Gandhi 's Influence On Indian Politics

By using the principle of individual autonomy, rather than civil disobedience, Gandhi created “Satyagraha”, a nonviolent resistance to unfair laws.

Throughout modern history, Britain’s exponential growth inevitably affected the future of many nations in the contemporary world- in particular, the culturally intertwined state of India. Even in the initial stages of colonisation, India was forcefully occupied by the British East India Company; however, it was not until 1858 that a dictatorship was officially announced and the nation was forced to regard England as 'the true homeland'. Amidst societal unease and a growing discontent with the British rulers by the poor peasants, India's emancipation seemed inevitable in order for the nation to truly progress. In effect, a revolutionary leader spawned; Mohandas Gandhi. His great philosophical mind held innovative ideas which were instrumental in the achievement of Indian Independence- with his thoughtful ideologies and beliefs paving the way for oppressed Indians to ultimately unite against British imperialism. Consequently, this resulted in the monumental Satyagraha campaign that triumphed successfully against the British authorities.

Throughout history, many conflicts have happened, some with resolution, and other without. We often tend to think of solving conflicts with war, since most of our history classes are based around World War I, World War II, and so forth, but many conflicts were fought, and successfully won using nonviolent resistance. Many people would use Gandhi as a well known example. Gandhi’s plan of civil disobedience revolved around this big idea called “satyagraha,” which he explains as, “a satyagrahi should always possess civility and humility, qualities that indicated self-control and an humble approach to truth” (Gandhi 50). He later explains that satyagraha is “truth-force” and that truth is soul and spirit, or “spirit-force.” “It excludes the use of violence because man is not capable of knowing the absolute truth and, therefore, not competent to punish” (51). He used this strategy to fight for indian independence. Many other incidents in the world have been fought using civil disobedience, including Women’s Suffrage.

Inspired by Mohandas K. Gandhi’s philosophy of Satyagraha during his strive for freedom from government control, Attenborough depicts this in his film. During Gandhi’s first non-violent protest in South Africa, the cross-cutting between Gandhi burning legal documents outlining the rules of the Indians and the English policemen restraining Gandhi signifies the competing political perspectives that exist on the freedom and rights that should be given to Indians. Attenborough emphasises the concept of Satyagraha through Gandhi’s patience and non-violent rebuttal regardless of the Englishmen beating him. Similarly, following the Amritsar massacre, Gandhi reiterates his idea of fighting for the freedom of his nation as he claims people would prefer ‘their own bad government to the good government of an alien power’ which contradicts to the perspective of the British rulers who feel chaos would ensure if that was to occur. Attenborough motto in the film of “peaceful, non-violent, non-co-operation” highlights Gandhi’s motivation to give his people independence. Gandhi makes a statement on non-violent protests through the symbolic salt march scene where the panning of Gandhi marching

In 1757, Great Britain extended its empire into India. This occupation would not fully end until 1947. In the time between, there were many movements by the Indian people to gain independence from the British. The movement that finally succeeded in winning India’s independence was led by one of the most influential figures of the 20th century, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Gandhi’s methods for fighting against the occupation of the British were very different from those of any of the freedom movements before. And that was why it worked. Gandhi did not agree with the general reasoning of the time: that conflicts could be solved through negotiation and forceful resistance.1 Rather, his faith led him to go

Mohandas Gandhi, the leader of India’s independence movement in the early 1900s, inspired many with his use of civil disobedience to bring about change in society. Gandhi was an educated individual who studied law in London and worked in South Africa. Here, he experienced discrimination first hand due to British individual's sense of superiority caused by the concept of social darwinism. This lead to him advocating for equality and later transgressed to the liberation of India, who was at that time under Britain’s control. His method of promoting change through civil disobedience was so revolutionary in a time where violence was so prominent, and was able to capture the astonishing resilience of Indians against British oppression.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, also known as Mahatma, “The great-souled one”, was an Indian nationalist leader and architect of one of the most famous forms of civil disobedience, Satyagraha or more commonly known as non-violent passive resistance. Satyagraha had a large impact on the world and still remains as one of the most potent philosophies in freedom struggles throughout the world today. Gandhi spent some time as an Indian immigrant in South Africa and eventually moved back to India in the early 1900s. During this period, between 1917 and 1947, Mohandas Gandhi, through his relentless campaigning and use of non-violent passive resistance, played a pivotal role in the achievement of Indian national sovereignty in 1947. This is evident through analysing how he emerged as the leader, his use of non-violent

Mohandas Gandhi was born in 1869 in the Indian coastal city of Porbandar (Background Essay). He then studied law in London, where he noticed that Indians were expected to imitate their rulers, the Englishmen (Background Essay). Gandhi wanted all people to live free, even those imposed by India’s caste system so he decided to take action in a peaceful manner (Background Essay). By doing so he was able to gain India’s independence in 1947 (Background Essay). This caused Gandhi to be known as “ Mahatma” or “ Great Soul” because he was able to do it without violence (Background Essay). Gandhi’s nonviolent movement worked because he accepted the consequences to his actions, strived for fairness to all mankind, and didn’t think of the British as enemies.

Mohandas Gandhi was born in 1869 in Porbandar, India. He fought hard for the people’s of modern day India and Pakistan. Gandhi was indefatigable in the fight to end European control over India. Nelson Mandela was born in 1918 in Mvezo, South Africa. He fought to defend the people of South Africa. Mandela was relentless in the struggle to end apartheid. Both Gandhi and Mandela have impacted the future substantially.

While when discussing the history of the world’s power forces, violence makes for stimulating discussion, other tactics were put to good use, one of these alternatives being non-violence. With the guidance of three worldwide heroes - Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Nelson Mandela - with contagious optimism and high spirits, it became apparent just how much of a difference could be made carried out through non-violent terms. Mankind was introduced to another way to resolve major problems just as effectively, if not more, than violence could.

In South Africa, he involved himself in an attempt to end discrimination against the minority Indians residing there. During this course, he developed “satyagarha”, which translates into “soul force”, or an approach of non-violence resistance, against the British governments in South Africa. In the years following the World War I, Gandhi became a leading figure in India for his struggle to achieve independent from the mighty British rule. His willingness to tolerate the punishments and the prison confinement earned him the title of “ Mahatama”, a “great soul” in India in 1914. (Mohandas Gandhi, 2015)

Aroused by the massacre of Amritsar in 1919, Gandhi devoted his life to gaining India’s independence from Great Britain. As the dominant figure used his persuasive philosophy of non-violent confrontation, he inspired political activists with many persuasions throughout the world (Andrews 23). Not only was Mahatma Gandhi a great peacemaker, but also his work to achieve freedom and equality for all people was greatly acknowledged. Gandhi’s unconventional style of leadership gained him the love of a country and eventually enabled him to lead the independence movement in India.

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Nonviolence is not a garment to be put on and off at will. Its seat is in the heart, and it must be an inseparable part of our being". The book The Essential Gandhi expresses Gandhi’s views on issues like untouchability, religion, nationality, his movements like civil-disobedience are deeply shown in this book. Readers can learn about Gandhi’s childhood, his early married life, his realization and transition in South Africa, and his ways of approach towards attaining Independence in India. The book did a fantastic job in showing the Gandhi’s principles like non-violence with exemplary contexts.

Gandhi epitomized many different characteristics, one of the most well-known is nonviolence. Gandhi showed this in his actions and his commitment to Hinduism, when discussing Hinduism, he stated, “Nonviolence is common to all religions, but it has found the highest expression and application in Hinduism. (I do not regard Jainism or Buddhism as separate from Hinduism.)” (Gandhi, Hinduism, 28). Nonviolence was a major draw to Hinduism. And his faith further enhanced his ability to act in accordance with that belief. In fact, according to Gandhi, faith is needed for non-violence to even be effective. He once stated, “Non-violence succeeds only when we have a living faith in God” (“My Religion,” 82). His faith lead to his non-violence. Furthermore, in his Autobiography, Gandhi told a story a story of once using a ruler on a student as was customary in that day. He did not hit hard to make any effect, but was shaking afterwards so greatly that the student never again disobeyed. As he reminisced the experience, he thought it improper as it was by anger and a desire to punish instead of distress. He learned a better way to punish after this experience and used this in his political life as well (283-284).

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was an important figure in the history of South Asia of the twentieth century, Based on your readings, assess the political importance of Gandhi and compare Metcalf`s approach with that of Jalal and Bose.