Mohandas K. Gandhi

The Man of Non-violence

EQ

• How was Gandhi, a man of diminutive stature, able to gain the independence of India from Great Britain?

• Why is civil disobedience such an effective, but potentially dangerous, tactic?

• Why is violence always an easier tactic to adopt but usually less effective?

Background

• The failure of the Indian independence movements to achieve Indian independence in the 19 th century should not be seen as a failure of the movement itself.

• The seeds of nationalism and independence did take root but it would take years for the independence to come.

Background

• Mohandas Gandhi would be the man who would insure that the struggles of the past would lead to freedom and independence in the future.

Mohandas Gandhi, the Man

• Born a Hindu in 1869 • Claimed later to be a “Hindu, a Muslim, a Sikh, a Christian and a Jew” • Opposed to Caste System in India that separated people and oppressed them.

• Studied law in London in late 19 th century and studied most of the major world religions

Mohandas Gandhi, the Man

• Developed the belief that all people, regardless of color, religion or caste, have value • Took a job in S. Africa representing Indian businesses • Got a firsthand look at racism against Indians on the train to S. Africa when he was thrown off for having purchased a first-class ticket, which was reserved for whites only

Mohandas Gandhi, the Man

• Gandhi protested the treatment of Indians in S. Africa by staging a protest where Indians burned the identification cards they were required by law to have (whites did not have to have any such cards).

• This protest was Gandhi’s first attempt at non violent ,

civil-disobedience

. Civil-disobedience is the refusal to obey unjust laws. This was to be Gandhi’s standard approach for the rest of his life.

Mohandas Gandhi, the Man

• When Gandhi returned to India in 1915, he said he would not oppose the British effort in WWI. He said it would not be right to do so.

• Gandhi, like so many other Indians, expected that Indian cooperation with the British war effort would result in the British granting Indian independence at the end of the war.

Mohandas Gandhi, the Man

• When WWI was over, the British failed to live up their end of the deal and nationalists in India turned violent.

• British passed the

Rowlatt Act ,

which

prohibited mass meetings

and allowed for protesters to be jailed, w/o trial for up to 2 years.

Mohandas Gandhi, the Man

• A protest of the Rowlatt Act was organized in the city of

Amritsar

in northern India in 1919 • The ban on public meetings was not widely publicized and people did not realize the meeting was illegal • British general Dyer moved his soldiers into an area where thousands of unarmed protesters were quietly listening to speeches

Mohandas Gandhi, the Man

• Dyer gave the order to fire and his soldiers used rifles to kill over 400 of the protesters, including women and children. • In response to the British failure to adequately punish Dyer and others, Gandhi called for a program of Indian

non cooperation

with the British.

Mohandas Gandhi, the Man

• This was all part of what Gandhi called the “ Satyagraha ” or

Truth Force

. • By not hitting back, the Indians would force the British to face their own inhumanity & that truth would compel them to free the Indians

• To accomplish his goals, Gandhi encouraged the Indians to refuse to buy English goods and instead to buy Indians goods or make their own.

• He had Indians refuse to send their children to public schools, to vote and to

boycott

(refuse to do business with) British businesses.

• Non-violent, non-cooperation

• Gandhi’s followers refused to go to work on certain days and the British struggled to keep the country going when the Indians refused to cooperate.

• The boycotts were very successful and took a hard economic toll on the British.

• One of the most famous non-violent protests was Gandhi’s

Salt March

in 1930.

NaCl March

• To protest the salt tax (which was minimal but was significant in that whoever controlled the salt controlled India b/c without salt, nothing can survive in India), Gandhi and his followers marched

240 miles

to the sea to make their own salt

NaCl March

• The British then arrested the leaders of the march when they reached the sea • The salt marchers then tried to take over the salt works that processed the salt and the marchers were severely beaten by guards • The protest was unsuccessful, but led to the world taking notice of the British actions in India

Independence

• The first step toward Indian independence was the 1935 Government of India Act, which allowed for local self-government and democratic elections.

• In 1947, after more than 3 centuries, Britain granted India its independence

EQ

• How was Gandhi, a man of diminutive stature, able to gain the independence of India from Great Britain?

• Why is civil disobedience such an effective, but potentially dangerous, tactic?

• Why is violence always an easier tactic to adopt but usually less effective?