Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand (1869-1948)
Indian religious and political leader Mohandas Gandhi was born in Porbandar, north of Bombay, India (1869). He was born into the merchant caste, and as a young man went to England to study law. After being admitted to the bar, he accepted a position in South Africa, as the legal representative for a firm of Moslems. While traveling in the first-class compartment of the train, he was asked by a white man to leave. This experience of racial discrimination pointed him down the path of political activism, guided by the concept of satyagraha, or soul force. "Satyagraha," he said, "is not predominantly civil disobedience, but a quiet and irresistible pursuit of truth."
He inspired and led a mass movement for Indian independence from British rule through non-violent means, civil disobedience, passive resistance, noncooperation, protest marches, boycotts and strikes. He was arrested and imprisoned by the British many a time. Periodically he undertook fasts, "fasts unto death", to achieve his goals. He favored a return to simple village life and promoted, even by personal example, participation in cottage industries.
In 1947, having finally persuaded the British that its position as a colonial ruler of India was no longer tenable, he helped negotiate Indian Independence. In 1948, at the age of 78, he was assassinated by a Hindu fanatic.
Lean, emaciated, wearing only a lion cloth, Gandhi struck an odd figure in modern times, but he was universally recognized as a symbol of selfless, non violent struggle for freedom and justice.
~Facts on File Dictionary of Historical and Cultural Allusions.
