Mahatma Gandhi
Birth name: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Occupation: Politician, philosopher
Date of birth: October 2, 1869
Place of Birth:
Porbandar, Gujarat, British India
Nationality: India
Date of death: January 30, 1948
Place of Death: New Delhi, India
Father: Karamchand Gandhi
Spouse: Kasturbai Gandhi
Children: Harilal Gandhi (1888-1948)
Manilal Gandhi (1892-1956)
Ramdas Gandhi (1897-1969)
Devdas Gandhi (1900-1957)
Mohandas Karamchand "Mahatma" Gandhi(guj. મોહનદાસ કરમચંદ ગાંધી, Hindi मोहनदास करमचंद गाँधी, October 1869, Porbandar, Gujarat - January 30, 1948, New Delhi) - one of the leaders and ideologists of the movement for Indian independence from Great Britain. His philosophy of non-violence (satyagraha) influenced movements for peaceful change.
His name is surrounded in India with the same reverence with which the names of saints are pronounced. Spiritual leader of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi All his life he fought against the religious strife that tore his country apart, against violence, but in his declining years he fell victim to it.
Mahatma Gandhi came from a family belonging to the trading and usurious jati baniya, belonging to the Vaishya varna. His father, Karamchand Gandhi(1822-1885), served as diwan - chief minister - of Porbandar. All religious rituals were strictly observed in the Gandhi family. His mother, Putlibai, was especially devout. Worship in temples, taking vows, observing fasts, strict vegetarianism, self-denial, reading Hindu sacred books, conversations on religious topics - all this constituted the spiritual life of the family of young Gandhi.
At the age of 13, Mohandas married his peer Kasturbai. The couple had four sons: Harilal (1888-1949), Manilal (28 October 1892-1956), Ramdas (1897-1969) and Devdas (1900-1957). Representatives of the modern Indian family of politicians, the Gandhis, are not among their descendants. The father abandoned his eldest son Harilal. According to his father, he drank, was debauched and got into debt. Harilal changed his religion several times; died of syphilis. All the other sons were followers of their father and activists in his movement for Indian independence. Devdas is also known for his marriage to Lakshi, the daughter of Rajaji, one of the leaders of the Indian National Congress and an ardent supporter of Gandhi and Indian national hero. However, Rajaji belonged to the Varna Brahmins and inter-varna marriages were against Gandhi's religious beliefs. Nevertheless, in 1933, Devdas's parents gave permission for marriage.
At 19, Mohandas Gandhi went to London, where he received a law degree. In 1891, after completing his studies, he returned to India. Since Gandhi’s professional activities at home did not bring him much success, in 1893 he went to work in South Africa, where he joined the fight for the rights of Indians. There he first used nonviolent resistance (satyagraha) as a means of struggle. The Bhagavad Gita, as well as the ideas of G. D. Thoreau and L. N. Tolstoy (with whom Gandhi corresponded) had a great influence on the formation of Mohandas Gandhi’s worldview.
In 1915, M.K. Gandhi returned to India, and four years later actively became involved in the movement to achieve the country's independence from British colonial rule. In 1915, the famous Indian writer, Nobel Prize winner in literature Rabindranath Tagore for the first time used the title “Mahatma” (dev. महात्मा) - “great soul” in relation to Mohandas Gandhi (and Gandhi himself did not accept this title, considering himself unworthy of it). One of the leaders of the INC, Tilak, shortly before his death, announced him as his successor.
In the struggle for Indian independence, M. Gandhi used methods of nonviolent resistance: in particular, on his initiative, Indians resorted to boycotting British goods and institutions, and also demonstratively violated a number of laws. In 1921, Gandhi headed the Indian National Congress, which he left in 1934 due to differences in his views on the national liberation movement with the position of other party leaders.
His uncompromising struggle against caste inequality is also widely known. “One cannot limit oneself to the position of “as far as possible,” Gandhi taught, “when it comes to untouchability. If untouchability is to be banished, it must be banished completely from the temple and from all other spheres of life.”
Gandhi not only sought to end discrimination against untouchables through secular laws. He sought to prove that the institution of untouchability is in conflict with the Hindu principle of unity, and thus prepare Indian society for the fact that untouchables are equal members of it, like other Indians. Gandhi's struggle against untouchability, as with any inequality, also had a religious basis: Gandhi believed that initially all people, regardless of their race, caste, ethnicity and religious community, had an innate divine nature.
In accordance with this, he began to call the untouchables Harijans - children of God. In seeking to eliminate discrimination against the Harijans, Gandhi acted by his own example: he allowed the Harijans into his ashram, shared meals with them, traveled in third-class carriages (he was called a “third-class passenger”), and went on hunger strikes in defense of their rights. However, he never recognized any of their special interests in public life, or the need to fight for the reservation of places for them in institutions, educational institutions, and legislative bodies. He was against the isolation of untouchables in society and in the national liberation movement.
The deep differences between Gandhi and the leader of the untouchables, Dr. Ambedkar, over granting the latter full equality with representatives of other castes were widely publicized. Gandhi had great respect for his opponent, but believed that Ambedkar's radical views would lead to a split in Indian society. Gandhi's hunger strike in 1932 forced Ambedkar to make concessions. Gandhi was never able to unite with Ambedkar in the fight against untouchability.
Having proclaimed a constructive program, Gandhi created a number of organizations to implement it. Among the most active were the Charka Sangh and the Harijan Sevak Sangh. However, Gandhi was unable to achieve a radical change in the situation of the untouchables and took it hard. Nevertheless, his influence on the political culture, the political consciousness of India on the issue of untouchability is undeniable. The fact that the first Indian constitution officially prohibited discrimination against untouchables is largely due to his merit.
For a long time, Gandhi remained a consistent adherent of the principle of non-violence. However, then a situation arose when Gandhi's views were seriously tested. The principle of non-violence was adopted by the Congress (INC) for the freedom struggle of India. But Congress did not extend this principle to defense against external aggression.
The question first arose around the Munich crisis of 1938, when war seemed imminent. However, with the end of the crisis, the issue was dropped. In the summer of 1940, Gandhi raised the issue again with the Congress regarding the war as well as the foreign policy of a (supposedly) independent India. The Congress Executive Committee responded that it could not extend the application of the principle of nonviolence that far. This led to a rift between Gandhi and the Congress on this issue. However, two months later, an agreed formulation of the position of the Congress regarding the principles of India's future foreign policy was developed (it did not touch upon the issue of attitude towards the war). It said that the Congress Executive Committee "firmly believes in the policy and practice of non-violence not only in the struggle for Swaraj [self-government, independence] but also in free India, so far as it can be applied there" that " a free India will with all its might support general disarmament and will itself be ready to set an example in this regard to the whole world. The implementation of this initiative will inevitably depend on external factors, as well as on internal conditions, but the state will do everything in its power to implement this disarmament policy...” This formulation was a compromise; it did not fully satisfy Gandhi, but he agreed that this is how the position of the Congress should be expressed.
Gandhi again began to insist on full compliance with the principle of non-violence in December 1941, and this again led to a split - the Congress did not agree with him. Subsequently, Gandhi no longer raised this issue with the Congress and even, according to J. Nehru, agreed to “the participation of the Congress in the war [of World War II] on the condition that India could act as a free state.” According to Nehru, this change of position was associated with moral and mental suffering for Gandhi.
Mahatma Gandhi enjoyed enormous influence among both Hindus and Muslims in India and tried to reconcile these warring factions. He was extremely negative about the division of the former colony of British India in 1947 into the secular republic of Hindu-majority India and Muslim Pakistan. After Partition, violent fighting broke out between Hindus and Muslims. The year 1947 ended in bitter disappointment for Gandhi. He continued to argue the pointlessness of violence, but no one seemed to hear him. In January 1948, in a desperate attempt to stop ethnic strife, Mahatma Gandhi resorted to a hunger strike. He explained his decision this way: “Death will be a wonderful deliverance for me. It is better to die than to be a helpless witness to India’s self-destruction.”
Gandhi's act of sacrifice had the necessary impact on society. Leaders of religious groups agreed to compromise. A few days after the Mahatma began his hunger strike, they made a joint decision: “We assure that we will protect the lives, property and faith of Muslims and the incidents of religious intolerance that took place in Delhi will not be repeated.”
But Gandhi achieved only partial reconciliation between Hindus and Muslims. The fact is that extremists were, in principle, against cooperation with Muslims. The Hindu Mahasabha, a political organization with terrorist outfits Rashtra Dal and Vashtriya Swayam Sevak, decided to continue the fight. However, in Delhi she was opposed by the authority of Mahatma Gandhi. Therefore, a conspiracy was organized, led by the leader of the Hindu Mahasabha, Bombay millionaire Vinayak Savarkar. Savarkar declared Gandhi the “insidious enemy” of the Hindus, and called the idea of non-violence absolutized by Gandhism immoral. Gandhi received daily protests from orthodox Hindus. “Some of them consider me a traitor. Others believe that I learned my present beliefs against untouchability and the like from Christianity and Islam,” Gandhi recalled. Savarkar decided to eliminate the objectionable philosopher, who was so popular among the Indian people. A Bombay millionaire created a terrorist group from his loyal people in October 1947. These were educated brahmins. Nathuram Godse was the editor-in-chief of the far-right newspaper Hindu Rashtra, and Narayan Apte was the director of the same publication. Godse was 37 years old, he came from an orthodox Brahmin family, and had incomplete school education.
Attempts and assassination of Gandhi
The first attempt on Mahatma Gandhi's life occurred on January 20, 1948, two days after he ended his hunger strike. The country's leader was addressing worshipers from the veranda of his Delhi home when a Punjab refugee named Madanlal hurled a homemade bomb at him. The device exploded a few steps away from Gandhi, but no one was injured.
The Indian government, alarmed by this incident, insisted on strengthening Gandhi's personal security, but he did not want to hear about it. “If I am destined to die from a madman’s bullet, I will do it with a smile.” At that time he was 78 years old.
On January 30, 1948, Gandhi woke up at dawn and began working on a draft constitution to be presented to Congress. The whole day was spent discussing with colleagues the future fundamental law of the country. It was time for evening prayer, and, accompanied by his niece, he went out onto the front lawn.
As usual, the gathered crowd loudly greeted the “father of the nation.” Adherents of his teachings rushed to their idol, trying, according to ancient custom, to touch the Mahatma’s feet. Taking advantage of the confusion, Nathuram Godse, among other worshipers, approached Gandhi and shot him three times. The first two bullets went through, the third got stuck in the lung near the heart. The weakening Mahatma, supported on both sides by his nieces, whispered: “Oh, Rama! O Rama! (Hindi हे! राम (these words are written on the memorial erected at the site of the shot). Then he showed with gestures that he forgives the killer, after which he died on the spot. This happened at 17:17.
Godse tried to commit suicide, but at that moment people rushed towards him to deal with him on the spot. However, Gandhi's bodyguard saved the killer from the angry crowd and brought him to justice.
Authorities soon discovered that the killer did not act alone. A powerful anti-government conspiracy was uncovered. Eight people appeared in court. All of them were found guilty of murder. The two were sentenced to death and hanged on November 15, 1949. The remaining conspirators received long prison sentences.
On January 30, 2008, on the 60th anniversary of Gandhi's death, some of his ashes were scattered over the sea at Cape Comorin, the southern tip of the Hindustan Peninsula.
Perpetuation of memory
Raj Ghat
Mahatma Gandhi Memorial. As part of the celebration of Indian Independence Day, in 1997 it was decided to create a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi in the USA.
There are monuments and memorials dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi in many cities around the world: New York, Atlanta, San Francisco, Pietermaritzburg, Moscow, Honolulu, London, Almaty, Dushanbe, etc. Interestingly, almost all the sculptures depict Gandhi in old age, walking barefoot and leaning on a staff. This image is most often associated with the famous Hindu.
Postage stamps from many countries around the world have been issued in honor of M. Gandhi.
Monument to Gandhi in Almaty
Famous 10 rupees stamp of India 1948 with photo of Gandhi
USSR postage stamp dedicated to the 100th anniversary of M. Gandhi, 1969, 6 kopecks (CFA 3793, Scott 3639)
Postage stamp of Kazakhstan, 1995
Interesting Facts
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Mahatma Gandhi practiced a one-day mouna every week. He devoted the day of silence to reading, thinking, and writing his thoughts.
More than 10 films have been made about Mahatma Gandhi, in particular: the British “Gandhi” (Gandhi, 1982, directed by Richard Attenborough, in the role of Gandhi - Ben Kingsley, 8 Oscar awards) and the Indian “Oh, Lord” (Hé Rām, 2000) .
In “The Golden Calf” by Ilf and Petrov there is a phrase that has become a catchphrase: “Gandhi came to Dandi” (a reference to Gandhi’s “salt campaign”)
In the story “And There Were None Left,” by Eric Frank Russell, there is a mention of a certain Gandhi, the creator of the system of civil disobedience on Terra.
Sir Winston Churchill called Gandhi a “half-naked fakir,” and the British, in a 2000 BBC poll, voted the Mahatma “man of the millennium.”
In 2007, the UN established the International Day of Non-Violence, celebrated on the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, answering a question from the German magazine Der Spiegel (June 2007):
Mr. President, former Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder called you “a pure democrat.” Do you consider yourself one?
- (Laughs.) Am I a pure democrat? Of course, I am an absolute and pure democrat. But do you know what the problem is? It’s not even a problem, it’s a real tragedy. The fact is that I am the only one, there are simply no others like me in the world. ...After the death of Mahatma Gandhi, there is no one to talk to.
A. Einstein wrote:
The moral influence which Gandhi exercised upon thinking men is far greater than seems possible in our times with his excess of brute force. We are grateful to fate for giving us such a brilliant contemporary, showing the way for future generations. ... Perhaps future generations simply will not believe that such a person of ordinary flesh and blood walked this sinful earth.
Gandhi's portrait appears on currency notes of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 Indian rupees.
Mahatma Gandhi is one of the 10 most studied personalities in world history according to the catalog of the US Library of Congress.
Five months before Gandhi's death, India peacefully achieved national independence. Seventy-eight-year-old Gandhi's work was finished, and he knew that his time was near. “Ava, bring me all the important papers,” he told his granddaughter on the morning of the tragic day. - I have to celebrate today. Tomorrow may never come." In many places in his articles and speeches, Gandhi made hints indicating that he had a presentiment of his end. [source not specified 27 days]
Mahatma Gandhi wrote two letters to Adolf Hitler, in which he dissuaded him from starting World War II. These letters are often misinterpreted because they begin with the address “my friend.”
The headdress, which is a symbol of Indian independence and patriotism, is named after Gandhi.
Essays
Hind Swaraj (book chapters). Satyagraha in South Africa (fragments). My Tolstoy. Articles and speeches
My life. M., Ch. ed. oriental literature publishing house "Science", 1969
Pedagogical essays. M.: Shalva Amonashvili Publishing House, 1998
Correspondence of L. N. Tolstoy with M. K. Gandhi Publ. A. Sergeenko // L. N. Tolstoy / USSR Academy of Sciences. Institute of Russian lit. (Pushkin. House). - M.: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1939. - Book. II. - (Lit. inheritance; T. 37/38).
Letters from Gandhi to Hitler (original text and translation).
Notes
Letters of Leo Tolstoy to Gandhi
Jawaharlal Nehru. Discovery of India. Ch. 9.
About the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial
Mahatma. Big soul
Transcript of Vladimir Putin’s conversation with journalists from the G8 countries - website of the Kommersant publishing house
Bollywood is making a movie about Hitler
Jafar Maḥmūd Mahatma Gandhi: A Multifaceted Person. - APH Publishing, 2004. - P. 101. - 125 p. - ISBN 9788176486545
Literature
Rolland Romain “Mahatma Gandhi” (1924) - Collected Works, vol. XX, - L.: “GIHL”, 1936
Roslavlev U. Gandhism. - M.: Sotsekgiz, 1931
Datta D. Philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi / Trans. from English A.V. Radugina. - M.: Foreign publishing house. lit., 1959
Namboodiripad E. M. Mahatma Gandhi and Gandhism. - M.: Foreign publishing house. lit., 1960
Komarov E. N., Litman A. D. Worldview of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. - M.: Science, 1969
Martyshin O. V. Political views of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. - M.: Science, 1970
Immortal Lotus: A Word about India / Comp. A. Senkevich. - M.: Mol. Guard, 1987
Discovery of India: Philosophical and aesthetic views of India in the 20th century. / Per. from English, Beng. and Urdu; Editorial team: E. Komarov, V. Lamshukov, L. Polonskaya and others - M.: Khudozh. lit., 1987
Gorev A.V. Mahatma Gandhi 2nd ed. - M.: “International Relations”, 1989
Polonskaya L. R. Mahatma Gandhi: The meaning of life. Saint or politician? // New and recent history No. 4, 1991
Devyatkin S.V. The art of satyagraha // Experience of nonviolence in the 20th century. Ed. R. G. Apresyan. - M.: Aslan, 1996
Rybakov R. B. Nonviolent struggle for a world without violence (Ahimsa in the Indian tradition and in the teachings of M. K. Gandhi) // “Pacifism in history. Ideas and movements of the world", M.: IVI RAS, 1998.
Vasilenko V. Pedagogical philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi - preface to the collection of pedagogical works by M. Gandhi
Orwell J. Reflections on Gandhi // Man. No. 2, 2001
http://antimilitary.narod.ru/antology/gandi/satjagraha.htm
Life and work of MOHANDAS KARAMCHAND GANDHI
About the personality, struggle and teachings of M. Gandhi
Gandhi on IMDB
Hey Ram on IMDB
Mahatma Gandhi in the project “Beyond Violence”
Page dedicated to Gandhi
Criticism of Gandhi
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Mahatma Gandhi (real name Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi) was one of the most authoritative moral and spiritual leaders of the 20th century. Under his leadership, India won independence in 1947, and he achieved this not through political cunning or force, but peacefully, through the method of collective rejection of the imposed system, through civil disobedience and public self-organization. This was the great work of his entire long life. However, he did not taste the fruits of his victory for long - a year after India gained independence, Gandhi spoke out against the Indo-Muslim conflicts that broke out in the country and was assassinated.
Gandhi was born and raised on October 2, 1869 in a fairly wealthy family, belonging to a caste located in the middle of the social ladder. And although Gandhi's family came from a trading caste, his family for many generations belonged to the service class and occupied high positions - for example, Gandhi's grandfather and father were prime ministers in the principality of Porbandar in northwestern India.
According to Hindu customs, marriages were planned in advance, and even young children were engaged. Gandhi was engaged at the age of 7 to his future faithful companion Kasturbai, whom he married at the age of 14. Their marriage lasted 62 years and they had four sons: Harilala, Marilala, Ramdasa and Devadasa. Kasturbai was Mohandas’s faithful life partner, participated in her husband’s political actions and was with him in prison. Kasturbai died of a heart attack in 1942, while under yet another arrest.
After graduating from the Lyceum, Gandhi went to London to obtain a legal education. At first he tried to adapt to the new environment, to become European, but soon abandoned this idea and began to lead a modest life. Returning to India in 1891, Gandhi was admitted to the Bombay Bar Association, where he gained his first legal experience.
Soon he received an invitation to the position of legal adviser in one of the Indian trading firms and left for South Africa. Here his business took off, and he quickly won the recognition of the Indians, who began to call him their protector. The nickname "Mahatma", or rather a respectful honorific, literally means "Great Soul".
Indians arrived en masse in South Africa in the second half of the 19th century, when Europeans began offering them contracts to work on sugar cane plantations, as miners and artisans. By the time Gandhi arrived in Africa, there were approximately 150 thousand of his compatriots there. At first, relations between the British and Indians were good, but when Asians became serious competitors of the British, especially in trade, Indians increasingly began to be subjected to racial discrimination - they did not have voting rights, they were levied additional taxes, forced to register and were severely punished for not necessary documents; Marriages according to Indian customs were often declared illegal.
All this prompted Gandhi to undertake social activities to protect Hindus from oppression by the British. He published his “Green Book” in his homeland, India, in which he outlined all the hardships of the situation of Indians in South Africa. This brochure caused a lot of discussion and Gandhi's name became known.
While in Africa, Gandhi called for non-violent struggle, which he called passive resistance and formulated the doctrine of satyagraha - perseverance in truth based on non-violence. He instilled in Indians a sense of national unity and the right to protect their own interests, and carried out explanatory work on protests and civil disobedience.
In 1899, the Boer War began, and Gandhi led a medical aid detachment; for his courage and selfless service to the wounded, he was awarded a gold medal. However, his goal was not to help the British, but to help the wounded. He did the same thing in 1906, during the Zulu uprising. The cruelty of the British during the suppression of this uprising shocked Gandhi; he was completely disappointed in the values of Western civilization.
When the authorities in South Africa developed a new registration law in 1907, which put “coloreds” in a humiliating position. Gandhi organized the resistance on the principle of satyagraha (which means “persistence in truth” or “non-violent disobedience”).
Being a defender of the rights of Indians, especially the disadvantaged, Gandhi himself lived like an ascetic: he dressed in canvas trousers and sandals, and limited his property to a few essential items. In 1907, Gandhi was first imprisoned for disobeying the authorities and was sentenced to shackles and hard labor.
After his liberation, in January 1908, a number of strikes, rallies, and boycotts against British violence were held under his leadership. As a result of his actions, Gandhi found himself in prison. However, even after leaving prison, he did not stop there; in 1909 he continued negotiations, created the Tolstoy Farm community, promoting the new idea of Indian self-government (or “swaraj”). These actions were successful, and in 1914 Gandhi achieved the repeal of the most humiliating racist laws.
Karamchand Gandhi
Kasturbai Gandhi
Harilal Gandhi (1888-1948)
Manilal Gandhi (1892-1956)
Ramdas Gandhi (1897-1969)
Devdas Gandhi (1900-1957)
Mohandas Karamchand "Mahatma" Gandhi(guj. મોહનદાસ કરમચંદ ગાંધી , Hindi मोहनदास करमचंद गाँधी , October 2, Porbandar, Gujarat - January 30, New Delhi) - one of the leaders and ideologists of the movement for Indian independence from Great Britain. His philosophy of non-violence (satyagraha) influenced movements for peaceful change.
Gandhi in South Africa (1895)
Mohandas Gandhi and his wife Kasturbai (1902)
Gandhi in 1918
His name is surrounded in India with the same reverence with which the names of saints are pronounced. The spiritual leader of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi fought all his life against the religious strife that was tearing his country apart and against violence, but in his declining years he fell victim to it.
Gandhi came from a family belonging to the trading and money-lending jati baniya belonging to the Vaishya varna. His father, Karamchand Gandhi (-), served as the Diwan - Chief Minister - of Porbandar. All religious rituals were strictly observed in the Gandhi family. His mother, Putlibai, was especially devout. Worship in temples, taking vows, observing fasts, strict vegetarianism, self-denial, reading Hindu sacred books, conversations on religious topics - all this constituted the spiritual life of the family of young Gandhi.
At the age of 13, Mohandas married his peer Kasturbai. The couple had four sons: Harilal (-), Manilal (28 October -), Ramdas (-) and Devdas (-). Representatives of the modern Indian family of politicians, the Gandhis, are not among their descendants. The father abandoned his eldest son Harilal. According to his father, he drank, was debauched and got into debt. Harilal changed his religion several times; died of syphilis. All other sons were followers of their father and activists in his Indian independence movement. Devdas is also known for his marriage to Lakshi, the daughter of Rajaji, one of the leaders of the Indian National Congress and an ardent supporter of Gandhi and Indian national hero. However, Rajaji belonged to the Varna Brahmins, and inter-varna marriages were against Gandhi's religious beliefs. Nevertheless, in 1933, Devdas's parents gave permission for marriage.
Mahatma Gandhi enjoyed enormous influence among both Hindus and Muslims in India and tried to reconcile these warring factions. He was extremely negative about the division of the former colony of British India in 1947 into the secular republic of Hindu-majority India and Muslim Pakistan. After Partition, violent fighting broke out between Hindus and Muslims. The year 1947 ended in bitter disappointment for Gandhi. He continued to argue the pointlessness of violence, but no one seemed to hear him. In January 1948, in a desperate attempt to stop ethnic strife, Mahatma Gandhi resorted to a hunger strike. He explained his decision this way: “Death will be a wonderful deliverance for me. It is better to die than to be a helpless witness to India’s self-destruction.”
Gandhi's act of sacrifice had the necessary impact on society. Leaders of religious groups agreed to compromise. A few days after the Mahatma began his hunger strike, they made a joint decision: “We assure that we will protect the lives, property and faith of Muslims and the incidents of religious intolerance that took place in Delhi will not be repeated.”
But Gandhi achieved only partial reconciliation between Hindus and Muslims. The fact is that extremists were, in principle, against cooperation with Muslims. The Hindu Mahasabha, a political organization with terrorist outfits Rashtra Dal and Vashtriya Swayam Sevak, decided to continue the fight. However, in Delhi she was opposed by the authority of Mahatma Gandhi. Therefore, a conspiracy was organized, led by the leader of the Hindu Mahasabha, Bombay millionaire Vinayak Savarkar. Savarkar declared Gandhi the “insidious enemy” of the Hindus, and called the idea of non-violence absolutized by Gandhism immoral. Gandhi received daily protests from orthodox Hindus. “Some of them consider me a traitor. Others believe that I learned my present beliefs against untouchability and the like from Christianity and Islam,” Gandhi recalled. Savarkar decided to eliminate the objectionable philosopher, who was so popular among the Indian people. A Bombay millionaire created a terrorist group from his loyal people in October 1947. These were educated brahmins. Nathuram Godse was the editor-in-chief of the far-right newspaper Hindu Rashtra, and Narayan Apte was the director of the same publication. Godse was 37 years old, came from an orthodox Brahmin family, and had an incomplete school education.
The first attempt on Mahatma Gandhi's life occurred on January 20, 1948, two days after he ended his hunger strike. The country's leader was addressing worshipers from the veranda of his Delhi home when a Punjab refugee named Madanlal hurled a homemade bomb at him. The device exploded a few steps away from Gandhi, but no one was injured.
The Indian government, alarmed by this incident, insisted on strengthening Gandhi's personal security, but he did not want to hear about it. “If I am destined to die from a madman’s bullet, I will do it with a smile.” At that time he was 78 years old.
Mr. President, former Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder called you “a pure democrat.” Do you consider yourself one?
- (Laughs.) Am I a pure democrat? Of course, I am an absolute and pure democrat. But do you know what the problem is? It’s not even a problem, it’s a real tragedy. The fact is that I am the only one, there are simply no others like me in the world. ...After the death of Mahatma Gandhi, there is no one to talk to.
The moral influence which Gandhi exercised upon thinking men is far greater than seems possible in our times with his excess of brute force. We are grateful to fate for giving us such a brilliant contemporary, showing the way for future generations. ... Perhaps future generations simply will not believe that such a person of ordinary flesh and blood walked this sinful earth.
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Place of Birth: Porbandar, India A place of death: New Delhi, India Activity: Indian political and public figure Family status: was married Mahatma Gandhi - biography He could have chosen the share of the wealthy bourgeoisie, but doomed himself to hunger strikes, poverty and wanderings in prison. This is the price Mahatma Gandhi paid for Indian independence. The surname Gandhi in India is the most common, as is the biography itself, one of the great people of India. In one of these ordinary families, on October 2, 1869, a boy named Mohandas was born. The future “conscience of the nation” was lucky with the conditions of birth: both grandfather and father were chief ministers in the district city of Porbandar; one of Gandhi's elder brothers served as a lawyer and the other as a police inspector. Mahatma Gandhi - childhood, studies The father wanted to see his youngest son as his successor as prime minister of his native principality of Porbandar. Therefore, Mohandas received a good education at the local English school, got used to wearing European clothes and acquired aristocratic manners. However, fate prepared for him a different path - life against the tide. Gandhi had to go against the opinions of those around him for the first time in 1884, when he decided to go to London to continue his education.
Many Hindus were outraged by Mohandas's intention. After all, previously no one from the merchant caste (namely, Gandhi belonged to it) had ever left India! However, the brave guy still left for Britain on the first ship. So Mohandas became an outcast from his caste. Imagine the surprise of the ambitious Indian when he realized that even for the high society of London he was just an “upstart from the provinces”! To get rid of the surging depression, Gandhi threw himself into his studies. The decision turned out to be correct: it was education that made Mohandas a man of peace, wise and enlightened. In the libraries of London, he studied the main works on jurisprudence, sociology, political science, and the foundations of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity. In the capital of the British Empire, he was introduced to Helena Blavatsky, a famous 19th-century traveler, occultist and spiritualist. However, none of the world religions managed to subjugate Gandhi. In his brain, like in a highly complex computer, he synthesized all the teachings in order to ultimately follow his own path through life - the path of Gandhi. Returning to his homeland in 1891, Mahatma Gandhi began working as a lawyer at the Bombay Human Rights College. But he soon realized that he didn’t want to be a lawyer at all, but a politician and even... a reformer of India! The philosopher Gandhi began the social revolution by extending a helping hand to the untouchables - the lowest caste in Hindu society. Its representatives did not have the right to education, political activity, decent work, or human living conditions. Like the Jews in Nazi Germany, who pinned the “yellow star of shame” on their clothes, for centuries the untouchables were obliged from birth to death to wear a humiliating bell around their necks in order to ring on the street to inform passers-by that a “subhuman” was coming towards them. Gandhi decided to break stereotypes in his signature way - by personal example. “Never demand from your neighbors what you cannot fulfill yourself!” - Mohandas liked to repeat. He began to call the untouchables “harijans” (which translated means “people of God”), inviting them into his house, sharing meals with them and traveling with them in the same carriages. Finally, he adopted an orphan girl from the “untouchable” caste and brought her into his family. The whole of India started talking about Mohandas. First with indignation, then with interest, and then with respect. “It was as if Gandhi made us all wake up,” Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of independent India, once said about the sage. Mohandas Gandhi formulated the main goal of his life simply: India cannot be happy while it is under the yoke of the British Empire. Of course, no one took him seriously at first. In fact, what could a small, frail Indian with protruding ears do to a world superpower? Moreover, a mere mortal, and not a monarch! But Gandhi knew what he was doing. “Yes, the British have weapons that can destroy us,” the philosopher liked to repeat. - But we always have a choice - to live in slavery forever or refuse to obey the colonialists. India's strength lies in its powerlessness! Gandhi convinced Hindus not to take part in British elections, not to go to English schools, not to buy English goods and, finally, not to pay taxes to the British. “And no violence. Never! Do you hear?!” - Gandhi invariably broadcast from the rostrum. "Yes! - the Hindus readily answered and added: “Mahatma!”, which translated meant “a man of great soul.” The Mahatma's main weapons of struggle were peaceful demonstrations and boycotts. One by one they broke out in different parts of the country, causing attacks of wild rabies among the British. British soldiers beat unarmed people to death with sticks and shot them with machine guns. Gandhi also suffered: on the way to the liberation of India, he suffered dozens of arrests, seven years in prison and fifteen hunger strikes... He endured, survived and won: in 1947, India achieved national independence. And in an absolutely peaceful way! Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi The 78-year-old Gandhi's lifelong goal was achieved. However, he was never able to reconcile people of different religions. The state split into two - the Hindu country India and the Muslim country Pakistan. This event greatly saddened the Mahatma, and his numerous speeches about the “wrong behavior” of Muslims embittered the followers of Allah. On January 30, 1948, Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by a Pakistani terrorist named Godse.
Mahatma Gandhi - Biography of personal life Gandhi was not only a politician, reformer and philosopher, but also a father of many children and a faithful husband. According to ancient Indian traditions, already at the age of 7 he was betrothed to a girl of the same age named Kasturbai. The wedding of the “lovers in absentia” took place six years later, when the “young” were only 13 years old. And a year later the newlyweds had their first child, Harilal... The eldest son did not bring happiness to his parents - he was indifferent to serious matters, loved revelry, debauchery and living at the expense of others. Gandhi repeatedly tried to re-educate him, but in the end, in despair, he simply renounced him. But the other three sons of the Mahatma were ardent defenders of his ideas and activists in the movement for Indian independence. His faithful wife Kasturbai also became a support for the husband. She participated in all her husband’s political actions, for which she was imprisoned six times. During her last imprisonment in 1944, the exhausted woman died of a heart attack. The Gandhis were married for 62 years. Today it may seem that Gandhi's achievements were not worth the sacrifices that he and his comrades made on the altar of freedom. After all, to this day India is full of beggars, destitute and humiliated; The division of Hindus into castes has never been abolished, and there is no end in sight to world wars on religious grounds. And yet Mahatma Gandhi is a great man, a true patriot and a sage with a big heart. After all, many of the truths from his biography, by which people live today, were formulated by him. Here are just a few: “The quiet voice of my conscience is my only master”; “It is more courageous to forgive than to punish. The weak do not know how to forgive, only the strong forgive”; “The human world is like the sea. Even if a few drops in it are dirty, the whole water does not become dirty. Therefore, none of you should ever lose faith in humanity!”
Mohandas Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in the city of Porbandar (India) in a family that belonged to the Vaishya varna, that is, the caste of moneylenders and merchants. He was the sixth child in the family. The family was quite wealthy, which allowed Mohandas to get a good education. According to the laws of his religion, Gandhi was betrothed at the age of 7 to his peer Kasturbai from the same caste to which he himself belonged. At the age of 13, the teenagers got married. Gandhi subsequently claimed that he did not find any moral reasons to justify such early marriages. At the same time, he said that such a union gave him for life wonderful union of souls with your wife, who shared all her husband’s trials. In 1888, Gandhi went to England to receive legal education. At that time he already had a small son. During his studies, Mohandas began to become acquainted with the holy books of Hinduism, as well as with other world religions. After receiving his law degree in 1891, Gandhi returned to India, but due to his honesty and responsibility, he was unable to advance highly in his career. In 1893, he receives a business offer and goes to South Africa. It was in British-controlled South Africa that Gandhi first faces racism: he was forcibly kicked out of the carriage where whites were traveling, he was pushed off the sidewalks, again intended for whites. Then Mohandas realized that this was the attitude towards all “colored” here. Gandhi began a struggle to protect the rights of Indians in South Africa, which he fought for 21 years until he achieved success. In 1945, Gandhi returned to India and found the country in hopelessness and despondency. Gandhi and his followers began speaking at rallies and call for a fight against British oppression. But this struggle should have been limited only to nonviolent forms; Gandhi condemned any manifestations of aggression. By personal example, he proved to his compatriots that any complex issue can be resolved peacefully. Mahatma Gandhi led the national liberation movement of the Indian people for independence from Great Britain and had a huge influence on international peace movements. While still in South Africa, Gandhi developed tactics of nonviolent struggle called "Satyagraha", which was based on the principles of courage, truth and non-violence. Gandhi believed that the way to achieve political and social goals is much more important than the result itself. Satyagraha also promoted non-violence and civil disobedience as the best way to resolve any conflict. As a result of all these actions, England for the first time began negotiations with the Indian people, and On August 15, 1947, India finally gained independence.. Related articles:
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