Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi

Introduction
Have you ever heard about a guy named Mahatma Gandhi? He was one of the most influential figures in history and in the “Indian Independence Movement”. He constituted a non-violent protest against British rule. When he went to South Africa, he advocated for Civil Rights of Indians. It is stated that he is the most peaceful leader in history. He inspired many people. Some include Martin Luther King Jr. and James Lawson. In my own personal belief, Mahatma Gandhi was a really important and astonishing figure in history.

Early Life
On October 2, 1869, “The Great-Souled One”(his nickname) was born. His real name was “Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi”, but he changed his first name to Mahatma which word for word means great-souled one. He was born at Porbandar, which in present day is the Indian state of Gurajat. He had five siblings and he was the youngest of the six. His father was the dewan chief minister of Porbandar and his mother was deeply religious. At the younge age of thirteen, as was common at that time, Mohandas got married to a girl named Kasturba in an arranged marriage. Unfortunately, at the age of sixteen, Gandhi’s father died. At the age of seventeen, he had a newborn but only survived for a few days. These two deaths anguished him. When he turned 18, he had a second child. Shortly after, Gandhi left to go study law in London leaving his wife and infant behind. In 1891, he restituded to India and into a bittersweet period in his life. He had found out that his mother had died when he was away. But soon after, he welcomed his third (second) child. When Gandhi was having inconvenience finding a job in India, he accepted a one-year contract to become a lawyer in South Africa. In April 1893, he set sail across the ocean to Durban, in the South African state of Natal. Soon, he was faced with a series of racial discriminations. When a European magistrate in court from Durban asked him to take off his turban. He refused and left the courtroom. On one occasion, when he was on a train journey to Pretoria, he was ordered to move seats to the lower-class compartment. He had to give up his seat to a European even if he had a first-class ticket. When he refused, he was thrown out of the train and beaten up. In that train experience, that is what made him history. That was Gandhi’s turning point and made him determined to devote himself to fight for Civil Rights.

Significant Events
On August 15, 1947, Gandhi made his life's greatest accomplishment. His life-long fight for the independence of India was finally met after years of hard work, sacrifices and peaceful protests. Gandhi was a phenomenal freedom fighter. He drew international attention and he formed the “Natal Indian Congress” in 1849 to fight against Indian discrimination. About two years later, he brought his wife and two kids with him to South Africa and he then introduced his last two kids. After a law which further discriminated against Indians was passed in South Africa in 1906, he introduced “Satyagraha”, which is a kind of a nonviolent resistance that would eventually become a major tool in the fight against British rule. Gandhi led a nonviolent campaign for more than seven years. Hundreds of Indians, including Gandhi, were imprisoned in 1913. Luckily, the South African government was forced to negotiate with Gandhi after South Africa had an immense impact on Gandhi transforming him into a leader. Unfortunately, it was time for Gandhi to go back to India. He then shortly founded an “Ashram”, that was open to all castes. He devoted his life to three things. Prayer, meditation and fasting, quickly earning himself the nickname of “Mahatma”. The Rowlatt Act, which allowed authorities to imprison any person suspected of sedition with no trial, had angered Gandhi. So, he called for peaceful protest and striked through a Satyagraha campaign. However, violence had soon broke out instead and resulted in the Massacre of Amritsar on April 13, 1919, where nearly 400 people were killed by British troops. They had open fire into the unarmed crowd of protesters. In 1920, Gandhi was the most prominent figure in the movement for Indian independence. Gandhi had started a non-violent home-rule movement against the British government that included boycotts. He convinced and encouraged government officials to stop working for Britain, students to leave government schools and citizens to stop paying their taxes. Gandhi had even purchased his own spinning wheel to make his own clothing. The spinning wheel had then become a very important symbol of self-reliance and Indian Independence. His actions had broken fear of foreign rule and led to the arrest of thousands of Satyagraphis, who were eager to defy the law and line up for prison in order to achieve independence.

Contributions
Gandhi was famous for a great amount of things. It’s almost impossible to list them all. One of the contributions Gandhi did is that he pioneered and practiced the principle of Satyagraha, the resistance to tyranny through mass nonviolent civil disobedience. He was also working to achieve freedom and equality for all, in India and in Africa. He is remembered for his peaceful protests and non-violent boycotts. He has also had a record of not eating or drinking(except for a couple sips of water) anything for 21 days. He believed that no living soul should endure pain or give pain to other people. Gandhi ran nationwide campaigns for basic human rights and to ease poverty, expand rights, build religious and ethnic harmony and eliminate the injustices of the caste system. He was an Indian lawyer, politician, social activist and writer who also became the leader of the nationalist movement against the British rule of India. Gandhi is famous for his hunger strikes and message of nonviolence helped unite the country. Gandhi’s actions sparked world attention and ultimately led to India’s independence from the British on August 15, 1947, and led the country’s rise to world superpower in South Asia. Five important things we should acquire a knowledge from Mahatma Gandhi is non-violence, truth and honesty, forgiveness, perseverance and mindfulness. He is famous because he didn’t want fame, he wanted justice. He protested and did boycotts and hunger strikes peacefully. One of his most famous protests is called “The Salt March”. He walked 240 miles and became famously known. He arrived on April 5th and illegally produced salt from evaporated sea water. He and more than 60,000 people were soon arrested. His actions were known all around the world that they even named him “Man of the Year” by the Time Magazine in 1930. In exchange for the release of thousands of prisoners and allow those who lived on the coasts to harvest salt from the sea. During the outbreak of World War II, Gandhi took control of the INC(Indian National Congress). He then demanded Britain to withdraw from India, launching the Quit India Movement“. The British responded with the imprisonment of Gandhi, his wife and several other top party leaders. With his health failing, Gandhi was released from jail in 1944 after spending 19 months in jail. His wife had died in prison shortly before he was released. After the war, Britain’s Labor Party unexpectedly took power in 1945. The new British government started negotiations for Indian Independence with the 2 main political parties; the Indian and the Muslim League. In 1947, the Indian Independence Act was incarnated. Then, on January 30, 1948, the old and frail 78-year-old Gandhi was assassinated by Nathuram Godse in Birla House, New Delhi, India. He wasn't checked for weapons and he shot Gandhi. Gandhi’s life came to a tragic end. The next day, about one million people had joined the 5-mile route of Mahatma Gandhi’s funeral procession. His death came less than a year after India had finally won its independence. Gandhi’s life-long pursuits carry through non-violence to achieve change for his country. Even to this day, Mahatma Gandhi has run some of the most powerful campaigns for freedom throughout the entire world. His actions have inspired millions of human rights movements.

Gandhi’s Traits
Gandhi had a countless amount of creative personality traits. He was determined, peaceful, empathetic, warm-hearted and supportive. He was determined to stop British Rule and fight for Indian rights. He had many peaceful protests and boycotts. Gandhi never encouraged violence, instead, he didn’t eat or drink anything for 21 days. He survived by only taking sips of water. He was empathetic because it also took him across religious boundaries. He was warm-hearted because he didn’t like violence and he cared for everyone. Last but certainly not least, he was supportive because whenever he saw someone being judged from racial discriminations, he always helped them. Gandhi had many personality traits that I couldn’t possibly list them all, but those are five of the most important.

Conclusion
In conclusion, Mahatma Gandhi is one of the most interesting and astonishing figures in history. He made many non-violent protests. Gandhi inspired many people in the past and in the present, and to this day, he inspires us all. We could all be a lot more like him. To encapsulate, Mahatma Gandhi was one of the most peaceful figures in history. He spent approximately 2,338 days in prison for the independence of India. In South Africa, he advocated for Civil Rights for Indians. He was an Indian lawyer, politician, social activist and writer. Many people are thankful for Mahatma Gandhi and I am too.

Thank you for your time and attention!

By,
Ash