How successful were Gandhi’s methods in achieving his aims?

How successful were Gandhi’s methods in achieving his aims?

Gandhi had many aims in his life, and many of them were successful. However, all of them
weren’t achieved by his just using his methods. One of Gandhi’s big campaigns was the Salt
Satyagraha, which also contributed to achieving his main aim: to achieve Indian independence,
which he did, but not a united India.

In January 1930 the British imposed a tax on salt and made it illegal to make it for oneself.
Salt is crucial in a diet, especially in hot countries like India, where you sweat a lot, which
makes you lose salt in your body. The tax hit the poor the hardest, as they mostly did hard
physical labor which makes you sweat a lot.

In March 1930 Gandhi started taking action to abolish the unfair tax and law. His strategy was
Satyagraha, ‘truth force’, which involved non-violently converting your opponent to your side to
see your point of view, instead of forcing them to coercion. The main aspects of Satyagraha
were non-violence, civil disobedience and non-cooperation with the British.

The Satyagraha participants, Satyagrahis, were at all times to remain non-violent, not even
resisting arrest. This is another of Gandhi’s beliefs and methods: ahimsa, non-violence.

Civil disobedience was another one of Gandhi’s methods: publically disobeying and opposing an
unfair law.

Non-cooperation involved f.eg. boycotting, refusing to buy British goods.

Gandhi started the Salt Satyagraha by deciding to march to the sea, for about 200 miles. He
would go there by foot and make salt. Gandhi arrived at the sea in April along with 2500
supporters that had joined his march along the way. The small, illegal act of him picking up salt
gave courage to thousands more Indians to non-cooperate with the British. However, 600,000
people were arrested.

Gandhi remained free, but was soon arrested. He did not let this affect achieving his aim, and
his followers led by Gandhi’s son, proceeded protest at a British run salt factory, trying to shut
it down. The gates were guarded by 400 policemen and as the marchers approached, they were
beaten down without resistance.

This event proved to be a great success in achieving Gandhi’s aim. News of the event quickly
spread around< the world; a Gandhi supporting American news reporter Webb Miller’s article
on the event raised disapproval against the British officers who had ordered such brutality
against the non-violent marchers, giving the world a positive view of the Indians.

Finally in January 1931, after a year of non-cooperation, Gandhi signed a contract with the
viceroy Lord Irwin. The viceroy would release the now about 100,000 prisoners and let the
Indians make salt for private use and Gandhi would end the Satyagraha.

The Satyagraha was successful in this way: it helped a lot of the poor people, but the salt tax
wasn’t even reduced. India still wasn’t independent, but Gandhi had managed, with his ahimsa,
to make the British look very bad.
INDEPENDENCE:

Another promise in the Irwin-Gandhi contract was that Gandhi was to go to London to represent
the Indian National Congress in a Round Table Conference about the future of India in August
1931.

However, the meeting proved to be a failure, since the many Indian representatives from
different statuses were all too concerned about the future of their own group. The British used
this to prove that India was not ready for independence yet.

INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS – 1885

– 3 groups
– NEHRU(H) AND JINNAH(ML)

OCTOBER 1935 – British allowed India to rule themselves provincially but not on a national
level.

Britain still in overall charge.

More fundamental change in 1939 – WW2

Gandhi promises Indian soldiers if India gets independence.

IDEA WAS DISMISSED by W. Churchill

AUGUST 1942 – After a lot of rejected proposals from both sides the congress took matters
into their own hands and told the British to leave at once on the threat of another satyagraha.
They were arrested

Much to Gandhi’s disappointment this triggered a lot of violence throughout the country, mainly
among Hindus and Muslims, who had started to separate more and more ever since the RTC,
and many were killed.

Gandhi now stuck to one of his other methods – fasting. He decided not to eat until the violence
ended and wouldn’t start again.

Gandhi regarded to the fasting as another form of Satyagraha, but it is more coercion than his
definition of Satyagraha: converting the opponent without using force. By fasting he threatened
to fast to the death unless the situation changes, which could be called moral blackmail, a way
of force.

1945 – New British government in favor of India independent.

JINNAH DOESN’T WANT UNIFIED INDIA – not possible for muslims and hindus to be united.

Gandhi did not believe in Partition but everyone else did.

12 AUGUST 1947 – INDEPENDENCE DAY

Much violence – Gandhis idea of ahimsa didn’t really work.

Gandhi was sort of overruled by bigger politics.