Mahatma Gandhi

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Everyone knows the name Gandhi; most people also know that he was a great freedom fighter of India; we know his non-violence concept. He liberated the Indian people, but from what; and who was he?

Background

The Europeans began their crazy colonization tour in the Medieval. Perhaps this laid the ground to the gap between developing countries and industrial ones. One of the most diligent countries was Great Britain. As a consequence of this Queen Victoria was crowned as Empress of India in 1877, and India became a British colony. Since the Indians already often were oppressed by either religion or as a result of poverty they weren’t very concerned about the leadership of the country. The “Britainization” of India began and many religious and cultural traditions were abolished. A Christian mission swept over the country. Many Indians admired the British people and the colonization went surprisingly convenient even if the British citizens of India got many benefits.

But in the beginning of the twentieths people realized the rift between the Indians and the British-Indians.

Gandhi

As a result of the gaps between rich and poor the people got more and more divided. And a divided people need a helpful hand and the rescuer got to India.

Mahatma Gandhi was an Indian lawyer in South Africa, he thought that his place in society was bound to his home nation, and he left his career to help his people back in India. He had a humble attitude, and he meant that exploiting others to gain profit, restrain your own true personal freedom. In the beginning Gandhi trusted the British Empire, he believed that the injustices were caused by religion. Gandhi travelled the countryside and small villages and talked in front of many people. He encouraged them to speak English, to dress well and to make honest business. He taught the people to work for the right thing, and he thought that material things were unnecessary.

In 1919, at one of his square meetings the British army started to shoot at the crowd, 400 Indians were killed, and so was Gandhi’s trust to the British Empire. Gandhi was a strict pacifist and he couldn’t stand the murder of people. He realized that the British had to leave the country. He developed a network of freedom fighters, which fought with Gandhi’s well-known non-violence resistance. Gandhi meant that through the power of love the opponent had to end its oppression and give way for the righteous.

The Indians demonstrated peacefully and long lines of people walked right through beating policemen and militaries. There were riots by where people just laid themselves at the ground, people refused to pay unmotivated taxes and much more. Often the British army imprisoned Gandhi where he spent much time. Every time the anger of the Indians became so great that they used violence, Gandhi went hunger striking as penance for the violence.
The result

In 1947 India got its independency and was accepted as a free state. Unfortunately this didn’t solve everything. The population wasn’t united because of the religious differences. The Muslims felt outside the rest of the society, and India was shattered in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. India as a Hindu state, and the other two were Islamic countries. Hindus were driven off their land in these states, and Muslims were driven off their land areas in India. The people paid tribute to Gandhi, but I suspect that he wasn’t completely satisfied with the solution.

The death of Gandhi

As a thin old man, Gandhi spent his last years trying to unite the people. In 1948 he was murdered by a Hindu extremist, who disliked his sympathies for the Muslims.

Gandhi’s burning interest for solidarity and non-racist nationalism has fascinated many people through the times. With his message of love you can look at ...