...Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, born in 1869, was one of the world’s most influential figures. He led many protests that revolutionized the idea of civil disobedience, or non-violent protest. Gandhi rallied thousands to disobey the oppressive and racist British government as an Indian nationalist movement to free India. Under his leadership, the Indian Congress launched a series of mass movements: the Civil Disobedience Movement and the Non Cooperation Movement in 1920s and 1930s. The former was triggered by the historic Salt March, when Gandhi led a group of followers from his ashram on a 200 mile march to Dandi on the west coast in order to prepare salt in a violation of British law. Gandhi soon earned the title “Mahatma,” or Great Soul. In August 1942, the Quit India movement was launched. The British resorted to brutal repression against non-violent protesters. It was evident that the British could only maintain the empire at enormous cost to themselves. At the end of World War II, the British began to transfer power to the now sovereign State of India. Throughout the major events of his life, the concept of Satyagraha, or non-violent, peaceful resistance remained a foundational basis for all of his major movements. Gandhi’s philosophy of Satyagraha encompassed his most central core value and belief of the truthful pursuit of non-violence. This idea is displayed through the formation of his ideas on civil disobedience, his implementation of the historic Salt March, and his reaction...
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...Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Nelson Mandela Non-violence is a concept that people participate in social and political change without violence. It is a form of social and political change between passive acceptances and armed struggle. Non-violence way to participate in the social and political change is including nonviolent civil disobedience against, acts of civil disobedience or other powerful influence uncooperative antagonistic form; it is similar with pacifism, but it is not pacifism. Since the mid-20th century, nonviolence and civil disobedience become the main form of social change, and it also is respected political and social philosophy. As the practice of social and political change, non-violent has the essence difference with pacifism, it is contrary to the wishes of the oppressed, and it struggle with any injustice and power political. In my final paper, I will instruction three famous Non-violence movement leader: Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Nelson Mandela; and also I will compare the similar and difference between them. Mahatma Gandhi was the preeminent leader of Indian nationalism in Britishruled India. Employing non-violent civil disobedience, Gandhi led India to independence and inspired movements for non-violence, civil rights and freedom across the world. A very important turning point in Gandhi’s life is he arrived in South Africa to work as a legal representative for the Muslim Indian traders based in the city of Pretoria...
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...all struggles for political independence may involve both violent and non-violent techniques there is no genuine decolonization that has occurred without any form of violence. Decolonization refers to the indigenous people rising up against their colonial power and acquiring political independence. Frantz Fanon and Mahatma Gandhi were each thinkers who have influenced national freedom movements (decolonization) with their views on the ethics of violence and non-violence. As a psychiatrist, philosopher and ambassador in the Caribbean, Fanon became concerned with the cultural consequences of decolonization. In many ways Fanon’s thoughts followed a Marxist mentality in contrast, however; Fanon argued that struggle does not occur between...
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...Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) once said, “My life is my message” (Soomo, 2013). He was a world leader that led by example. In this essay I will give an example of a political and a social change created by Gandhi’s teaching. To begin with Gandhi’s background, as a young adult in London, he trained as a barrister according to Sohail (2005). Sohail identified that Gandhi soon discovered a disliking for the busy lifestyle, high standard of living, and expense of the city. Even though he only spent a few years in London, it really shaped his simple living views that he would live his entire life by. His next big adventure was in South Africa. Sohail stated that Gandhi became a leader with the Indian National Congress and fought for equality. He was a leader in the Indian community. According to Lal (2012), Gandhi practiced Satyagraha, the practice of non-violent resistance, to make political points without violence. It was also here that he organized small self-sufficient communities, Lal described. Gandhi led others by his own example. I believe this is why he was so influential. He didn’t just tell the public how change should occur; he showed the people how it occurred and the importance of the change. Most leaders of that time demanded obedience, or else severe punishment followed. Gandhi’s approach forever changed the world socially and politically. The most significant political change that occurred as a result of Gandhi’s actions was the teaching of non-violence when...
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...Thesis Statement: Henry David Thoreau is one of the pioneers of Transcendentalism, and his famous work, Civil Disobedience has great effect on Mahatma Gandhi’s ideology and movement which drives the India for independence. Outline 1. Introduction 1. Brief introduction of Henry David Thoreau 2. Brief introduction of Mahatma Gandhi 2. Writing background and cores of Civil Disobedience 2.1 Writing background 2.2 Cores of Civil Disobedience 2.2.1 Conscience of human 2.2.2 Effect of morality 2.2.3 Suspicion of American’s democracy 2.3.4 In-cooperation with government 3. Embodiment on Mahatma Gandhi 3.1 Effect on Gandhi’s ideology 3.1.1 Works of Gandhi 3.1.2 Speeches of Gandhi 3.2 Effect on Gandhi’s movement 3.2.1 Gandhi in South Africa 3.2.2 Gandhi in India 4. Conclusion 1. Introduction 1.1 Brief introduction of Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau was one of the most famous writers, naturalist, philosophers, abolitionists, and the pioneers of Transcendentalism in America in 19 century. He was born in Concord, Massachusetts, 1817. Thoreau met Ralph Waldo Emerson when he studied in university. And he was deeply influenced by Emerson who advocated that man should be true to himself and close to nature. Emerson was not only a friend but also a teacher to Thoreau. They had edited the journal Sundial together. Thoreau graduated from Harvard College in 1837 and worked as...
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...Gandhi, one of the most influential individuals of all time, he used civil disobedience as a tool for social reform. Much of the struggles and suffering that Gandhi purposely produced at his own desire, were to initiate a social change to create harmony, to achieve equality and to deter discrimination. He would recommend and actively demonstrate civil disobedience as a moral method to achieve these goals, and would welcome and embrace suffering in the process. Gandhi exhibited a vow of fearlessness. He strived to eliminate discrimination and inequity in South Africa and India and welcomed personal suffering to do so. According to Gandhi civil disobedience would not be effective without the moral power of, and commitment to, Satyagraha. In my essay I will be discussing the beliefs and principles that Gandhi lived by. Gandhi, was also known as Mahatma Gandhi, was born in Porbandar, in the modern state of Gujarat, on October 2, 1869, into a Hindu family. His parents belonged to the Vaisya caste of Hindu's. Gandhi was a shy and serious boy and grew up in an atmosphere of religious tolerance and acceptance of teachings of various Hindu sects. Gandhi was married at 13 years old, he married a girl named Kasturibhai. The wedding was arranged according to custom by his parents. The Gandhi's had four children. At the age of 19, Gandhi traveled to England to study law. During that time he began to develop his philosophy of life. He also studied the great Indian religious classic the...
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...Simple acts of kindness such as helping an injured dog or helping an elderly woman cross the street can in a way be considered heroic as it shows compassion towards other living things. A hero has to display bravery, selflessness, and compassion. Mahatma Gandhi is one great example of a hero because he was instrumental in leading India to freedom from British rule, using a unique but very effective philosophy - Nonviolence. According to BrainyQuote.com, Gandhi believed that, "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." Gandhi gave up his what could have been a comfortable life as a highly educated lawyer and instead chose a simple life without any material comforts to set an example for his fellow countrymen. He advocated a mass disobedience movement urging people to get involved in a non-violent protest by boycotting British education institutions, products and also urged people not to pay taxes to the British government. Gandhi was a true hero as he displayed bravery when facing grave challenges, sacrificed his life for liberating India from British rule, which portrayed selflessness, and exemplified compassion, even to his enemies, earning him the title "Mahatma," meaning, "the great soul." Gandhi spearhead the fight for India's liberation. Along this journey that spanned decades, he faced numerous challenges and was arrested several times and sent to jail for almost seven years. Against all odds he...
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...Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (pronounced [ˈmoːɦənd̪aːs ˈkərəmtʃənd̪ ˈɡaːnd̪ʱi] ( listen); 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the preeminent leader of Indian nationalism in British-ruled India. Employing non-violent civil disobedience, Gandhi led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. The honorific Mahatma (Sanskrit: "high-souled," "venerable"[2])—applied to him first in 1914 in South Africa,[3]—is now used worldwide. He is also called Bapu (Gujarati: endearment for "father,"[4] "papa."[4][5]) in India. Born and raised in a Hindu, merchant caste, family in coastal Gujarat, western India, and trained in law at the Inner Temple, London, Gandhi first employed non-violent civil disobedience as an expatriate lawyer in South Africa, in the resident Indian community's struggle for civil rights. After his return to India in 1915, he set about organising peasants, farmers, and urban labourers to protest against excessive land-tax and discrimination. Assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding women's rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability, but above all for achieving Swaraj or self-rule. Gandhi famously led Indians in challenging the British-imposed salt tax with the 400 km (250 mi) Dandi Salt March in 1930, and later in calling for the British to Quit India in 1942. He was imprisoned for many years, upon many occasions, in both...
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...The Power of Non-Violence The movies “Gandhi” and “A Force More Powerful” showed how Gandhi focused on non-violence and fought for the Independence of India. The movie “Gandhi” is a dramatization of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s life, which covers how he was thrown off a South African train for being in a whites only compartment, India’s Independence, India-Pakistan’s partition and concludes with his assassination and funeral in 1948. It has more story and characters than the movie “A Force More Powerful,” which is a documentary film. The documentary focuses on Gandhi’s leadership of the Indian Independence movement and the Salt March. In this movie, they showed real clips of videos of that time. In the order to advance the cause of a free India, Gandhi began the Salt March in 1930, which protested the salt taxes imposed by Britain. In the Salt March from Ahmedabad to Dandi, Gandhi traveled 250 miles to make salt from the ocean water, in order to avoid paying the salt tax. Millions of Indians joined him to show their support. Like African-Americans in the United States, the Indian people longed for freedom, as well as for the full spectrum of rights denied them by the British government. The Salt March resulted in the mass civil disobedience and non- violent struggle against British rule. As Gandhi and his followers reached the coast, he picked up a handful of salt, breaking the law. A month later, Gandhi was arrested. This started a series of protests and boycotts, which...
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...Gandhi was essentially Hindu his entire life, but there he did allow the Muslim faith to alter his Hindu beliefs throughout his childhood and when he became older. Hindu faith believed that violence was a crime and a sin to practice, and within the Islamic belief it is okay to use violence in order to seek truths or spread their beliefs. Gandhi couldn’t have practiced peace if he inherently practiced the Islamic religion. The imprint of Islam and the Muslims on Gandhi started at a very early age. The Muslims remained in Gujarat for centuries as traders and throughout Gandhi’s childhood he saw them as those individuals who originated and progressed to other places past the seas. “My whole soul rebels against the idea that Hinduism and Islam represent two antagonistic cultures and doctrines.” said Gandhi. Muslims appear from the beginning to have represented a challenge and adventure to him. Muslims were acknowledged as guests in the Gandhi home....
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...Gandhian Values and its Relevance to me as a Future Leader : Ajay Dixit (10BEC1007) Amidst the atmosphere of tension, violence, differences of opinion, unemployment and inflation globally, today the question is being raised again and again about the relevance of Gandhian philosophy which is based on truth and non-violence. Anyhow, most of the people who oppose Gandhi's thoughts unfortunately are Indians and not foreigners. These people did not feel the relevance of Gandhian thoughts even when he was alive. This feeling of disagreement with Gandhian philosophy resulted in his assassination. Society is going through a degraded phase which should be revoked so that humanity sustains in this world for centuries. Today when we are surrounded by the forces of darkness, we need a leader like Gandhi, a man of rare courage, character, and charisma, who dares to tell the truth, who can overcome violence with nonviolence, and who shows us the way to light. Gandhi and his twin principles of satya (truth) and ahimsa (nonviolence) are more relevant today than any other time in human history, and the Gandhian style of satyagraha seems to be the only potent and pragmatic, moral equivalent of war in these troubled times. Gandhi not only said but showed us the way that, “nonviolence is infinitely superior to violence,” and the soul-force is far more potent than the brute-force. Gandhi was in favour of using the thoughts against the arms and not the arms against the arms, to fight injustice and inequality...
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...a dialogue between two characters, The Reader and The Editor. The Reader essentially serves as the typical Indian countryman whom Gandhi would have been addressing with Hind Swaraj. The Reader voices the common beliefs and arguments of the time concerning Indian Independence. Gandhi, The Editor, explains why those arguments are flawed and interject his own arguments. As The Editor Gandhi puts it, "it is my duty patiently to try to remove your prejudice." In the dialogue which follows, Gandhi outlines four themes which structure his arguments. 1. First, Gandhi argues that ‘Home Rule is Self Rule’. He argues that it is not enough for the British to leave only for Indians to adopt a British-styled society. As he puts it, some "want English rule without the Englishman ... that is to say, [they] would make India English. And when it becomes English, it will be called not Hindustan but Englishtan. This is not the Swaraj I want.” 2. Gandhi also argues that Indian independence is only possible through passive resistance. In fact, more than denouncing violence, Gandhi argues that it is counter-productive; instead, he believes, “The force of love and pity is infinitely greater than the force of arms. There is harm in the exercise of brute force, never in that of pity.” This is essential throughout Hind Swaraj. 3. In order to exert passive resistance, Gandhi reasons that Swadeshi (self-reliance) be exercised by Indians, meaning the refusal of all trade and dealings with the British. He addresses...
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...part, the oppressed who wanted to free themselves from the rule of a non-fit leader have backlashed with violent protests that have cost thousands of people their lives and have left their homelands in devastation. These political and social injustices affect people worldwide and each group reacts differently to inequalities they may experience. Some react with violence because that is all they know and others take the route of non-violence to make the same point or statement to the opposing side without causing havoc and violence. Two men, both seen as symbols of peace and harmony spent a great part of their lives advocating non-violence and peaceful protests during times of oppression and inequality. The commitment they made to their beliefs was to prove that the oppressed have the ability to change laws and make people realize inequalities. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mohandas Gandhi’s approach to resolve struggles of inequalities and oppression have changed the way people think through peace, non-violence and peaceful protests. Mohandas Gandhi, born in Western India on October 2nd, 1869, is often seen in images wearing a simple loin cloth and sandals and is well-known and accepted worldwide as the symbol for peace and solidarity. He is the man that became the character behind the teachings and advocate for non-violence or “satyagraha” (Washbrook, 1995). In the earlier years of his life, Mohandas Gandhi was known to be an obedient, shy and a soft-spoken child. At the tender...
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...Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was the spiritual and non – Violent Political Leader. His father’s name was Karamchand Gandhi; his mother’s name was Putlibai. His wife was called kasturbai Makhanji, gandhiji and kasturiba had four children. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi better known as Mahatma Gandhi was born on 2nd October 1869 in porbandar, Gujarat. At the age of 19 years he went to London to study law and returned to India in 1891 to practice law. He couldn't find work that would give better life for him and his family, later he travelled to South Africa for his practice. Gandhi moved South Africa in 1893, at the time the British ruled South Africa. There he was thrown off a train after disapproving to move from the First class compartment to a third class even though he bought the first – class ticket. When he accomplished to claim his rights as a British subject Gandhi was harmed. He observed that all Indian people suffered badly by bristish Government. All these incidents were a turning point in his life; he put his attention to social injustice and influencing his consequential social activism. With the Help of natal Indian congress he moulded the Indian community of South Africa into a uniform political force.He started Satyagraha -devotion to the truth. Satyagraha established with the principles of truth, nonviolence and courage. Gandhi was arrested so many times by the British for his activities in India and South Africa. In 1915, Gandhi returned to India .At...
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...Essay The history of violence in the world is well documented. However it is also possible to use non-violence to bring about change. This DBQ will look at two countries where a non-violent movement was successful. Historic Context India and South Africa were two important nations on two different continents. But although they looked strong on the outside, each one suffered from a disease that threatened the health of the whole. For India, the disease was colonization. For South Africa, it was racial segregation. Three Conditions In each of these nations three conditions help explain why non-violence worked. The first condition was that both of them had been colonies of England. And like England both countries thought law was very powerful – more powerful even than government officials. The second condition was the presence of violence. Without the possibility of a violent revolution, the government might not have been willing to change. The third condition was the presence of a leader – Mohandas Gandhi in India and Nelson Mandela South Africa. Each of these men was so charismatic he could lead his followers to a non-violent victory. Both of them gave their lives to the cause. Gandhi was shot by an assassin while Mandela spent almost twenty-seven years of his life in prison. These are their stories. Mohandas Gandhi – “An eye-for-an-eye only makes the whole world blind” Mohandas Gandhi was born in 1869, in Porbandar...
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