmony, eliminating caste society and fighting poverty in India. Mahatma Gandhi is considered the father and founder of India.
India a British colony
Gandhi grew up in a strictly moral Hindu environment. He was married at the age of 13 to Kasturba, who was one year older. The wedding was an arranged marriage according to tradition. In other words, it was the families of the two who negotiated an agreement for the marriage. According to tradition, the bride lived at home with her parents for the first few years after the wedding. At the age of 17, Kasturba gave birth to her first child, but this child died soon after birth. Later the couple had 4 sons. Kasturba became an important supporter and contributor in the struggle for the conditions of the poor and an independent India.
India was a British colony. Mahatma and Kasturba Gandhi lived as an ordinary Indian couple in the beginning. The husband was the boss and the wife was a kind of asset to the husband. Mahatma Gandhi eventually got an education. First in India and in 1888 he went to England to train as a lawyer. After completing his education, he traveled to South Africa in 1893. There he was shocked by the racism practiced there. He remained in South Africa until 1914.
After his stay in South Africa, Mahatma Gandhi became aware that racial segregation was also practiced by the British in India. A society in India, where most of the natives lived in poverty, while most of the British lived good and luxurious lives. The British cracked down on anything resembling rebellion with the use of force and violence.
Mahatma Gandhi, non-violence as a means of struggle
Back home in India, he started a monastery-like school for religious-ethical education and social work. Here, active, fearless non-violence was part of the training. At the same time, he worked for better conditions for poor workers. He encouraged strikes as a tool. The British now began to fear rebellion in India and emergency laws were introduced.
The Rowlatt Acts of 1919
The laws are among the most well-known emergency laws and led to great resistance among Indians. The laws gave the right to imprisonment without trial on suspicion of revolutionary activity. The laws also gave the authorities the right to censor the press.
The Rowlatt Acts were seen as a betrayal after India supported the British during the First World War. The laws led to nationwide protests. The most famous of these led to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
Jallianwala Bagh massacre
On April 13, 1919, the massacre took place. A large crowd had gathered in Amritsar, Punjab in British India. The crowd gathered after a religious mass. They gathered to protest against the Rowlat laws and arrests of Indian independence activists. A British brigade surrounded the crowd. The crowd was trapped. On three sides there were walls, the British blocked the only side that was an exit from Jallianwala Bagh.
When the only exit was blocked, Admiral Dyer ordered shots to be fired into the crowd. The firing caused panic in the crowd. Some tried to flee, but the shooting continued. The number of people killed varies from 379 to 1,500. Over 1200 were injured in the shooting.
The UK has never apologized for the massacre. In 2019, however, it said it was deeply sorry.
The incident led to a state of emergency in some areas. Thousands were arrested over the next few days. Historian Harish Puri believes that 115 people were killed by security police over the next few days. Among Indians, the massacre had great significance. Many of those who were moderate Indians did not understand the event. Many changed sides on the issue of an independent India.
In the world war, did you follow Mahatma Gandhi’s principle?
During a peace conference in April 1918, Mahatma Gandhi agreed to support the war effort. In a pamphlet from June 1918 entitled “Appeal for Enlistment” he writes, among other things:
“To bring about such a state of things we must have the ability to defend ourselves, that is to say, the ability to bear arms and use them … If we wish to learn the use of arms with the greatest possible rapidity, it is our duty to enlist in the army.”
Mahatma Gandhi later emphasizes that he personally will not and cannot kill or harm anyone. Regardless of whether it is friend or foe.
His support for the war campaign led some to question his non-violent stance.
The road to an independent India
Until the mid-1920s, Gandhi was not very active in politics. In 1927, the British government appointed a constitutional reform committee. As this committee did not include a single Indian, it was boycotted by Indian parties. At a meeting in 1928, it proposed a resolution. This demanded that British supremacy should cease within a year. The resolution also threatened a nationwide non-violent campaign for complete independence. From then on, he was back as the leading voice of his political party (the Congress Party).
The British introduced a tax on salt, which hit the poor hard. In 1930 marches are organized to protest against the tax. These protests were successful, although 60,000 people were arrested. After a year, they led to Gandhi agreeing to stop the non-violent actions. A conference was to be held in London and he was to be the only Indian to attend.
However, the conference was a disappointment for Mahatma Gandhi. The conference concentrated on the Indian problem of minorities in India and not the transfer of power from the British to India. At home in India, a major offensive is launched against the Congress Party and the nationalist movement. Mahatma Gandhi was once again imprisoned, as he had been many times before. Attempts were made to isolate him and reduce his influence. The tactic of trying to reduce his influence was unsuccessful. Mahatma Gandhi carried out a hunger strike while he was imprisoned. The strike was a protest against the government’s attempts to reduce the influence of the untouchables in elections. The hunger strike led to great support for Gandhi. An alternative electoral system was drawn up and eventually adopted. He then ended his hunger strike.
India free
In 1934, Mahatma Gandhi resigned as leader of the Congress Party. He also resigned from the party. Now he began to work to rebuild India from the bottom up. Always with non-violence as a means. He began to educate poor farmers to do simple manual labor to supplement their income. He developed an education system that was designed for the needs of the people.
Mahatma Gandhi hated fascism and everything it stood for. That’s why he became politically active again during World War II. A British minister traveled to India in 1942 with a proposal that Gandhi did not receive very well. The proposal was ambiguous on the issue of Indian independence. The proposal could lead to conflicts between Muslims and Indians. This was not accepted. This led to demands for immediate British withdrawal from India.
The British reacted to this by attempting to crush the Congress Party once and for all. The entire leadership, including Mahatma Gandhi and his wife Kasturba, were arrested and imprisoned in a monastery. Kasturba Gandhi died in captivity just before the others were released in 1944.
After the British election in 1945 with a Labour victory, the final chapter of India’s freedom began. For the next two years, the Congress of India, the Muslim League and the government in London negotiated. The parties came to an agreement on June 3, 1947. In August 1947, the new countries of India and Pakistan were a fact as two independent countries.
The assassination of Mahatma Gandhi and his legacy
Mahatma Gandhi is killed by RSS, an extremist Hindu organization. These believed that Mahatma Gandhi was weak towards the Muslims. They claimed that he had Muslim friends, which they thought was unheard of. They also pointed out that Mahatma Gandhi stayed with his Muslim friends on several occasions.
When India was partitioned in 1947, Mahatma Gandhi initially disagreed with the partition. But once it was decided, he was keen to ensure that Pakistan got its share of the initial capital provided by Britain. This didn’t sit well with the RSS and was the trigger for his assassination on January 30, 1948.
Mahatma Gandhi has left his mark on world history as one of the greatest leaders of all time. His struggle with non-violent methods is not forgotten.
Gandhi fought for women and men to be equal in India. However, many people point out that he was the undisputed leader of his family and that his wife Kasturba was a more traditional Indian woman.
Sources:
Unity for Human Rights: Champions of Human Rights Mahatma Gandhi (1869 -1948)