MAHATMA GANDHI (1869 1948)

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Mohandas karamchand Gandhi was born on 2nd October 1869 in Porbandar (Gujarat) as the youngest of the 3 sons of Karamchand Gandhi and Putlibai. He attended to primary school in Rajkot. At the age of 13, Gandhi married Kasturba, a girl of same age. The Gandhis had four children. Gandhiji studied law in London and returned to India in 1891 to practice. In 1893 he took on a one-year contract to do legal work in South Africa.

Gandhiji in South Africa(1893-1914)

At that time the British controlled South Africa. When he attempted to claim his rights as a British subject he was abused, and soon saw that all Indians suffered similar treatment. Once Gandhiji had to attend to a law suit for his client. He boarded the train, while a white passenger objected to the presence of a coloured man from India in the compartment and Gandhiji was ordered to shift to the third class. He refused to do so and was pushed out and his luggage was taken away. Gandhi stayed in South Africa for 21 years working to secure rights for Indian people.

Individual Satyagraha
In August 1940, the British turned down the congress demand for immediate self-government in return for cooperation in the war effort. In October 1940, Gandhiji gave the call for individual satyagraha. The volunteers made anti-war speeches and courted arrest one by one to show that India was being forcibly drawn into the Second World War.

Partition of India
The partition was promulgated in the Indian Independence Act 1947 and resulted in the dissolution of the British India Empire. On July 18, 1947 the British Parliament passed the India Independence Act that finalized the partition arrangement. Gandhiji opposed to the partition of the British Raj into India and Pakistan. In 1947, many of the leaders of the Indian National Congress reluctantly accepted the division thinking that the alternative was bloodshed. So Gandhi remained silent. India was partitioned into India and Pakistan and India got independence on 15th August 1947. The partition displaced up to 12.5 million people in the former British India Empire, with estimates of loss of life varying from several hundred thousand to a million.

Assassination of Mahatma
Gandhiji was assassinated on 30th January 1948, shot at point-blank range by Nathuram Godse, an activist. Gandhijis assassin Nathuram Godse, was described as a national and right-wing Hindu who blamed Gandhiji for the partitioning of India. Nathuram Godse kneeled before Gandhiji to greet him and fired three shots. Bullets hit him on the stomach and the chest. Mahatma fell down saying Hai ram ..Hai ram.

Mahatma
Gandhiji helped free the Indian people from British rule through non-violent resistance, and is honoured by the Indians as the Father of the Indian Nation or lovingly called Bapu. People called him Mahatma meaning Great soul.