Mahatma Gandhi: biography, family, political and social activities. year - a turning point in the struggle for independence
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is known throughout the world as Mahatma Gandhi. The biography of this man is known to every Indian. He founded the movement that led to Indian independence. His life is a feat. With his service, he showed how just one person can integrate a nation of about a billion people, divided into castes, hostile within its own boundaries (Buddhist India and Muslim Pakistan were then united).
This is exactly what Mahatma Gandhi was, whose life story has one distinct dominant feature - the implementation of the philosophy of non-violence accepted by all castes. He obeyed the will of only one tyrant - “the quiet voice of conscience.”
Childhood, youth
Mahatma Gandhi, born on October 2, 1869, belonged to the merchant caste. His biography in his childhood mentions the strict religious order and vegetarianism of his parents’ family. His father held a senior position in the civil service in the coastal city of Porbandar, Gujarat, and his mother was extremely religious.
At the age of 13, the young man, in accordance with Hindu tradition, was married to a girl of his own age named Kasturba. Six years later, the couple had their first child, and then three more sons. Subsequently, the elder, leading Mahatma Gandhi refused. The remaining three became the support of the father in his teaching. Moreover, the youngest of them, Devdas, married a wife from the highest caste - Varna Brahmins, which is an incredible miracle for India.
Study in Britain
Nineteen-year-old Gandhi went to London, where he received a law degree. Returning to India, he worked as a lawyer in Bombay for two years. Mohandas Karamchand then served as legal counsel for an Indian trading company in South Africa for eleven years. Mahatma Gandhi first became involved in political activity on the African continent. The biography of the philosopher and politician shows that it was there that he practically applied his philosophical views of non-violence.
The Mahatma's worldview was formed as a result of his rethinking of the Bhagavad Gita, as well as his adoption of the views of the Irish fighter for autonomy Michael Devitt, the American thinker Henry Thoreau, and the Russian classic Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy.
Gandhi in South Africa
At that time, immigrants from India flocked to South Africa to earn money. Around that time, the city of Kimberley, located on the Orange River, became known as the diamond capital of the world. Hard labor in the diamond mines required labor. Unfortunately, the people recruited to the mines and mines were treated terribly. It was there that the lawyer Gandhi felt a rare opportunity - to resist evil and violence with the power of the good of his soul. He was given a rare gift: to defeat aggression with words and persuasion, given to few people.
Mohandas felt the potential in himself that was in demand in his contemporary world - to change it for the better, destroying unjust foundations that cripple people morally.
Mahatma Gandhi began to implement the views, starting with himself. He once and for all abandoned European clothing in favor of national clothing, and began to strictly observe fasting and religious rituals. He and his supporters managed to change the laws of South Africa that discriminated against Indians.
They were waiting for him in India
In 1905, Mohandas Karamchand returned to India. In absentia, while staying in South Africa, he won the glory of the people in his homeland. The national bourgeoisie of India at that time understood perfectly well that there could be no talk of any rule over the country, much less a development strategy, without the consolidation of all castes of society. She couldn't do it herself. She needed Mohandas.
Gandhi was introduced to the entire country by none other than Nobel laureate in literature Rabindranath Tagore, calling him Mahatma for the first time. By the way, the pious politician himself never accepted this title, considering himself unworthy.
Mahatma Gandhi's struggle pursued global, revolutionary goals. However, the philosopher did not intend to go to them over the corpses. He returned to a poor, plundered and plundered country.
At that time, 175 foreign corporations were operating in India, earning profits three times the national income. The exploitation of the people reached unheard of proportions: the paltry per capita income fell from 1.5 to 0.75 pence per person per day. Most peasants lost their land ownership rights. The population suffered from famine and epidemics. In 1904 alone, more than a million Indians died from the plague.
Gandhi's teachings
Mohandas Karamchand sees the reason for all this and organizes a movement for national independence. The seeds of truth fell on fertile soil; colonial India had long awaited such a sermon. Mahatma Gandhi chose the name “satyagraha” for it, consisting of two nouns: “truth” (sat) and “firmness” (agraha). The politician considered the innate right of every citizen, the philosopher considered it one of the main ones for any truly free person.
The fight against injustice, according to Gandhi, should be based on two principles:
- civil disobedience;
- nonviolent resistance.
Following them, Indians must, according to the Mahatma, refuse any support for the institutions of the colonial British infrastructure and greedy colonial corporations, that is, adhere to the principle of the “three nos”:
- don't buy British goods;
- do not serve the colonial system in government agencies, police, army;
- do not accept rewards, titles, or honors from British officials.
1919 - a turning point in the struggle for independence
In 1919, the Indian National Congress, under the influence of Gandhi's ideas, instead of the previous liberal opposition position, moved to the struggle for independence. Why at this time? Let's turn to history. It was then that the British Parliament was forced, for the first time in history, to consider the punishment of the colonial military leader, Brigadier General Dyer, who had authorized the shooting of a peaceful protest in the city of Amritsar, which led to the killing of more than a thousand sepoys. It was this act of blatant racial discrimination that marked the beginning of the collapse of the British
In 1919, Mahatma Gandhi called on his compatriots for a peaceful demonstration under the slogans of the country gaining independence. Multimillion-dollar demonstrations spread throughout the country's largest cities on a working day. Unfortunately, there were clashes with the police and, accordingly, casualties. Mahatma Gandhi's policy, of course, in no way envisaged this. However, the British arrested him and sentenced him to six years as an instigator of the riots. In prison, he developed his teaching and wrote works that enlightened the people.
Sage in the ashram
At the end of his prison term, Mohandas Karamchand did not return to his family. Like a hermit monk, he founded a shelter for the needy (ashram) in the wasteland of the city of Ahmedabad. A man who was not afraid of anything... Every day masses of people came to listen to the sage preach to them.
His views became much broader than those expressed by the Indian National Congress, and Gandhi left it.
The philosophy, based on the religion of Buddhism, was simple and understandable for Indians and touched the hearts. National elites began to listen to his words. “We should start changing the world from ourselves,” said Mahatma Gandhi. Quotes from his speeches inspired listeners and instilled in them faith in a new India.
The struggle for the socialization of the untouchables
The problem that violated the integrity of Indian society was the presence of untouchable castes, i.e. people discriminated against for thousands of years, starting with slave society. By the way, their share of the Indian population is about 16%. Until the 20th century, untouchables had their paths to education and prestigious professions closed. They were forbidden to enter public churches. In teahouses they were given separate dishes. Mahatma Gandhi was the first to raise his voice for their equality. People wrote down quotes from his speeches at rallies; the words from them inspired his disenfranchised compatriots and instilled faith in them: “At first they don’t notice you, then they laugh at you, then they fight with you. But still you win.”
Gandhi refused to visit temples where untouchables were prohibited from entering. To the crowds gathered at the doors of these temples, the “father of India” said: “There is no God here.” And soon all the temples in the country stopped such a humiliating tradition.
Gandhi called the untouchables children of God (harijans). He preached tirelessly that Hinduism denies all discrimination. Thanks to his efforts, laws were passed in India to prevent the professional and social oppression of the lower castes.
The “Father of the Nation” had a keen sense of the uniqueness of his country’s society. When the radical leader of the untouchables, Dr. Ambedkar, began to seek complete equality, Mahatma Gandhi made it clear to him that this should not be done, otherwise a split would arise in the country. When his opponent continued to persist in his error, the Mahatma expressed his protest by going on a hunger strike. Gandhi was indeed ready to die for the truth, the “father of the nation” convinced Ambedkar.
Gandhi's role in the peaceful division of the country into India and Pakistan
He was also responsible for the peaceful separation of Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan after declaring their independence from Britain in 1948. When it seemed that terrible bloodshed was inevitable, Mahatma Gandhi, who enjoys enormous authority in both faiths, went on a dry hunger strike for the second time. And it had an effect.
Mohandas Karamchand also did a lot for Indian women to gain civil rights. He motivatedly criticized the practice of early marriage, which prematurely exhausted them, and called for participation in women's public associations and for an active role in society.
Miscellaneous from the life of the Mahatma
Mahatma Gandhi called for following the laws of virtue, and not talking about them. Interesting facts from his life may be strange to people far from Indian culture:
- The name Gandhi means "shopkeeper" in Indian. The father and grandfather of the outstanding politician were prime ministers of Indian princely states. He himself always called himself by the name Mohandas and never by Mahatma.
- In his youth, Gandhi did not go barefoot. On the contrary, he looked like a dandy. While in London, the young man took private dance and etiquette lessons. He was also secretary of the London Vegetarian Society.
- Gandhi personally collected money from the untouchables. Many donated gold jewelry to him, but the Mahatma always remained unmercenary, dressed in rags. He traveled around the country in the most unprepossessing carriages, that is, those belonging to the third class. One day he was asked: “Why in the third?” The philosopher responded to this: “Because the fourth carriage does not exist!”
- Uninformed people believe that Mahatma Gandhi and Indira Gandhi are father and daughter. However, this opinion is far from the truth. They're not even related. Politicians of the Indira family took the name “Gandhi” as a political banner, as a family pseudonym, indicating the continuity of the goals that the Mahatma was trying to achieve.
- Gandhi was arrested so often that he often indicated Yeravda prison as his home address. In 1931, he arrived straight from there in long johns and a khadi jacket for an audience with the Queen of Britain.
Literary activity
Although the sage’s life was a continuous series of reflections, insights and sermons, it is unlikely that the “soul of India” - Mahatma Gandhi - was a writer. Most of his books are ordered speeches and letters. A man of ideas and action, Mohandas Karamchand did not take up his pen for entertainment.
Perhaps the only book, and not a collection, is his fundamental work “My Faith,” in which the philosopher outlined a coherent interpretation of his understanding of Buddhism. He was able to show in it how the principles of faith can be introduced into the economy, social sphere, and politics. His teaching about spiritual life inspired the masses of people morally oppressed by the colonialists and was able to instill in them faith in the future of independent India. “My Faith” can help any person of proper spirituality to comprehend the basics of a non-violent but active fight against Evil.
Another important work of Mohandas Karamchand was not created as a single book. Essentially, this is a collection of letters written by him during his 6-year prison sentence. After all, Mahatma Gandhi usually wrote about the topic of the day. Books were not an end in themselves for a politician. He always worked on the topic of the day, sensitively hearing the need for articles and sermons by society.
One day, the Mahatma was conveyed a request from a person from the untouchable caste to explain to him the provisions of the Bhagavad Gita. The peasant complained that he did not understand its provisions. The philosopher, realizing the global nature of this problem for the nation’s self-awareness, wrote a series of letters, each of which was the author’s interpretation of one of the chapters of the great book. Subsequently, the letters were published under the general title “True Kurukshetra”. It is useful for everyone who wants to understand the essence of Buddhism.
Other famous books of the Mahatma: “Revolution without violence”, “The Path to God”, “On Prayer” are collections of his speeches over the years.
Conclusion
Was Mahatma Gandhi really a saint? The biography of his life in recent years mentions that he expected a violent death, not at all afraid of it. In particular, he told his granddaughter to call him Mahatma only in the event that he was killed and he died without groans, with a prayer on his lips. This was not a pose; the philosopher knew what he was talking about. He managed to rise above the castes of his fatherland, to integrate with his personality the society of the country, previously deliberately divided by the colonialists who ruled according to the principle of “divide and conquer.”
His main merit is that the Mahatma, who came to his homeland during the pre-revolutionary situation of 1905, initiating changes, did not allow the country to slide into the abyss of class struggle, like Russia, which nihilated tsarism. His teachings and political struggle not only involved the proletarians and peasants in political activity, Mahatma Gandhi introduced the idea of social responsibility into the minds of the national elite.
However, in India there were revolutionary movements of the untouchable castes, who, like Bulgakov’s Sharikov, wanted to “take away and divide everything.” They hated Gandhi because his teaching, accepted by the entire nation, did not give them a single chance to shake up the situation in the country. The philosopher managed to contrast the spirituality of society with the temptation to establish a dictatorship. Therefore, we can say for sure that the “father of the nation” was vehemently hated by losers who wanted to add blood to politics. During his lifetime, their intentions to “gouge out the eyes of the bourgeoisie” could not even be heard by the people, let alone perceived.
Gandhi was assassinated on January 30, 1948 by a revolutionary fanatic near his home when a crowd of admirers poured in to see him. The philosopher always communicated with people in an open, friendly conversation, without resorting to security services. He died at the age of 78 as befits a Mahatma: without a groan, with a prayer, having forgiven his killer, becoming the banner of the Indian nation.
Evgeny Pakhomov - about the victories and mistakes of Mahatma Gandhi
70 years have passed since the assassination of the leader of the Indian national liberation movement, Mahatma Gandhi, but controversy around his name continues, both in India and in the world. "Ogonyok" tried to understand: why do three shots fired in 1948 still echo today?
Evgeny Pakhomov, corr. TASS in New Delhi, especially for Ogonyok
The second attempt was fatal. For the first time, also in Delhi, but days earlier, on January 20, 1948, they tried to blow up Gandhi. Failed.
It was like this. Gandhi had neither a home nor a place of residence in the capital and lived as a guest in the mansion of the famous businessman Ghanshyam Das Birla. This millionaire supported the national liberation movement and called himself a student of Gandhi (which, however, did not stop him from then bargaining with the authorities for a round sum for the right to open a museum in the historical house). The Mahatma himself had just stopped a hunger strike (he was protesting against the sectarian massacres that had engulfed the country since independence from Great Britain) and decided to address the people standing around the house. Then they threw a homemade bomb at him. The explosion caused panic, but no one was injured.
But the second attempt was a success. On January 30, the Mahatma, accompanied by his family, went to prayer. As usual, there were people standing outside the house who wanted to talk to him. The young man stepped towards Gandhi, took out a pistol and fired three times at point-blank range. Gandhi fell, having managed to say: “He Ram, He Ram” (“God, God”). The killer was captured. He turned out to be Nathuram Vinayak Godse, a member of the Hindu radical group Hindu Mahasabha (Great Assembly of Hindus).
The leader of the national liberation movement, a preacher of non-violence, an Indian nationalist and a convinced Hindu, Gandhi was assassinated by a nationalist and Hindu fanatic.
Madness of the Brave
The British left their “main colony” in August 1947, but independence turned into a terrible Hindu-Muslim massacre. The British agreed to divide the country along religious lines: according to the plan of Mountbatten (the last Viceroy of British India), the state was divided into India and Pakistan, and millions of people fled to different ends of the Hindustan Peninsula, fearing to remain in a “foreign” country. Power on the streets was in the hands of nationalists and radicals of all stripes. According to various estimates, from 500 thousand to 3 million people died.
For Gandhi, the partition and bloody clashes became the collapse of a dream, or rather, the belief that violence and cruelty were brought to his homeland by the colonialists, and India, with its ancient and high culture, would become a united, peaceful and happy country. He even refused to come to the independence ceremony when, at midnight on August 15, 1947, the first prime minister of the new power, Jawaharlal Nehru, raised the flag of independent India in Delhi.
Gandhi traveled around the country, preached, convinced, and appealed to the world. Then he came to the capital and went on a hunger strike, calling to “stop the madness.” They begged him for a long time to stop it. The Mahatma agreed, but felt tired and disappointed, which is why, perhaps, he refused to strengthen the security that the authorities proposed after the first attempt.
Although he knew that many “devout” Hindus had not liked him for a long time. After all, the Mahatma demonstratively communicated with low castes, with untouchables, received delegations of Muslims, and declared that he valued both the books of the Vedas (the sacred scripture of the Hindus) and the Koran. Moreover, the radicals argued that his softness led to the partition of India. They demanded tough action against the “Muslims who divided the country,” declaring that peaceful preaching was “anti-national.” In essence, they declared Gandhi a traitor to India.
“Gandhi’s policy, his passive resistance makes us effeminate. We must again become men, warriors,” called the leaders of Indian communalists (the starting point for this ideology is the identification of the concepts of “nation” and “religious community”, and this is a direct path to religious chauvinism in multi-religious country.— "ABOUT").
In the eyes of such radicals, the murderer, Nathuram Godse, became a hero. In India, where Gandhi is officially considered the "Father of the Nation", the government is required to celebrate his Gandhi day, January 30, as "Day of Bravery." The killer's speech at the trial where he was sentenced to hanging (not officially published) is being reproduced by samizdat. In 2001, a play was staged in which he appears as a “martyr” for the cause of Hinduism. A couple of years ago, in the city of Alwar, a newly built overpass was named after this “hero of the Hindus.” True, after shouting from Delhi, they renamed it.
Members of the Hindu Mahasabha are seeking the installation of monuments to the assassin Gandhi in a dozen cities, including the capital. So far it has not been possible, but a couple of years ago the police in Meerut (northern India) had to keep a cordon around the place where they intended to build such a monument. Well, busts of Godse in the offices of nationalist parties have long been not uncommon. “These people continue to shoot at Gandhi today,” journalist Vinod Prakash told Ogonyok.
Memory and monuments
With all this, Mahatma Gandhi today in India is like Lenin in the USSR. There are monuments to him in many cities, there are busts in offices, and there are a number of museums. In the south, there is even a temple in honor of Mahatma Gandhi, where his murti (idol) and the murti of his wife Kasturba are installed, which are treated in accordance with Hindu canons - decorated with flowers and performed puja (worship). However, it is unlikely that the Mahatma himself would approve of such a cult...
In a word, everything is fine with the Gandhi monuments, it’s more difficult with the teachings, and the point here is not the radical nationalists who are waging war on his memory. Something else is more serious.
“Gandhi is like a chapter from a textbook, because his ideas are a thing of the past,” explains journalist Prakash. “Sometimes it seems that he is more popular abroad than in India.” There they write operas about him, make films, study philosophy, argue about it. And in India, his name is constantly repeated by politicians, but in reality he is reduced to the status of a portrait on the wall in the office.
Most of all there are questions about the Mahatma’s economic program. Gandhi, let me remind you, called not to build large factories, which he saw as a source of inequality, but urged people to live by simple labor. He called it "non-violent economics", believing that large-scale production and competition implied violence. The symbol of Gandhism is the hand spinning wheel (he and his supporters spun fabric and wore handmade clothes), the Mahatma believed that such artisanal labor was a chance to avoid unemployment and feed everyone. In today's India, which is actively developing high-tech and space technologies, they prefer not to remember the “non-violent economy”.
It is not often remembered that Gandhi dreamed of an India without wars and weapons. When he heard about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he said: “If the world does not give up violence, it will be suicide.” He was confident that the new India would reject such weapons. However, the country developed its own nuclear weapons a long time ago and tested them back in 1974 - the operation was codenamed “Smiling Buddha” (whoever came up with it is not without cynicism). And in 1998, she carried out a series of atomic explosions, officially knocking on the door of the nuclear club.
Reincarnation of Bapu?
For a long time, these contradictions were not advertised, but after the Bharatiya Janata Party (Indian People's Party) came to power in 2014, Gandhi's subversives revived. This party takes a nationalist position; the prominent politician Narendra Modi, known as a supporter of Hindutva (can be translated as “Hinduness”), became the prime minister. In his youth, Modi was a member of the communalist organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (Union of Volunteer Servants of the Motherland), created in 1925 by the nationalist Hedgewar, who admired Mussolini and modeled the organization on the model of the Duce troops.
Since Modi came to power, communalists have risen up and started demanding that the authorities declare January 30 as Brave Day. But Modi behaved like a politician. There were no monuments to Gandhi's assassin. Moreover, the new prime minister began to use the authority of the “father of the nation.”
Thus, when announcing in October 2014 the large-scale “Clean India” campaign, the goal of which is to rid the country of widespread garbage (anyone who has been to India knows that this will not interfere), Modi referred to the authority of the Mahatma. The prime minister set a goal: to remove heaps of waste from the streets by October 2, 2019 (the 150th anniversary of the birth of the “father of the nation”). Modi personally took to the streets with a broom and called on other famous people to do the same, since “only together we can clean the country.” Movie stars, politicians, officials soon set out to sweep the streets...
This was a step in the Gandhian spirit - cleaning for Gandhi was not just cleaning. It was a social tool to bridge the caste gap (high castes in India do not collect garbage) and a demonstration of respect for members of low castes, who, on the contrary, are supposed to collect garbage and clean latrines. In a word, the broom in Gandhi’s hands (and he himself was cleaning his ashram) was a call for equality.
"Bapu's noble ideals ("Papa" is what Gandhi's supporters called him) lead millions around the world. Bow to him," Modi said on the 148th birth anniversary of the Mahatma in October 2017. It became clear that the war for Gandhi's legacy was in full swing.
As political commentator Bhanu Pandey told Ogonyok, constantly referring to Mahatma Gandhi, Modi’s goal is to separate Gandhi from the leading opposition party, the Indian National Congress, with which the activities of the “father of the nation” were closely linked. The current Prime Minister of India makes it clear: the INC no longer has a “monopoly” on the Mahatma, he “belongs to all of India.”
Mahatma Gandhi, who was born in the 19th century and captivated millions with his ideas in the 20th, is now being judged by the standards of “political correctness” of the 21st century.
They suspect that Modi himself is not averse to becoming a “people’s” leader. He tries to imitate Bapu (the leaders of other parties do not affectionately call Gandhi that way): he ostentatiously wears not a European suit, but Indian clothes. True, not the homespun men's dhoti skirts that the Mahatma preferred, but expensive suits and traditional bandi vests (one of Modi's suits, sewn in the North Indian style by an expensive tailor, was sold at auction for over 600 thousand dollars, the prime minister donated the proceeds to cleaning the Ganges). Modi also emphasizes that he comes from a simple family and started out as a chaewala (tea peddler) at a railway station.
But just as the costumes of the two “people’s” politicians differ, so do the programs of Gandhi and Modi. The current leader of India does not intend to abandon developed industrial production; his goal is to attract manufacturers from all over the world to the country. Last week, opening an economic forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he was invited as a symbol of successful globalization, Modi promised to "replace investor bureaucracy with a red carpet." It is curious that the organizers of Davos did not hide: this leader of Indian nationalists, who bet on globalization, is for them the antithesis of Trump, who bet on protectionism. This is for sure: hand spinning wheels are no longer in fashion in India.
Gandhi and the politically correct age
Apparently, this is only the beginning of the debate about Gandhi: after the 70th anniversary of Gandhi’s assassination, a century and a half since his birth will also be celebrated (in 2019). His teachings are once again exciting, this time not only in India: articles and books appear one after another. The list of accusations is growing before our eyes.
Here are some. Gandhi is usually accused of using religion for political purposes, correspondence with Hitler (in India they even made a movie on this topic, although Gandhi wrote to the Fuhrer with the expectation of preventing a war and exactly before it became clear that Hitler started it) . Nowadays, deadly accusations of sexual harassment are also being brought forward (Gandhi, who renounced sexual life, often put young female relatives to bed with him; can you imagine what this looks like in the era of the fight against harassment?).
Gandhi, who was born in the 19th century and captivated millions with his ideas in the 20th century, is now being judged by the standards of “political correctness” of the 21st century. Both at home and abroad, criticism is opportunistic and based on invented images. Gandhi was not a saint whom one can only admire. Just as he was not a supporter of Hitler - even for the sake of fighting the British Empire. That didn’t stop him from being alive and complex, tough, and looking for his own path. And, of course, he was a politician who took a nationalist position and fought for national independence.
The real - and incredibly relevant - phenomenon of Gandhi is not only that he managed to defeat the British Goliath, but that this victory, almost single-handedly, became a political miracle that immediately introduced hundreds of millions of residents of the former colony to the realities of modern politics. (Isn’t this what the Russian President had in mind when he said ten years ago that after Gandhi there is no one to talk to today about what real democracy is?)
Surely, looking at Gandhi from today, you can find a lot of things to ridicule him for, and, if desired, blame him. Just we must not forget: it was he who became the first successful political leader who in modern times (we can safely say for a good dozen centuries) led millions by talking about peace and non-violence. And this was at the beginning of the 20th century, when the world plunged into an era of bloody wars and revolutions, when in Europe they sang “Horst Wessel” and “Let us destroy to the ground”...
It would indeed be good to talk to Gandhi about all this in order to find out and make public the recipe for an antidote to the enmity of which he himself went down in history as a victim.
Secrets of the "fakir"
Dossier
The British, and many in India, initially underestimated Gandhi: Churchill mockingly nicknamed him the “half-naked fakir.” How did this strange man in a dhoti (Indian traditional men's skirt) manage to unite the colorful India?
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, nicknamed Mahatma (Great Soul), was born in 1869, studied in London, and lived for a long time in South Africa, where there was and is a large Indian community. He returned to India in 1915. By this time, he already knew how he would fight for independence from the British crown.
When talking about his legacy, the first thing that comes to mind is his preaching of non-violence, ahimsa (the Hindu principle of not causing harm). He really is the key. But if Gandhi had preached only peaceful protest, he would probably have joined the ranks of India's many teachers surrounded by a group of students. Ahimsa is just part of his program.
So how did he succeed? European-educated (Mahatma received a law degree in Great Britain), he, unlike many fighters for independence who wore European costumes, addressed the sermon about free India to ordinary people - those who often did not even know how to read. It was for them that the image of a teacher-sage in a dhoti skirt was created.
Next. Gandhi called for fighting not just for independence, but for Sarvodaya (can be translated as " development for all") - for a society that he believed India could build, where everyone would be equal, where there would be no violence and strife. The Mahatma did not just propose to drive away strangers, he proposed a program for future prosperity that can be built in a free country. Let today his program seems like an immature utopia, but they believed in it, not in the power of weapons.
A strong believer in non-violence, Gandhi rejected the idea of armed struggle: he remembered the history of the Sepoy Mutiny in 1857-1859, which the British drowned in blood. Much blood does not lead to victory, he believed. For this, the Mahatma was desperately disliked - not only by supporters of the armed struggle in his homeland, but also by the “Kremlin highlander” Stalin.
However, Gandhi was not so simple. Instead of an armed struggle, he unleashed an economic struggle. “The British came to India on ships as merchants - for trade and profit,” he reminded and called for making it costly for the British to stay. The Indians began to buy their own goods, albeit of lower quality, instead of English ones; they stopped paying taxes to London, sending their children to English schools, in a word, they stopped cooperating with the colonial authorities.
The London-educated “father of the Indian nation” was the first among the independence fighters to understand the importance of fighting for public opinion. Each of his protest actions had thoughtful PR: he invited the press to them, organized rallies that were filmed on film cameras - as a result, all the newspapers in the world wrote about his activities, from the USA to the USSR. Including in Britain: having lived in London, he knew England very well with its liberal traditions and the mood of the intelligentsia. And he understood: if you start killing the British, those who support the idea of an independent India will turn away. This also worked: articles in the press about the peaceful protests of the Gandhis, who expose themselves to police batons during demonstrations, shocked the liberal part of English society, which itself began to lean towards leaving India.
Another victory of Gandhi is that he did everything to the separation from the British Empire was peaceful and dignified. “I consider this empire evil. I don’t have hatred for the British, I have hatred for the empire!” - he said. He ensured that the British troops left without incident. Although the Indians had something to remember.
The leaders of the new India, at his insistence, accepted a provision under which people from mixed families, as well as the remaining citizens of British origin who had lived here for generations (they were called Anglo-Indians), received constitutional guarantees of rights. They maintained schools teaching in English: this language still remains one of the official languages in India. It never occurred to anyone to create an institution of non-citizens, as in a number of former Soviet republics after the collapse of the USSR. Moreover, the Anglo-Indians received guaranteed representation in the lower house of parliament.
Monday, October 11, 2010 12:47 + to quote bookMahatma Gandhi. What kind of life did Gandhi call for?
At the end of the 19th century, India remained a British colony. The conquerors used military force to keep the local population in line. The Indians were overcome by a feeling of hopelessness. The very meaning of their existence as a nation was lost. And then a man was found who awakened in them courage and a sense of pride for their country, who showed them the way to fight for freedom. This man, who had the unbending will of a fighter and true to his philosophical credo, led the movement for the liberation of his native country and called for fighting violence through non-violence. His name was Mahatma Gandhi, the father of India."
He always wore simple clothes, was courageously honest and truthful, demanding the same from others. He traveled all over India preaching the ideas of non-violence until he fell victim to what he was desperately fighting against.
So what kind of life did Gandhi call his people to?
The "Great Soul" who liberated India peacefully.
Gandhi, for all the breadth of his mind, was a simple man with a passionate soul. Combining traditional Indian philosophy with his own original ideas, he developed new tactics to fight for freedom based on the principles of non-violence and civil disobedience. This allowed his home country to achieve independence from the powerful British Empire. Simple homespun clothes and a spinning wheel were all that the father of Indian independence needed materially.
“A timid coward” Striving for asceticism.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, better known as Mahatma Gandhi, was born on October 2, 1869 in western India, in the city of Porbandar. When he was 7 years old, his family moved to Rajkot. Indian society has traditionally been divided into several castes, or social groups. The Gandhi family, and therefore Mohandas himself, belonged to the Banya caste, which consisted of traders and artisans. Mohandas's family was well known throughout the city as his father Kaba Gandhi, a very hardworking and knowledgeable man, held a prestigious position as a judge.
Mohandas was the youngest son born to his fourth wife Putlibai. Kaba was an honest judge and therefore enjoyed deep respect in the city. In the family, he always remained a loving father and, they say, never used violence against Mohandas. Kaba was a very devout Hindu, but at the same time he was friends with people who professed other religions.
Mohandas Putlibai's mother was also very religious and always strictly observed fasts, seeing them as a means of self-purification. Gandhi called her<святой женщиной>. Born into such a family, the boy deeply embraced the fundamentals of the Hindu faith from an early age.
Gandhi's childhood was very ordinary: no great plans or aspirations were characteristic of him then. He studied diligently at school, was withdrawn, and had almost no friends. At the end of the lessons, Mohandas immediately ran home - because, in his own words, he was<трусом>. Mohandas was very vulnerable and was afraid of ridicule from his peers.
Two incidents that changed Gandhi's life.
When Gandhi was 13 years old, he was married to a girl of his own age, Kasturbai. This was common practice in India at the time, but Gandhi himself later considered his marriage too early to be “morally flawed.
Gandhi loved his wife very much and was very jealous, wanting to keep her, as it were, under “house arrest.” But, according to Indian customs, the girl-wife spent most of her time with her parents' family. And the separation kindled in the boy-husband the passion and desire to completely lead his wife in the time allotted to them. Subsequently, he harshly condemned his despotism towards Kasturbai.
At the same time, Gandhi was a serious young man: if he ever committed a bad act - and which of his peers did not commit them - he always repented and vowed to refrain from doing so in the future. During these years, two events occurred that had a strong influence on him.
The first of these was associated with eating meat. One of his comrades told him:<(Мы,индусы, так слабы потому, что не едим мяса.Нам надо брать пример с англичан: они ведь едят)>. At that time, advanced technology and a powerful army allowed Britain to rule India. But it was obvious that the English soldiers were also physically healthier and stronger than the Indians who did not eat meat. The latter were forbidden by religion. For the Europeans, the basis of their diet was
traditionally constitutes meat.
Many young Indians sought to imitate the British, hoping in this way to gain strength to repel the colonialists. Mohandas also began to eat meat, but could not overcome his religious beliefs. After tasting the meat several times, Gandhi vowed to never touch it again for the rest of his life.
At the age of 16, the second important event occurred: his deeply revered father died. He was ill for a long time, and by the time Mohandas entered high school, he became very ill. To care for his father, Gandhi even began to skip classes at school. One day he retired to another room, lusting after his wife. And it was at this time that the father, who was lying in the next room, died! Deeply shocked by this, Gandhi vowed to overcome his lust, and over time he succeeded. There seems to be nothing special about these events. However, they left a huge imprint on the life of Gandhi, a deeply religious and a very thoughtful young man.
To be continued.
THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT AND ITS POPULATION
The Indian subcontinent (or simply India) is located in South Asia. It is bounded by the Himalayan mountains to the north, the Indian Ocean to the south, the desert to the west, and is adjacent to the Indochinese Peninsula to the east. When India remained a British colony, it also included the now independent Pakistan and Bangladesh. Therefore, its population was even more varied. than now. Nowadays, more than 1 billion people live in India (in Gandhi’s time - about 30 million), who belong to different racially diverse nationalities. In addition to Hindus, immigrants from Europe, there are many Mongoloids (close to the Chinese and Tibetans), as well as Dravidians with dark skin. Because of
Due to the diversity of demographic and climatic conditions, India has always been fragmented: almost no one managed to maintain power over the entire country for long. Because of this, individual Indian states are still striving to gain autonomy. The government has so far failed to suppress local separatism. In different regions of India, people speak different languages, and there is still no single official language in this country. Indian paper notes are printed in 17 different languages!
According to one soldier who once served in the British colonial forces, there are “no Indian people as such” in India. An Indian is simply a person living in the country called "India...
Vkontse nineteenth century, India remained a British colony. Conquerors have used military force to keep in obedience to the local population. Indians embraced a sense of hopelessness. Lost the very meaning of their existence as a nation. And then there was a man, to awaken in them the courage and pride for their country, the path of struggle for freedom. This man, who had an unbending will of the fighter and true to his philosophical creed, led the movement for the liberation of his country, called on to deal with violent way of nonviolence. His name was Mahatma Gandhi, the father of India. "He always wore simple clothes, was a brave honest and truthful, demanding the same from others. He has traveled all over India, preaching the idea of nonviolence, has not yet fallen victim of what desperately fought. So to what the same way of life called his people to Gandhi? "Great soul" liberate India by peaceful means. Gandhi at the breadth of his mind was a simple man with a passionate soul Combining traditional Indian philosophy with their own original ideas, he developed new tactics of struggle for. freedom, based on the principles of nonviolence and civil disobedience. This allowed his home country to gain independence from the mighty British Empire. The simple homespun clothes and spinning wheel - that"s all that was required was the father of Indian independence in material terms. . "Timid coward" The forward to asceticism. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, better known as Mahatma Gandhi, was born Oct. 2, 1869 in western India, in the city of Porbandar. When he was 7 years old, his family moved to Rajkot. Indian society is traditionally divided into several castes, or social groups. Gandhi family, and therefore he Mohandas belonged to the caste of banyan, which were tradesmen and artisans. Mohandas family was well known around town as his father Kaba Gandhi, very hardworking and knowledgeable person, he held the prestigious post of judge. Mohandas was the youngest son born to his fourth wife Putlibay. Kaba was a fair judge, and therefore enjoyed great respect in the city. In the family he was always a loving father, and they say, never used violence against Mohandasu.Kaba was a very devout Hindu, but was friends with people professing other religions. Putlibay Mohandas"s mother was also very religious and always strictly observed fasts, seeing them as a means to self-purification. Gandhi called it
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MAHATMA GANDHI. TIME OF SOUL DREAMS. (Part 2) |
Diary |
Study in London
At the age of 18, Gandhi entered Samaldas College in Bavnagar. However, he did not understand the teachers' lectures well and returned home after the first semester. One of the family friends advised the young man to go to London to study law there. Gandhi was excited. In the outback where he lived, such a proposal looked like an adventure and raised objections in the family. Mother said: “Having gone to England, you will forever forget about the faith of your fathers>). However, for the first time in his life, Gandhi insisted on his own, not even afraid of excommunication from caste: the local banyas sharply condemned his intention. Having collected - partly with the help of his older lawyer brother - the necessary amount of money, Gandhi went to London. Leaving India in 1888, at the age of 19, Gandhi vowed to his mother to abstain from wine, women and meat.
Life in London presented him with a number of surprises. At that time, Great Britain was the most powerful power in the world, and London was one of the main cities in the world, famous for its wealth. The modest provincial Gandhi, who arrived in this city, was shocked by English culture and immediately decided to become a real gentleman. He changed into European dress, bought a silk hat and began to take care of his hair.
Gandhi took dancing lessons, playing the violin, and learned French. The luxurious metropolitan life seemed to have completely turned his head, but suddenly Gandhi began to think seriously: Why am I madly imitating the British in everything? After all, I’m not going to stay in England forever!
Gandhi remembered his brother, who gave him money to travel abroad, and his mother, who took him away despite all her worries, and he felt ashamed. He decided to live again as he lived in his homeland, moved into a modest home and began to devote all his free time to the study of religion and philosophy.
Meeting other vegetarians
Gandhi led a vegetarian lifestyle in England, and sometimes this caused trouble. One day, a friend invited him to lunch at a restaurant, but when Gandhi refused to eat meat soup, his behavior was considered tactless and he was asked to leave. Nevertheless, Gandhi managed to find vegetarians in England. These were theosophists. They studied the Old Testament and valued logic and moderation above all else. Acquaintance with them helped Gandhi to find a philosophical justification for vegetarianism and influenced the formation of his worldview. At the same time, our hero then remained the same timid and shy young man: during theosophical debates he always remained silent.
Failed lawyer
After studying for three years in England, Gandhi received a law degree and returned to India in high spirits. Over the years, his mother passed away, but his older brother was alive and well. By that time, he had managed to move to Bombay and kindly invited his younger brother to stay in his house.
The family was very proud that Mohandas received a good education in England itself and expected great success from him. On the advice of his brother, Gandhi began to practice law in Bombay, but was unable to achieve success in this law firm. His first case already ended in failure: Gandhi became so agitated that, having failed to properly interrogate the witness, right during the hearing he suggested that his client find ‚ a more knowledgeable lawyer and immediately left the courtroom. Then he considered his career as a lawyer over.
Six months later, the brothers returned to their hometown, where their business was somewhat more successful. But soon
Gandhi's life took a dizzying zigzag.
To be continued.
RELIGION IN INDIA
India is the birthplace of many religions. Buddhism, Brahmanism, Jainism, for example, appeared earlier than Christianity, became widespread, and then were constantly replaced by other faiths. By the time of Gandhi's birth, almost all ancient religions had been replaced by Hinduism.
Hinduism arose on the basis of the most ancient Indian religion, Brahmanism, and developed under the influence of local folk traditions. Because of this, this religion did not go beyond the borders of India. At the same time, in India there were adherents of religions that had penetrated from abroad - Zoroastrianism and Christianism. There were relatively few of them, but it is interesting to note that Islam is a religion introduced in the 3rd century
conquerors - under the Mughal dynasty it was declared state. Because of this, Islam quickly spread throughout northern India.
From the time of Gandhi to the present day, Hinduism and Islam have remained the main religions of India. During the colonial era, the majority of the population was Hindu (70%) and Muslims (about 30%) were the largest minority. However, this 30% of the population equaled almost 100 million people! Hinduism and Islam are very different from each other, which has often created the ground for conflict. This is still one of the main pain points of modern India. Sikhs profess a special faith rooted in Hinduism.
Continued
Citadel of Racism
Gandhi arrived in the South African port of Durban in 1893. South Africa was technically a republic, but racism was rampant here. Unlike India, which was ruled directly from England, power in South Africa was held by English emigrants. The laws they created formalized apartheid, the practice of brutal oppression of people of color. Gandhi, who came here with a practical purpose, and not at all with an abstract dream, as before in England, immediately encountered such violent racism that he was simply stunned.
Although he had purchased a ticket for a first class carriage, he was asked to move to the baggage carriage. Gandhi refused, and then he was simply thrown out of the train. In the stagecoach he was ordered to sit next to the coachman, and then even on the carriage's footboard, and when he resisted this, he became a victim of unceremonious violence. When Gandhi wanted to get a room in a good hotel, he was refused simply because he was Indian. Thus, life was difficult for Indians in South Africa.
These humiliations changed Gandhi’s previously gentle character, developing a sense of pride and a strong desire to fight back against the oppressors. He felt himself to be an Indian and continued to work in a very unfavorable environment. He began to defend the interests in court
Indians and gained the respect of the local Indian community. Its members persuaded Gandhi to extend his stay in South Africa
On the way to glory
The years spent in South Africa marked a sharp turn in Gandhi's entire life. Here he learned a lot about the leaders of the Indian liberation movement - people whom he would later meet personally. Influenced by the ideas of some of them, Gandhi decided to acquire a farm so as not to depend on anyone else. There he created an ashram, a community of his supporters who worked together to cultivate the land. He also started publishing a weekly magazine (Indian Thought)
Gandhi took part in the Boer War in 1899. It was unleashed by the British in order to conquer neighboring territories that belonged to the Dutch. Gandhi himself never took part in battles, having started creating Indian sanitary units. As a result, he received several British military awards and very much hoped that this would increase the prestige of the Indians in the eyes of the British. But the racist regime in South Africa has not changed at all!
Beginning of nonviolent resistance
Moreover, the South African government passed a number of new racist laws aimed at Indians. These laws further limited their rights, introduced new taxes, and required fingerprinting of all Indians. Their life in this country became more and more unbearable. Gandhi, who by that time had become one of the leaders of the Indian community in South Africa, called on his compatriots working in the mines to speak out against unjust laws. At the same time, his wife Kasturbai organized a demonstration of Indian women to protest against the new marriage law, according to which marriages between Indians had to be concluded according to Christian rites. British police brutally beat the women, and then Gandhi called on Indian miners to start a new strike. In October 1913, the strike spread from Natal to the Transvaal.
Gandhi was arrested several times, but these demonstrations received support throughout the world. And the government was forced to weaken the apartheid regime by repealing marriage laws and additional taxation of Indians. Thus, Gandhi's protests turned out to be extremely effective. From now on, his ideas of non-violence and non-cooperation with the authorities formed the basis of a fundamental strategy called satyagraha. Translated from Sanskrit, it means persistence in truth.
After this victory, Gandhi decided to return to his homeland. 21 years spent in South Africa changed him radically. A timid, fearful man turned into a leader capable of uniting the people.
To be continued.
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SATYAGRAHA OF LEO TOLSTOY
The great Russian writer Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, author of famous novels<‘Война и мир и <‘Анна Каренина, был проповедником пацифизма. Он резко критиковал современный ему порядок вещей, видя идеал в традиционной русской общине. Труд на земле он ставил во главу собственной концепции. Толстой отвергал частную собственность, деление людей на классы, предлагал отказаться от материальных благ и подавлять низменные человеческие страсти. Эти идеи нашли отэвук во многих странах мира.
Tolstoy's philosophy turned out to be in many ways consonant with Gandhi's thoughts. While living in South Africa, he read a number of Tolstoy's works and became fascinated by his ideas. Gandhi even called his second ashram in South Africa Tolstoy's farm. However, the connection between these outstanding people was not one-sided. Tolstoy became acquainted with some of Gandhi's works, from which he learned about the principles of satyahrahi.
The writer was excommunicated from the church for his sharp criticism of Russian reality, which only increased the number of his supporters around the world. One journalist wrote:
Who is stronger? Tolstoy or the Russian monarch? Russia does not know how to get rid of Tolstoy, although Tolstoy himself seems to be able to free himself from Russia. This was another victory of nonviolence over violence.
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MAHATMA GANDHI. Struggle for India. (Part 4) |
Diary |
Independence movement
Gandhi, who returned to his homeland in 915, received a very warm welcome. News of his success in South Africa had by that time spread throughout the country.
In India, Gandhi immediately continued the work begun in Africa. First of all, he purchased a farm and created an ashram there, which became a stronghold of his freedom, after which he began to travel throughout the country. At the same time, he worked closely with the Indian National Congress (INC) party, which led the struggle for the country's independence.
INC is the oldest political party in India. It was started by delegates elected to the Indian Congress in 1885. This congress was convened by the British in order to better understand the mood of the elite of Indian society. At that time, the British Empire had vast possessions around the world, ensuring its prosperity. India was the richest and at the same time the most oppressed British colony. Of course, this caused extreme discontent among the Indians, and popular unrest constantly broke out in the country. Therefore, the authorities needed a forum where the top of Indian society could let off verbal steam and thereby refrain from taking concrete actions against the British.
At first everything went exactly as the British planned. However, colonial oppression became more and more harsh, and the INC became more and more oppositional. Finally, this party demanded that India be given self-government. Gandhi became a member of the INC in 1901 while still in South Africa. But his real participation in party activities began only after his return to his homeland, when he supported Chandra Bose and Jawaharlal Nehru, who advocated the independence of India. Gandhi introduced the principles of satyagraha to the members of the INC, and although some rejected them and left the party, Gandhi's ideas formed the basis of its subsequent struggle for Indian freedom
Lies in British style.
The First World War, which began in 1914, claimed a huge number of lives. In order to replenish the thinning ranks of their army, the authorities began to conscript young Indians and send them to the front. In return, the government promised to provide India with somewhat greater autonomy. Believing these promises, Gandhi encouraged his compatriots to join the British army and even briefly commanded one of the Indian sanitary units.
However, at the height of the war, the British government in India passed the Rowlett Act, aimed at suppressing the growing independence movement. The authorities received the right to imprison Indians without trial, without bringing charges. Gandhi protested that this was unacceptable, but the government assured him that this was only a temporary measure necessary during the war.
England broke all the promises it made. India did not get the end of the war
autonomy. The law was not canceled either. And then Gandhi called on the entire country to stop work, hoping that at least 200 million people would take part in the strike. The Indians responded to this call, and an unprecedented scale of civil disobedience began - an all-Indian sadiyagraha. It seemed that the authorities were driven into a corner, but Gandhi, the organizer of the action, unexpectedly called on his compatriots to stop it. This decision was caused by a violation of the principles of non-violence. One day, strikers responded to the brutality of British police by setting fire to their barracks. Several people died in the fire. Shocked by this, Gandhi insisted on stopping the speeches and went on a hunger strike in protest.
PRISON AS MARRIAGE CHAMBERS?
Gandhi, who had an unbending will, found himself behind bars many times. He was first arrested in 1907 while protesting against discrimination in South Africa. The following year he spent two months in prison. In just 21 years spent in South Africa, he found himself behind bars three times. In India, Gandhi was imprisoned for his activities six times over a period of 33 years. In total, he spent 2338 days in prison, that is, over 6 years. However, this is not so much, considering that Nehru was arrested 9 times and Bose 11 times. It should be noted that Gandhi was always treated very well in the Prisons and was released as soon as his health deteriorated. being behind bars did not in any way affect Gandhi's determination to pursue his goals. This still speaks volumes about the incredible willpower of this man.
Gandhi said: “We must enter prison with the same feeling with which a newlywed enters the wedding chambers; only by passing through the prison walls can a person achieve peace, justice and freedom.” Gandhi emphasized many times that you should never fear that you will be jailed for telling the truth.
His longest sentence was a six-year imprisonment. Gandhi was sentenced to it for an article in 1922 that caused great unrest. In it, he condemned the Rowlett Act and the Amritsar massacre.
Gandhi visits prison to negotiate the release of political prisoners
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Continuation.
The mistake is huge, like the Himalayas"
The Indians refused to believe that their leader had actually called for an end to the fighting in the midst of the battle, when the first clear signs of impending victory appeared. However, Gandhi stood his ground. “True peace cannot be achieved without complete renunciation of violence,” he said, comparing his failure to the Himalayas and convincing his fellow citizens that the movement of nonviolence itself was much more important than its goal, that is, gaining autonomy and independence.
Declaration of war
The authorities decided to punish the Indians in their own way. The massacre of civilians began - even those who did not participate in the demonstrations. Indians began to protest, and something terrible happened: when a rally was dispersed in Amritsar, in northern India, about 1,000 people died. This is how the British Empire showed its true face to the whole world.
In response, Gandhi returned the military awards he had received to the authorities and declared war on the British. In 1921, he called on Indians to completely boycott all British goods.
In Bombay, people began to burn clothes brought from the metropolis, and Gandhi himself, setting an example, abandoned European dress and changed into national Indian cotton attire. He taught Indians how to make homespun clothing using the traditional spinning wheel. When giving speeches and lectures, he stopped using English words.
Thus began an unprecedented action against the British authorities. At first, this war without the use of weapons seemed naive and doomed to failure to many. However, in reality, Gandhi dealt a very powerful blow to British interests in India.
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Salt March"
Due to England's stubborn reluctance to grant India autonomy, Gandhi took another action. On March 12, 1930, he gathered disciples on his farm and went with them to the coast near Bombay to extract salt imported from England. Gandhi decided to extract salt himself. The 60-year-old man covered a 350-kilometer journey to the coast on foot. People came out to watch his procession and joined him. When the demonstrators reached the shore, the length of the column exceeded three kilometers.
On April 5, Gandhi and his supporters began drying seawater in the sun to evaporate the salt from it. “This salt is taken from the Indian Ocean, and therefore belongs to the Indians,” said Gandhi. “Why should they pay for British salt when they can get it from their oceans?” These words awakened a sense of pride in people and gradually united the country. However, salt mining remained an illegal activity. And since the Indians worked openly - in broad daylight, the British authorities soon found out about this. Gandhi was again arrested and imprisoned. But this arrest was another victory for Gandhi.
Tens of thousands of outraged Indians gathered outside the prison and demanded the release of their leader. Fearing the worst, the British government was forced not only to release Gandhi, but also to allow the Indians to live on the shore and mine salt.
After the Salt March, Indians began calling Gandhi “Mahatma,” which means “great soul.” The poet Rabindranath Tagore was the first to call him that, and this name was quite suitable for a man who became the new spiritual leader of the entire Indian people.
SYMBOL OF INDIA'S INDEPENDENCE - CHARKHA
Wherever Gandhi moved, he took with him a traditional Indian spinning wheel - a charkha. He used it to make his own clothes and encouraged other members of the INC to follow his example. By boycotting British goods, Gandhi taught his followers to strive for self-sufficiency, arguing that this was the path to economic independence for the country. Subsequently, the image of the charkha was placed on the national flag of India as a symbol of its liberation. For Gandhi, it was not just a tool, but a means of instilling national feelings. In 1937, he proposed introducing a 7-year school education system, including work with charkha. With its help, he proposed teaching children addition, subtraction and multiplication in the first 2 years. In 3rd grade, during geography lessons, children were supposed to, in his opinion, distinguish cotton from different parts of the world. In the 4th and 5th grades, schoolchildren were to be taught trade skills so that they could sell the fabric they made. In the 6th grade it was proposed to study the qualities of the fabric from which clothes are made. Under this system, graduates entered life with commercial knowledge that allowed them to calculate profits.
This method of teaching, aimed at obtaining practical skills, differed significantly from the methods usual in Europe at that time, which were more theory-oriented.
MAHATMA GANDHI. In the name of a new India. (Part 6) |
Diary |
Round table" on the Indian issue in London
In 1930, a round table opened in London. The following issue was discussed at the conference:
should India get independence? Some leaders of the liberation movement received an invitation to the round table. However, members of the INC refused to come to London, since Gandhi was at that time in prison for his activities. Without the participation of representatives of the INC, the discussion did not make much sense. Therefore, the British government ordered Gandhi's release from prison to enable him to attend the second round of negotiations in 1931.
So Gandhi again went to where he spent his student years. However, now Gandhi arrived in traditional Indian clothes and wooden sandals. In addition, he brought with him a goat, with which he walked around London.
After the Salt March, Gandhi gained worldwide fame. Therefore, he was constantly invited to discussions with famous intellectuals of the time. Once he was even asked to speak on American radio. Gandhi readily agreed: this way he managed to introduce the whole world to the ideas of the Indian independence movement.
Breakdown of relationships and new persecution
Much was expected from Gandhi's visit to London, but the negotiations were unsuccessful. He again
reiterated that granting autonomy was not enough, that India must immediately gain complete independence. Then the authorities, taking into account the discord between Hindus and Muslims, decided to divide the country into “Majority India” and “Minority India” and in this way split the liberation movement. Realizing that Gandhi would not support this plan, the British government declared the Indian National Congress an illegal organization and again arrested its leader.
Other leaders of the INC also began to be persecuted. At some point, the independence movement was on the verge of collapse. At the same time, the communist and socialist parties arose in India, deepening the split in the ranks of Gandhi’s supporters. However, the crisis was overcome thanks to Nehru and other members of the INC. In 1934, Gandhi, released from prison, announced his retirement from the political arena. From that moment on, Jawaharlal Nehru became the leader of the INC.
Britain: years of trials
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In 1939, World War II began and India, as a British colony, declared war on Germany. The Indians were not asked about this, and therefore the Indian National Congress condemned this move by the authorities. The INC called the immediate granting of independence to the country a condition for India's participation in the war on the side of Britain. England once again rejected this demand, and then the INC, in protest against India’s forced involvement in the war, decided to start a new campaign of civil disobedience.
By then, British policymakers had realized that aid to India might be
invaluable.In the conditions of a raging war. The once mighty British Empire was bursting at the seams.
In 1942, the German army was rushing through the Caucasus to the Middle East, and Japan managed to capture Burma, neighboring India. If England had allowed itself any conflict with India, it could have led to unpredictable consequences. Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, who knew about the situation in India first-hand, asked the British government to grant India freedom. The Americans, in turn, warned him about the danger of pro-Japanese sentiments in the eastern regions of India.
Yielding to this pressure, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, an ardent opponent of Indian independence, was forced to send a mission to discuss ways for the country to transition to self-government.
Gandhi refused to negotiate, demanding that his country be given immediate
and complete independence. The Indians understood that the hour of their freedom was near, that Britain was steadily losing ground
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GANDHI ON THE FIGHT AGAINST AGGRESSORS
The ideas of nonviolent resistance were severely tested during the Second World War. On the one hand, Gandhi immediately realized the danger that the European fascism and its Far Eastern ally, Japan, posed. On the other hand, England, which fought against Nazi Germany, was a long-time enemy of India, and it would seem natural for the Indians to wish for its defeat. Chandra Bose, one of the leaders of the INC, followed this path. However, Gandhi did not agree with this. He preferred not to fight the British, hoping that the war would weaken the Empire, and the British themselves would consider it best to let India go free. He advised the peoples of Europe not to offer military resistance to Hitlerism, but, having submitted to the fascists, to launch a non-violent struggle against them.
The naive dreamer Gandhi relied on the experience of his confrontation with the British Empire, which abided by its own laws. But the terrorist regimes of the twentieth century, destroying people, did not pay attention to any laws - be they their own or universal laws. Therefore, the tactics of mass nonviolent resistance would give them only a formal reason for the total destruction of the entire nonviolently resisting population; the fascists would simply say thank you to Gandhi....
When the breath of modern war approached the borders of India, Gandhi spoke somewhat differently. In 1942, the Japanese captured Burma, and there was a threat of their invasion of India. And then he turned to the Chinese leader Chai Kai-shek with a request to provide military assistance to his country: We need outside help to protect India from Japan.
At the same time, in an address to the Japanese, he warned: if Japan tries to enter India, we will help
resistance with all the might our country can muster. It was about the same nonviolent struggle...
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^ Amritsar. This city is famous for the Golden Temple and the massacre committed by the British in 1919.
Lie in British
The First World War, which began in 1914, claimed a huge number of lives. In order to replenish the thinning ranks of their army, the authorities began to conscript young Indians and send them to the front. In return, the government promised to give India somewhat greater autonomy. Believing these promises, Gandhi encouraged his compatriots to join the British army and even briefly commanded one of the Indian sanitary units.
However, at the height of the war, the British government in India passed the Rowlett Act, aimed at suppressing the growing independence movement. The authorities received the right to imprison Indians without trial, without bringing charges. Gandhi protested that this was unacceptable, but the government assured him that this was only a temporary measure necessary during the war.
England broke all the promises it made. After the end of the war, India did not receive
autonomy. The Rowlett Act was not repealed either. And then Gandhi called on the entire country to stop work, hoping that at least 200 million people would take part in the strike. The Indians responded to this call, and an unprecedented scale of civil disobedience began - the all-Indian satyagra-ha. It seemed that the authorities were driven into a corner, but Gandhi, the organizer of the action, unexpectedly called on his compatriots to stop it. This decision was caused by a violation of the principles of non-violence. One day, strikers responded to the brutality of British police by setting fire to their barracks. Several people died in the fire. Shocked by this, Gandhi insisted on stopping the speeches and went on a hunger strike in protest.
^ Indian soldiers at war. Due to a lack of troops, England began to recruit Indians into the ranks of its army. They had to shed blood for the interests of a country foreign to them.
Sentences handed down by Gandhi
Chronology
PRISON AS MARRIAGE CHAMBERS?
Gandhi, who had an unbending will, found himself behind bars many times. He was first arrested in 1907 while protesting against discrimination in South Africa. The following year he spent two months in prison. In just 21 years spent in South Africa, he found himself behind bars three times. In India, Gandhi was imprisoned 6 times over 33 years for his activities. In total, he spent 2338 days in prison, that is, over 6 years. However, this is not so much, considering that Nehru was arrested 9 times and Bose 11 times. It should be noted that Gandhi was always treated very well in prison and was released as soon as his health deteriorated. Being behind bars did not in any way affect Gandhi's determination to pursue his goals. This once again speaks of the incredible willpower of this man.
Gandhi said: “We should enter prison with the same feeling with which a newlywed enters the wedding chambers. Only by passing through prison walls can a person achieve peace, justice and freedom.” Gandhi emphasized many times that you should never fear that you will be jailed for telling the truth.
His longest sentence was a six-year sentence. Gandhi was sentenced to it for an article in 1922 that caused great unrest. In it, he condemned the Rowlett Act and the Amritsar massacre.
Gandhi visits prison to negotiate the release of political prisoners.
January 1908 2 months in prison
October 1908 2 months in prison
February 1909 3 months in prison
November 1913 9 months in prison
March 1922 6 years in prison
March 1929 fine of
May 1930 unlimited
conclusion
January 1932 indefinite imprisonment
August 1933 1 year in prison
August 1942 indefinite imprisonment
Worldwide birthday Mohandas Gandhi(October 2, 1869 - January 30, 1948) is celebrated as a day of non-violence. It was he, a modest lawyer from the Indian wilderness, who proved that the fate of every living creature is important. He overcame the prejudices of his caste, fought against the oppression of the rights of Hindus by the British Empire, moreover: some Hindus - other, all people - animals. For this he was nicknamed “Mahatma” - a great soul.
Despite the cruelty of the last century, his humanistic ideals have inspired many people around the world. Many organizations (from small groups to huge social movements like Greenpeace) have made nonviolence a central tenet of their civil rights struggles.
Nowadays, it is important to remember who until the last day of his life fought for world peace.
We have selected 15 quotes from Gandhi's autobiography "My Life".
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A person who has dedicated himself to serving society should not accept expensive gifts. |
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Wise people never pay attention to a person's appearance. They think about his heart. |
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Only he who views his own mistakes through a magnifying glass, and the mistakes of others through a diminutive glass, is able to comprehend the relative significance of both. |
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The best way to find yourself is to stop serving other people. |
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“Hate the sin, but not the sinner” is a rule that is rarely put into practice, although everyone understands it. This is why the poison of hatred is spreading throughout the world. |
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You can wake a person only when he is actually sleeping; if he only pretends to be asleep, all attempts are in vain. |
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Non-violence is not the destiny of cowardice, it is always heroism. |
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The weak never forgive. Forgiveness is a characteristic of the strong. |
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Are there any obstacles that love has not eliminated? |
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A poet is one who has the power to awaken the goodness hidden in the human breast. |
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We are not ashamed to sacrifice many other people's lives, decorating our mortal body and trying to prolong its existence for a few fleeting moments, but as a result we kill ourselves - our body and our soul. Trying to recover from one chronic disease, we give rise to hundreds of others; in striving to enjoy sensual pleasures, we eventually lose even the very ability to enjoy. |
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The rich should live easier so that the poor can simply survive. |
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My conviction is that no man loses his freedom except through his own weakness. |
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It is perfectly acceptable to condemn a system and fight against it, but to condemn its author and fight against him is the same as condemning oneself and fighting against oneself. For we are all made from the same cloth, we are all children of one Creator, and the Divine powers in us are limitless. To abuse a human being is to abuse these divine powers and thereby cause harm not only to this being, but to the whole world. |
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I believe that the more helpless a creature is, the more rights it has to count on human protection from human cruelty. |