Mahatma Gandhi

 

Mahatma Gandhi

 A prominent political and spiritual leader of the Indian independence movement

 Whenever we talk about the history of our country India, there is a talk of freedom struggle and there are discussions on which soldiers also contributed in this freedom struggle.  Read about the freedom fighters of India here.  There were two types of fighters in this freedom struggle,

First -: Those who wanted to respond to the atrocities committed by the British in the same way as the bloodshed, chief among them were: - Chandrashekhar Azad, Sardar Bhagat Singh, etc.

 Other types of fighters were: - who wanted to liberate the country by walking on the path of peace instead of this bloody manger, the most prominent names among them are: - Mahatma Gandhi.  Due to his attitude towards peace, truth and non-violence, people started addressing him as 'Mahatma'.  Let us share more information about this Mahatma -:

 Name: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

 Father's Name: Karamchand Gandhi

 Mother's Name: Putlibai

 Date of Birth: October 2, 1869

 Place of birth: in Porbandar region of Gujarat

 Nationality: Indian

 Education: Barristers

 Wife: Kasturbai Makhanji Kapadia: [Kasturba Gandhi]

 Children 4 sons: Harilal, Manilal, Ramdas, Devdas

 Death: 30 January 1948

 Mahatma Gandhi's early life

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 Mahatma Gandhi was born in Porbandar region of Gujarat state of India.  His father Mr. Karamchand Gandhi was the 'Diwan' of Porbandar and mother Putlibai was a religious woman.  His mother had a great influence in Gandhiji's life.  They were married at the age of 13 and Kasturba was 14 at that time.

 In November, 1887, he passed his matriculation examination and in January, 1888, he attended Samaldas College, Bhavnagar and got a degree from here.  After this he went to London and returned from there as a barrister.

 Young Gandhi Ji - In 1887, Mohandas somehow passed the matriculation examination of 'Mumbai University' and enrolled in 'Samaldas College' located in Bhavnagar.  Suddenly, going from Gujarati to English language, he had some difficulty in understanding the lectures.  Meanwhile, there was a discussion about his future in his family.  If the decision was left to him, he wanted to become a doctor.  But rip-off was not allowed in the Vaishnava family.  At the same time it was also clear that if he had to follow the family tradition of attaining a high position in a royal family of Gujarat, he would have to become a barrister and Gandhiji had to go to England.

 

 Even in this way, Gandhi's mind did not seem to have anything special in his 'Samaldas College', so he readily accepted this proposal.  The image of England in his young mind was 'the land of philosophers and poets, the center of the whole civilization'.  In September 1888 he reached London.  10 days after arriving there, he entered an 'inner temple' in one of the four law colleges in London.

 

 In 1906, the Tanswal government issued a particularly derogatory ordinance for the registration of the Indian public of South Africa.  The Indians organized a protest public meeting in September 1906 in Johannesburg under Gandhi's leadership and took an oath to violate this ordinance and consequently to punish.  Thus was born the Satyagraha, a new technique to withstand rather than inflict pain, fight against it, and fight it without violence.

 Mahatma Gandhi's visit to South Africa

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 In 1894, Gandhiji had gone to South Africa in connection with a legal dispute and launched a 'disobedience movement' against the injustice happening there and returned to India after its completion.  Gandhiji in South Africa (1893–1914)

 Gandhi reached South Africa at the age of 24.  He went there as a judicial advisor to some Indian businessmen based in Pretoria.  He spent 21 years of his life in South Africa where his political ideas and leadership skills developed.  They faced severe racial discrimination in South Africa.  Once the first class coach in the train had a valid ticket, he was thrown out of the train for refusing to enter the third class compartment.  All these events became a turning point in his life and led to awareness of the current social and political injustice.  In view of the injustice being done to the Indians in South Africa, questions related to the honor of Indians and their own identity began to arise under the British Empire.

 In South Africa, Gandhiji inspired Indians to fight for their political and social rights.  He also raised the issue of citizenship of Indians to the South African government and actively inspired the British authorities to recruit Indians in the Zulu War of 1906.  According to Gandhi, to make his citizenship claims legal, Indians should cooperate in the British war effort.

 Education and Advocacy Abroad

 Mohandas was the most educated in his family, so his family believed that he could become the heir (Diwan) of his father and uncle.  One of his family friends Mavji Dave advised that once Mohandas became a barrister from London, he could easily get the title of Diwan.  His mother Putlibai and other family members opposed the idea of ​​going abroad but agreed to Mohandas's assurance.  In the year 1888, Mohandas University College went to England to study law and become a barrister in London.  According to the promise given to his mother, he spent his time in London.  There they had a lot of difficulty related to eating vegetarian and had to stay hungry many times during the initial days.  Gradually, they found out about restaurants with vegetarian food.  After this, he also joined the membership of the Vegetarian Society.  Some members of this Society were also members of the Theosophical Society and suggested Mohandas to read the Gita.

 Political life

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         Gandhi's first major achievement came in the movement of the Champaran and Kheda Satyagraha in 1914, although the movement of food crops that offered indigo cash instead of the food crops necessary for his subsistence was also important.  The oppressed Indians were given a nominal compensation allowance by the power of the zamindars (most of the British), which surrounded them in extreme poverty.  The villages were badly dirty and unhealthy and tied to liquor, untouchability and veils.  Now the British imposed oppressive taxes to compensate for the imperial treasury due to a devastating famine, whose burden increased day by day.

         This situation was disappointing.  Kheda, Gujarat had the same problem.  Gandhiji built an ashram there where many of his supporters and new voluntary workers were organized.  He made a detailed study and survey of the villages, keeping an account of the terrible incidents of atrocities on animals and also included the unproductive normal condition of the people.  Creating confidence in the villagers, he started his work by cleaning the villages under which schools and hospitals were built and the rural leadership was motivated to eliminate many of the social evils mentioned above.

 Education of Gandhiji

 Gandhiji had his initial education in Porbandar.  He received his education from Porbandar to middle school, after which his father transferred to Rajkot and completed his remaining education from Rajkot.  In 1887, he passed the matriculation examination from Rajkot High School and got admission in Samaldas College, Bhavnagar for further studies, but due to being away from home he could not concentrate and returned unwell to Porbandar.  Left for England on 4 September 1888.  Gandhiji joined the London Vegetarian Society in London and became its executive member.  Gandhi started attending the London Vegetarian Society's conferences and writing articles in the magazine.  After staying here for 3 years (1888–1891), he completed his baristry and returned to India in 1891.

 Gandhi's married life

 Gandhiji was married to Kasturba Ji in 1883 at the age of just 13.  People used to call him affectionately as 'Ba'.  Kasturba Gandhi's father was a wealthy businessman.  Kasturba did not know to read and write before marriage.  Gandhiji taught him to read and write.  Like an ideal wife, Ba supported Gandhiji in every work.  Gandhi's first child was born in the year 1885, but died shortly after.

 Mahatma Gandhi's arrival in India and participating in the freedom struggle

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 In 1916, Gandhiji returned to India from South Africa and then started taking his steps for the independence of our country.  After the death of Congress leader Bal Gangadhar Tilak in 1920, Gandhiji was the guide of the Congress.

 In the first world war which took place between 1914 - 1919, Gandhiji gave full support to the British government on the condition that after this they would liberate India.  But when the British did not do so, then Gandhiji started a number of movements to liberate the country.  Some of these movements are as follows:

 In 1920 - Non-cooperation movement

 The non-cooperation movement was getting immense success, which increased the enthusiasm and participation among all sections of the society, but in February 1922, it ended with the Chauri-Chaura scandal.  After this violent incident Gandhiji withdrew the non-cooperation movement.  He was arrested and tried for treason in which he was sentenced to six years imprisonment.  He was released by the government in February 1924 due to poor health.

 non cooperation movement

 Gandhiji believed that the British rule in India was possible only with the cooperation of Indians and if we all together cooperate on everything against the British, freedom is possible.  Gandhi's growing popularity made him the greatest leader of the Congress and he was now in a position to use weapons like non-cooperation, non-violence and peaceful retaliation against the British.  Meanwhile, the Jallianwala massacre caused great shock to the country, causing a flame of anger and violence in the public.

 Gandhiji called for the Swadeshi policy which was to boycott foreign goods, especially English goods.  He said that all Indians should wear handmade khadi by our own people rather than the clothes made by the British.  He asked men and women to spin yarn daily.  Apart from this, Mahatma Gandhi also requested to boycott UK educational institutions and courts, to quit government jobs and to return the honors and honors from the English government.

 1930: Disobedience movement

 Harijan movement

 As a result of the efforts of Dalit leader BR Ambedkar, the British government approved a separate election for untouchables under a new constitution.  Gandhiji, who was in Yerwada jail, fasted for six days in September 1932 in protest against this and forced the government to adopt a uniform system (Poona Pact).  This was the beginning of a campaign by Gandhi to improve the lives of the untouchables.  On 8 May 1933, Gandhiji undertook a 21-day fast for self-purification and started a one-year campaign to further the Harijan movement.  Dalit leaders like Ambedkar were not pleased with this movement and condemned Gandhi ji to use the word Harijan for Dalits.

 Quit India movement in 1942

 By the way, Gandhiji's entire life was like a movement.  But mainly 5 movements were organized by them, out of which 3 movements were organized all over the nation and were very successful and hence people also keep information about them.  We can classify all these movements run by Gandhiji as follows:

 Major Movements Other Movements / Early Stage Movements

 In 1920 - Non-cooperation movement

 In 1930 -: Disobedience movement / Salt Satyagraha movement / Dandi Yatra

 In the year 1942: Quit India movement

 In 1918 -: Champaran and Kheda Satyagraha,

 In 1919 - Khilafat Movement

 Khilafat Movement

 Gandhiji got the opportunity to increase his popularity within the Congress and among Muslims through the Khilafat Movement.  The Khilafat was a worldwide movement by which the declining dominance of the Caliphate was being opposed by Muslims all over the world.  The Ottoman Empire was disbanded after being defeated in World War I, causing Muslims to worry about the safety of their religion and religious places.  In India, the Khilafat was being led by the All India Muslim Conference.  Gradually Gandhi became its chief spokesperson.  He returned the honor and medal given by the British to express solidarity with the Indian Muslims.  After this, Gandhi became not only Congress but also the only leader of the country whose influence was on the people of different communities.

 How Mahatma Gandhi gave independence to India on 15 August

 All these movements are given by year as follows:

 In 1918: Champaran and Kheda Satyagraha -:

 The 'Champaran and Kheda Satyagraha', run by Gandhiji in 1918, was the beginning of his movements in India and he was successful in this.  This satyagraha was conducted against the British landlord.  These British landlords were pushing for Indian farmers to produce indigo and to the extent that they were being forced to sell the indigo at a fixed price and Indian farmers did not want to do so.  Were.  Then he enlisted the help of Mahatma Gandhi.  On this Gandhiji started a non-violent movement and succeeded in this and the British had to obey him.

 In the same year, a village named Kheda, which is located in the state of Gujarat, got flooded and the farmers there were unable to pay the tax imposed by the British government.  Then he took help from Gandhiji for this and then Gandhiji used a weapon called 'Non-cooperation movement' and agitated to get tax exemption to the farmers.  Gandhiji received a lot of support from the public in this movement and finally in May 1918, the British Government had to declare relief to the farmers in its tax related rules.

 In 1919: Khilafat Movement

 In 1919, Gandhiji began to realize that the Congress was weakening somewhere, so he tried to save the sinking Naiya of the Congress and at the same time to bring out the British Government through Hindu-Muslim unity.  Started  To fulfill these objectives, he went to the Muslim society.  The Khilafat movement was a global movement, which was launched against the Caliph of Muslims.  Mahatma Gandhi held a conference of Muslims from all over the nation and he himself was also the principal person of this conference.  This movement greatly supported the Muslims and this effort of Gandhiji made him a national leader [national leader] and also became his special place in the Congress.  But in 1922, the Khilafat movement stopped badly and after this Gandhiji kept fighting for 'Hindu Muslim unity' all his life, but the distance between Hindus and Muslims kept increasing.

 In 1920 - Non-cooperation movement

 In order to deal with various movements, the English Government passed the Rowlatt Act in 1919.  During this time some meetings were also organized by Gandhiji and like those meetings, meetings were organized in other places also.  A similar meeting was convened at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar area of ​​Punjab and Gandhiji started the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1920 in protest against the brutality with which the British had thrashed this peace meeting there.  The meaning of this non-cooperation movement was that the British government should not be helped in any way by Indians.  But there should not be any kind of violence in it.

 This movement started from September 1920 and lasted till February 1922.  This was the first of the 3 major movements launched by Gandhiji.  Mahatma Gandhi's thinking behind starting this movement was that the British government in India is able to rule only because they are being supported by the Indian people, then if they stop getting this support, then  It would be difficult for the British government to rule the Indians, so Gandhiji appealed to the people not to cooperate in any work of the British Government, but it should not include any kind of violent activity.  People understood Gandhiji's words and felt right.  People joined the movement at a nationwide [Nationwide] level in very large quantities and stopped supporting the British government.  For this, people left their government jobs, factory, offices, etc.  People took their children out of government schools and colleges.  That is, every effort was made so that the British do not get any kind of help.  But due to this, many people had reached the situation of poverty and illiterate, but still people continued to bear all these for the freedom of their country.  At that time there was such an atmosphere that perhaps we would have got freedom only.  But at the peak of the movement, Gandhiji decided to end the movement due to the incident at a place called 'Chaura-Chauri'.

 

 Chaura - Chauri Scandal

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 As this non-cooperation movement was being carried out in a non-violent manner throughout the country, during this time, while some people were taking out a rally in a place called Chaura Chauri in the state of Uttar Pradesh, English soldiers opened fire on them and some people  He also died in it.  Then this angry mob set fire to the police station and killed 22 soldiers present there.  Then Gandhiji said that "We did not have to do any violent activity during the entire movement, perhaps we have not yet been able to get freedom" and because of this violent activity, he withdrew the movement.

 1930: Civil Disobedience Movement / Salt Satyagraha Movement / Dandi March

 In 1930, Mahatma Gandhi started another movement against the British.  The name of this movement was: Civil Disobedience Movement The aim of this movement was that whatever rules and laws should be made by the British Government, they should not obey and disobey them.  For example: The British government had made a law that no one would make salt, so on 12 March 1930, they started their 'Dandi Yatra' to break this law.  They reached a place called Dandi and had made salt there and thus this movement was also conducted in a peaceful manner.  During this time many leaders and leaders were arrested by the British government.

 Salt Satyagraha was started by Gandhiji from Sabarmati Ashram near Ahmedabad city of Gujarat on March 12, 1930 and the journey continued till April 5, 1930, to a place called Dandi, located in Gujarat.  After reaching here, Gandhiji made salt and broke this law and thus the nationwide disobedience movement started.  This was an important phase in India's freedom struggle.  It was a direct attack on the monopoly of salt making by the British government and after this incident the movement spread throughout the country.  At the same time i.e. on 26 January 1930, the Indian National Congress also announced 'Purna Swaraj'.  Mahatma Gandhi completed the Dandi Yatra in 24 days and during this time he traveled about 240 miles [390 km] from Sabarmati to Dandi.  M].  Here he made salt without paying any tax.  He had 78 volunteers at the beginning of this journey and by the end of the journey the number had grown to thousands.  He arrived here on April 5, 1930, and after reaching here, he started the Non-violent Civil Disobedience Movement against the British Government by making salt at 6.30 am on this day and it was also made successful by thousands of Indians together.

 Mahatma Gandhi continued his journey by making salt here and from here he moved towards the beaches towards the south.  Their aim behind this was not only to make salt on these beaches but at the same time they were also working to address several meetings.  Here he broke this law also at a place called Dharsana.  4 - 5 May 1930 Gandhiji was arrested at midnight [midnight].  His arrest and this Satyagraha attracted the attention of the entire world towards India's freedom struggle.  This satyagraha lasted for a whole year and the same happened with the release of Gandhiji from prison and that too because Viceroy Lord Irwin had agreed to the Negotiation at the time of the Second Round Table Conference.  About 80,000 people were arrested due to this salt satyagraha.

 This Salt Satyagraha, run by Gandhiji, was based on his principle of 'non-violent protest'.  It literally means - Truth urges: Satyagraha.  The Congress made Satyagraha its weapon for the independence of India and appointed Gandhiji as the chief for this.  Under this, thousands of people were killed by the English soldiers in the Satyagraha that took place in Dharsana, but eventually Gandhiji's Satyagraha policy proved effective in this and the British government had to bow down.  This satyagraha had a profound impact on American activists Martin Luther, James Bevel, etc., who were fighting for apartheid policy [discrimination between blacks and whites] and the rights of minorities [minorities] in the 1960s.  .  As this satyagraha and disobedience movement was spreading, it was entrusted to Rajagopalachari in Madras and Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan in North India for proper guidance.

 What is the White Revolution and its history in India? Read here

 In 1942: Quit India Movement

 By the 1940s [Decade], the children, old and young of the country were full of zeal and anger for India's independence.  Then Gandhiji used it in the right direction and started Quit India Movement on a very large scale in 1942.  This movement was the most effective of all the movements till now.  This was a big challenge for the English government.

 The third major movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi in 1942 was: Quit India Movement.  It was started by Mahatma Gandhi in August 1942.  But due to the mistakes made in its operation, this movement soon collapsed, meaning that this movement could not succeed.  There were many reasons behind its failure, such as: Students, farmers, etc. were taking part in this movement and there was a huge wave in this movement and the movement did not start simultaneously in the whole country i.e. the movement  Due to the beginning on different dates, its effect was reduced, apart from this many Indians also felt that this was the peak of the freedom struggle and now we will get freedom and their thinking weakened the movement.  But one thing was made good by this movement that by this the British rulers had realized that their rule could no longer run in India, they would have to leave India if not today.

 In this way, all the movements launched by Gandhiji during his lifetime contributed to the freedom of our country and left a very deep impact.

 Learn why World War II took place here

 Characteristic of movements

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 All the movements that Mahatma Gandhi carried out, all of them had something in common, details of which are as follows:

 These movements were always conducted in a peaceful manner.

 If there was any violent activity during the movement, that movement was canceled by Gandhiji.  This was also one of the reasons that we got independence for a while.

 The movements were always carried out on the foundation of truth and non-violence.

 Mahatma Gandhi's social life

 Gandhiji was a great leader, but in his social life too, he was one of the people who believed in 'simple living high thoughts'.  Due to his nature, people started addressing him as 'Mahatma'.  Gandhiji was a great supporter of democracy.  His 2 weapons were: 'Truth and non-violence'.  On the strength of these weapons, he liberated India from the British.  Gandhiji's personality was such that everyone used to get very influenced [Influence] by meeting him.

 Learn what is non-violence here

 Untouchability

 Gandhiji made a lot of efforts to remove the feeling of untouchability spread in the society.  He named the backward castes as 'Hari-Jan' in the name of God and strive for his upliftment throughout his life.

 Death of Mahatma Gandhi

 Mahatma Gandhi was shot dead on 30 January 1948 by Nathuram Godse.  He was shot 3 bullets and the last words that came out of his mouth were: 'Hey Ram'.  After his death, his mausoleum has been built at Raj Ghat in Delhi.

 The title of Father of the Nation was not given to Mahatma Gandhi by the Government of India, but once Subhash Chandra Bose addressed him as the Father of the Nation.

 On Gandhiji's death, an English officer said that "Gandhi, whom we did not allow to happen for so many years, so that the atmosphere against us in India does not deteriorate further, does not keep Gandhi independent India even for a year."  Could. "

 Gandhiji also launched the Swadeshi movement, in which he demanded the boycott of foreign goods from all the people and then started spinning wheel himself for indigenous clothing etc. and also made cloth.

 Gandhiji also established some ashrams in India and abroad, among which the Tolstoy Ashram and the Sabarmati Ashram of India became very famous.

 Gandhiji used to fast very hard for spiritual purification.

 Gandhiji strived for Hindu Muslim unity throughout his life.

 Gandhi Jayanti is celebrated all over India on Gandhiji's birthday on 2 October.

 Thus Gandhi was a very great man.  Gandhiji did many important things in his life, his strength was 'truth and non-violence' and even today we can bring significant changes in society by adopting his principles.

 Surprisingly, Gandhiji did not get this till date even after being nominated for peace's "Nobel Prize" five times.  Dear Bapu, who teaches everyone the lesson of non-violence, is no longer among us, but his principles will always guide us.

S.M.Faisal