Who was Gandhi?

Conscious TV

January 09, 2022

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was an Indian-born lawyer who was educated in England and worked in South Africa. He rose to political fame by organizing the Indian community against the unjust apartheid system in South Africa.

During his struggle, he developed a new technique of nonviolent protest called "satyagraha," which could be translated as moral domination. In this way, he became heir to the ancient traditions of Gautama Buddha, Mahavira and Emperor Ashoka, and subsequently attained the title of Mahatma or Great Soul.

A devout practitioner of the Hindu religion, Gandhi also espoused a moral philosophy of tolerance, brotherhood of all religions, nonviolence (ahimsa) and simple living. He adopted the traditional Hindu lifestyle based on austerity, which earned him great popularity and he became the undisputed leader of the Congress.

Under Gandhi's leadership, the Congress organized a series of social movements, such as the Non-Cooperation Movement of 1920-1922 and the Civil Disobedience Movement of 1930.

The latter was triggered by the Salt March, when Gandhi attracted national attention by leading a group of followers from his Sabarmati ashram on a 200-mile journey to the west coast town of Dandi to obtain their own salt in symbolic violation of the British ban.

These were popular movements in which people from all castes and parts of India participated with real fervor.

Women also played an active role in the struggle. Sarojini Naidu, Aruna Asaf Ali and Bhikaji Cama, to name a few, inspired many to take the first steps on the road to emancipation and equality.

What did Mahatma Gandhi do for Peace?

In August 1942, the Indian liberation movement began. "I want freedom immediately, this very night before dawn if possible. We shall liberate India or die in the attempt. We will not live to see our enslavement perpetuated," Gandhi declared when the British brutally suppressed the nonviolent movement of the Satyagrahis.

It became clear that the British could only maintain the empire at enormous cost. At the end of World War II they realized this and set in motion several constitutional initiatives to effect the transfer of power to the sovereign state of India. For the first and perhaps only time in history, the dominance of a mighty world empire where it had been challenged and overcome by the moral power of a people armed only with ideals and courage.

Gandhism

Refers to the ideas and principles promoted by Gandhi. Nonviolent resistance is of special importance. A Gandhian is a follower of Gandhian ideas. MM Sankhdher considers Gandhism not to be a specific stance on metaphysics or political philosophy. Rather, it is a political creed, an economic doctrine, a religious outlook, moral precepts and, above all, a humanitarian worldview.

Gandhism does not seek to systematize wisdom but to transform society and is based on faith in the goodness of human beings.

However, Gandhi himself did not approve of the notion of "Gandhism", as described in 1936: There is no such thing as "Gandhism" and I do not want a cult to be formed after my disappearance. I have not created any new principle or doctrine. I have simply tried to apply in my own way the eternal truths to our daily life and problems. My opinions and conclusions are not permanent. I may change my mind tomorrow. I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and nonviolence are as old as the hills. Truth and satyagraha Gandhi declared that his greatest battle was overcoming his own demons, fears and insecurities.

Gandhi summed up his beliefs when he said, "God is Truth." He later changed his statement to "Truth is God." Therefore, in Gandhi's philosophy Satya (truth) is "God". The essence of Satyagraha (a name invented by Gandhi meaning "adherence to truth") is the elimination of antagonisms without harming the antagonists and seeking the transformation or "purification" of the antagonists. A euphemism sometimes used to refer to Satyagraha is that it is a "silent force" or "soul force" (a term used by Martin Luther King during his famous "I Have Had a Dream" speech). It gives the individual moral rather than physical power. Satyagraha is also called "universal force," since in its essence it "does not distinguish between kith and kin, young and old, male and female, friend and foe."

Gandhi summed up his beliefs when he said, "God is Truth." Later he changed his statement to "Truth is God". Therefore, in Gandhi's philosophy Satya (truth) is "God". The essence of Satyagraha (a name invented by Gandhi meaning "adherence to truth") is the elimination of antagonisms without harming the antagonists and seeking the transformation or "purification" of the antagonists. A euphemism sometimes used to refer to Satyagraha is that it is a "silent force" or "soul force" (a term used by Martin Luther King during his famous "I Have Had a Dream" speech). It gives the individual moral rather than physical power. Satyagraha is also called "universal force," since in its essence it "does not distinguish between kith and kin, young and old, male and female, friend and foe."

Gandhi wrote: "We must avoid impatience, barbarism, insolence and pressure. If we are to cultivate the true spirit of democracy, we cannot be intolerant. Intolerance destroys faith in goals." The civil disobedience and non-cooperation practiced by Satyagraha are based on the "law of suffering," a doctrine that advocates that resistance to suffering is a means to an end. This end usually involves the moral elevation or advancement of the individual or society. Therefore, non-cooperation in Satyagraha is in fact a means to secure the cooperation of the opponent in his quest for truth and justice. Non-violence.

Although Gandhi was not the originator of the principle of nonviolence, he was the first to apply it in large-scale politics. The concepts of nonviolence (ahimsa) and nonresistance have a long history in Indian religious thought. Gandhi explains his philosophy and way of life in his autobiography The Story of My Experiences with Truth. He later realized that such a level of nonviolence required enormous faith and courage, something that, according to him, not everyone possessed. He therefore asserted that not everyone should adhere to nonviolence, especially if it was to be used to conceal cowardice, and said "when there is a choice between cowardice and violence, I prefer violence." Gandhi was thus censured by his political detractors for criticizing those who sought independence through violent action.