Mahatma Gandhi

(1869-1948)
Early Life
• Gandhiji was born on 2 October 1869 in Porbandar, Gujarat, Parents:
Karamchand Gandhi and Puthlibai
• In 1888 he left for England for Bar at Law training
• He joined the Bar at Rajkot in 1891
• He left for Bombay for further study and stayed there for six months
• He stayed in South Africa for more than 20 years
• Gandhi challenged South Africa Government’s policy against Indians
• Gandhi return to India in 1915
• Important Books: Hind Swaraj, My Experiments with Truth
(Autobiography)
• In 1916 he travelled to Champaran in Bihar to inspire the peasants to
struggle against the oppressive plantation system.
• In 1917, he organised a satyagraha to support the peasants of the
Kheda district of Gujarat. Affected by crop failure and a plague
epidemic, the peasants of Kheda could not pay the revenue, and were
demanding that revenue collection be relaxed.
• In 1918, he went to Ahmedabad to organise a satyagraha movement
amongst cotton mill workers.
• In 1919, he decided to launch a nationwide satyagraha against the
proposed Rowlatt Act (1919).
• At the Calcutta session of the Congress in September 1920, he convinced
other leaders of the need to start a non-cooperation movement in support
of Khilafat as well as for swaraj.
• At the Congress session at Nagpur in December 1920, the Non-Cooperation
programme was adopted.
• In February 1922, Mahatma Gandhi decided to withdraw the Non-
Cooperation Movement after the Chauri-Chaura incident.
• In 1930, Gandhiji declared that he would lead a march to break the salt law
• In 1931, Gandhi accepted a truce (the Gandhi-Irwin Pact), called off civil
disobedience, and agreed to attend the Second Round Table Conference in
London as the sole representative of the Indian National Congress
• After returning from London, Mahatma Gandhi relaunched the Civil
Disobedience Movement.
Satyagraha
• It denotes the method of securing rights by personal suffering
• It is opposed to resistance by arms
• A cardinal concept of Gandhian political theory
• The practical application of non violence in life is Satyagraha or soul
force, which is rooted in the inward strength of the soul
• It is the soul force or truth force, the non violent resistance to evil with
all the moral and spiritual force
• The concept of Satyagraha was Gandhi’s own
• He coined it when the Transvaal Government introduced in 1906 an anti-
Indian legislation in the local legislature
Techniques
• Fasting: it is applied only against those who are bound by ties of close
personal affection
• Voluntary migration(hijrat): tyranny is a kind plague and when its
likely make us angry or weak it is wise to leave the scene of such
temptation
• Non cooperation:powerful technique to get justice from government
• Hartal: it seeks to paralyse the administration through peaceful
means
Canons for Satyagrahi
• Moral, spiritual and virtuous
• A man of moral courage
• Endowed with qualities like determination, commitment, dedication
• Obedient to the leader of Satyagrahi unit
• Brahmacharya and hathayoga
• Rational in approach
• Pure in mind
• Away from anger, passion, lust, greed, selfishness
• A man of principles, learning, culture
Forms of Satyagraha
• Passive resistance(in South Africa)
• Non cooperation(1920-21)
• Civil disobedience(1930-31)
• Satyagraha (1940-41)
Sarvodaya
• The good for all or the emancipation of all
• It implies constant fight against cruelty to human beings and animals
• It has its roots in Yajur Veda
• It aims at realization of happiness of all and the elevation of all
• Opposing the majoritarianism and giving importance to consensus
• Gandhi stood for the village Common Wealth and criticised western
democracies as they adhered to the principle of violence
• There are several steps in Gandhi’s thinking on sarvodaya (welfare of
all).
• They are: 1) Our aim in life is self-realisation or moksha.
2) Self-realisation or moksha means identification of the self or atman
with Brahman or God. This requires a discipline or yoga of self-
purification.
3) The way of realising our identification with Brahman or, in other
words, the way of finding God is to see God in all his creation or
manifestation.
4) Love or service of all is the way to self-realisation or moksha in this
world.
Swadeshi
• By using the Swadeshi goods and boycotting foreign goods, he wanted
to challenge the English trade and commerce and teach the British a
lesson
• He advised the people to boycott the foreign goods
• By purchasing the goods manufactured in India, they encouraged
Indian industries and gave them a new lease of life
• He encouraged the use of “Charkha” and “Khadi” to improve the lot
of the poor in India and inspired the people to use Khadi
Trusteeship-
• Trusteeship is a socio-economic philosophy that was propounded by
Gandhiji.
• It provides a means by which the wealthy people would be the
trustees of trusts that looked after the welfare of the people in
general.
• This principle reflects Gandhiji’s spiritual development, which he
owed partly to his deep involvement with and the study of
theosophical literature and the Bhagavad Gita.
Non violence
• It means no torture to any one’s life
• No one should do anything evil against any one
• One should do anything evil against any one
• Ahimsa is not merely being harmless to others but is a positive state
of love, of doing good even to the evil-doer
• He who practices non violences should not only be good to all the
living beings, but also not to hurt even those who are unjust
• He must love them
• Gandhi’s Practical tool in implementing his idea of Non-violence was
Satyagraha.
• This has been translated as passive resistance, non-violent resistance,
non-violent direct action.
• It literally means ‘Eagerness for Truth’ and contains Truth, Non-
violence and Selfsuffering as basic elements
• He believed that violent methods for achieving a desired social result
would inevitably result in an escalation of violence. The end achieved
would always be contaminated by the methods used.
Economics
• According to Gandhi, economic laws which aim at material progress as well as
social harmony and moral advancement, should be formulated according to
the laws of nature. There is no conflict between the laws of nature and laws
of economics.
• Gandhiji opposed capitalism as it resulted in exploitation of human labour. He
believed that nature produced enough for the satisfaction of the people’s
wants
• Gandhi was not in favour of large-scale industrialisation, as it was responsible
for many socioeconomic evils. He was in favour of decentralised economy.
• Gandhiji wanted the revival of ancient village communities with prosperous
agriculture, decentralised industry and small-scale cooperative organisations.
He also wanted that there should be the participation of people at all levels.
• He was a Mahatma, a great soul, noble and virtuous, a champion of
love and peace
• He gave new dimension to Indian politics
• He practiced what he preached
• A unique personality, a great exponent of truth, a revolutionary, a
man of vision of rare virtues