Mahatma Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (October 2 1869–January 30, 1948) (Devanagari: ??????? ??????? ?????, Gujarati મોહનદાસ કરમચંદ ગાંધી) was a national icon who led the struggle for India's independence from British colonial rule, empowered by tens of millions of common Indians. Throughout his life he opposed any form of terrorism or violence, instead using only the highest moral standards. His philosophy of nonviolence, for which he coined the term satyagraha, has influenced national and international nonviolent resistance movements to this day, including the American Civil Rights Movement led by Martin Luther King.

Vision for India

The anger of Hindu extremists and the antagonism of Pakistan advocates and extremist Muslims have left blurred the vision of India cherished by the Mahatma and his followers.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gandhi was blamed directly by men like Vinayak Damodar Savarkar for mollycoddling Jinnah and his Muslims, and thus increasing his political importance, treating him and his League as equals of the Congress. Savarkar's modern-day supporters point to damning evidence that Gandhi had at one point offered to hand over the entire Government of a free India to be run exclusively by Jinnah and his party, if he would drop his Pakistan demand.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

During the riots, Gandhi was again criticized for protecting Muslims in India even as Hindus in Pakistan were hurtled out in refugee caravans or simply murdered by extremists and the unsympathetic new government and Pakistani army.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

What Gandhi had really wanted was a united India, absolutely free in every possible sense of the word. He wanted Muslims and Hindus to live in absolute freedom with respect and friendship. He wanted each to be free to express themselves, worship and enjoy their heritage and culture, especially with each other.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gandhi wanted women to be equal to men, live with dignity, security and enjoy opportunities of personal progress. Gandhi wanted untouchability, casteism in Hindu society to be absolutely eliminated, and all Hindus to be equal and united, proud of their faith and heritage.

Related Topics:
Untouchability - Casteism

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gandhi wanted the people to help themselves: for the rich to help the poor, respect each other as brother and sister. He did not want big Government, but a government limited to protecting people, giving justice and spreading opportunities.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gandhi had fought and led millions of Indians with a vision of individual freedom, and genuine cultural and religious respect and harmony, not merely "tolerance." He wanted the people to develop the spirit of love and brotherhood, and not just create a legal system imposing these virtues to an unresponsive population.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In these years of the division process (1946-1947), Gandhi was a desperate man. Already above 75 years in age, thin, frail and with delicate health, exhausted after 30 years of struggles, all of Gandhi's soul, intelligence and health were expended in his desperation to avoid the partition of India. He foresaw, what many others did not, that the matter would not end there. It would tie-down generations of Indians in a bitter, poisonous, continous war of attrition. The conflicts to come would be territorial, but they principally would arise from the Hindu-Muslim problem. Pakistan today contends for Kashmir only because of its Muslim-majority, which it claims only it can protect and represent, and India refutes that contention with its own military force because it believes Hindus and Muslims are one nation, and can live in freedom together. It is the very partition debate that is today being carried out, now with nuclear weapons on the debate teams.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gandhi consented to partition only when his closest associates had pointed out the brutal truth, the consequences of not doing so: outright Hindu-Muslim civil war. All the work of 30 years would be undone in moments, and Gandhi was old and weak, unable to retaliate with civil disobedience or popular protests. In a country of 350 million, the horrors could pale the Holocaust into insignificance.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In his last months, Gandhi was a broken man inside. He regarded the partition as his personal failure. Even though many great Congress leaders and freedom fighters and Mohammed Ali Jinnah and his supporters felt that only good could come out of it, that the dam had been sealed from explosion, Gandhi felt a hole, invisible as it was, had indeed been carved out.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The consequences of war between India and Pakistan today are far worse than in 1947: over 1.2 billion people inhabit the Indian subcontinent, and nuclear weapons are capable of killing 10 million people in a matter of minutes.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~