Transcript Mahatma Gandhi - San Jose Unified School District

Mohandas
Gandhi
Mohandas Gandhi

was born in the
seaside town of
Porbandar.
 Gandhi learned basic
ideas of nonviolence
from Hinduism, and
Jainism.
Mohandas Gandhi (cont.)
 As Gandhi grew older,
his family suggested he
study law in London.
 In the fall of 1888,
Gandhi left for London.
 His wife Kasturbai and
son, Harilal, stayed with
his parents.
Mohandas Gandhi (cont.)
 In London, Gandhi
first read the
Bhagavad-Gita, the
wisdom of Hinduism.
 From this he took its
ideal of the active but
selfless human being.
 Gandhi obtained his
law degree in 1891,
then returned to
India.
 Accepted an offer to
work in South Africa.
Mohandas Gandhi (cont.)
 Gandhi first employed civil disobedience
while an expatriate lawyer in South Africa,
during the resident Indian community’s
struggle for civil rights.
 After his return to India in 1915, he
organized protests by peasants, farmers,
and urban laborers concerning excessive
land-tax and discrimination.
 After assuming leadership of the Indian
National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led
nationwide campaigns to ease poverty,
expand women’s rights, build religious and
ethnic amity, end “untouchability”, and
increase economic self-reliance.
 Above all, he aimed to achieve Swaraj or the
independence of India from foreign
domination.
Untouchables
Mohandas Gandhi (cont.)
 Gandhi earnestly believed that a
person involved in public service
should lead a simple life. He first
displayed this principle when he gave
up wearing western-style clothing,
which he associated with wealth and
success.
 When he returned to India he
renounced the western lifestyle he led
in South Africa, where he had enjoyed
a successful legal practice.
Mohandas Gandhi (cont.)
 Gandhi famously led his followers in the Non-cooperation
movement that protested the British-imposed salt tax with
the 240 mile Dandi Salt March in 1930. (sounds like a civil
rights march?)
 He launched the Quit India Movement in
1942, demanding immediate
independence for India.
 Gandhi spent a number
of years in jail in both
South Africa and India.
Mohandas Gandhi
 Gandhi dressed to be accepted by the poorest person in India,
advocating the use of homespun cloth (khadi).
 He and his followers adopted the practice of weaving their own
clothes from thread they themselves spun on a charkha, and
encouraged others to do so.
 The Swadeshi movement held that if Indians made their own
clothes, it would deal an economic blow to the British
establishment in India.
 Gandhian simplicity was a sign and expression of swadeshi
principles. Consequently, the charkha was later
incorporated into the flag of the Indian National
Congress. He subsequently wore a dhoti for the
rest of his life to express the simplicity of his life.
Mohandas Gandhi (cont.)
 Gandhi spent one day of each week in
silence. He believed that abstaining from
speaking brought him inner peace and
made him a better listener.
 For three and a half years, from the age of
37, Gandhi refused to read newspapers,
claiming that the tumultuous state of
world affairs caused him more confusion
than his own inner unrest.
Gandhi and Nonviolence
 Throughout this time in Gandhi’s life
he was imprisoned repeatedly by the
British. Despite this, Gandhi insisted
that his followers continued to remain
nonviolent.
 For Gandhi, nonviolence was a
fundamental part of his teachings.
 Gandhi believed that nonviolence gave
a great moral power to its followers, as
well as possibly sway the thoughts and
actions of those who were viewed as
cruel, thoughtless, and violent.
Gandhi and Nonviolence
 Gandhi named this power
satyagraha (“reality force”
or “holding onto truth”).
 Gandhi made use of every
nonviolent technique
imaginable.
 These techniques
included marches,
hunger strikes, and
demonstrations.
Turning Point
 Seashore communities
throughout India began
to do the same.
 Many, including
Gandhi, were arrested.
 This march became the
turning point of the
Indian independence
movement.
Title
 The British government
was weakened.
 British forces finally
agreed to leave India in
1947.
 Gandhi recognized for
his influence in this.
Stop here
Mahatma Gandhi
 “Gandhi believed so much in loving tolerance that
he hoped it could keep a newly independent India
free of religious battles”(Molloy, 112).
 Unfortunately, fear and tension are quite common
between religious faiths.
 Muslim leaders feared oppression from the Hindu
majority.
 Worked to create the new separate Muslim state of
Pakistan.
 As a result of this, some Hindu militants wished
for revenge.
Gandhi’s End
 In a fit of rage, one of the
Hindu militants shot and
killed Gandhi in 1948.
Gandhi’s Example
 Even after death,
Gandhi’s example
spread across the globe.
 Gandhi's ideology
influenced Martin
Luther King Jr.
 Used in protests against
racial segregation in the
U.S.
Gandhi
 Gandhi (1982) is a
biographical film about
Mohandas ("Mahatma")
Gandhi.
 This is considered to be the
most acclaimed tribute to
Mahatma Gandhi’s life.
 Fairly accurate in terms of
Gandhi’s life and the Indian
struggle for independence.
 In AFI’s “100 Years…100
Heroes and Villains” Gandhi
is ranked at #21 for Heroes.