Mahatma Gandhi presentation for Sociology class. Subtopic: Religion.

1. “You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few
drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.”

2. MAHATMA GANDHI
NAME | Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
BIRTHDATE | 2nd October 1869
ORIGIN | India
RELIGION | Hinduism
EDUCATION | University College London (Law)
FAMOUS FOR | Philosophy of Truth and Non-violence
WORKS &
ACHIEVEMENTS | Key Role in Indian Freedom Struggle
Philosophy of Truth and Non-violence
AWARDS | 1930 : TIME Magazine’s “Man Of The Year”

3. GANDHI’S TOP 5
1. Champaran and Kheda Satyagraha
2. Khilafat Movement
3. Non-cooperation Movement.
4. Salt Satyagraha Movement - Dandi march
5. Quit India Movement

4. TIMELINE
1893– 1914
CivilRightsMovement in
SouthAfrica
1894
FoundedNatalIndian
CongressinSouthAfrica
1921
Led theNon-Cooperation
Movement
1930
Dandimarchand Satyagraha
(nonviolentresistance)
againsttaxon salt
1931
Ghandi-Irwin pact
1939
- WWII.
- “QuitIndia”
1942
- Arrestmentand
Imprisonment
- Kasturba’sDeath
1947
Indo-Pakistan War
1948
Ghandiwasassasinated by
NathuramGodse

5. BELIEFS

6. Early Years
• Gandhi was raised in a Hindu family, but he lived in a multiculturalcommunity.He
had Christianand Muslim friends as a child,and may have been especially influenced
by theJain religion, withits principle of total ahimsa, or nonviolence. When he
traveledto Englandto study law, he mettheosophists who encouraged himto learn
more about his nativeHindutextslike the Bhagavad Gita, as well as those of other
religions.

7. • Themesfrom JainismthatGandhi absorbed included asceticism; compassion for all
forms of life; theimportance of vows for self-discipline; vegetarianism;fastingfor
self-purification;mutualtolerance among people of different creeds; and
"syadvad", the idea thatall views of truthare partial, a doctrine that lies at theroot
of Satyagraha

8. Ahimsa
Hindusbelieve thatall lifeis sacred and therefore practice ahimsa, or non-violence in
thought,word and deed. This, coupled with theteachingsof Jesus in the Sermon on
theMount, compelled Gandhi touse passive resistance to protest theBritish
occupation in India. Ahimsa also guided his personal life, in which herefrained from
eatinganimals.
Gandhi famously said, “Non-violence is not a garment to be
put on and off at will. Its seat is in the heart, and it must be an
inseparable part of our being.”

9. N. A. Toothi felt that Gandhi wasinfluenced by the reforms and teachings of
Swaminarayan, stating"Close parallelsdo exist in programs of social reform
based on to nonviolence, truth-telling, cleanliness,temperance and upliftment of
the masses.“
BalkrishnaGokhale argues that Gandhi took his philosophy of history from Hinduism and Jainism,
supplemented by selected Christiantraditions and ideas of Tolstoy and Ruskin. Hinduism provided
central concepts of God's role inhistory, of man asthe battleground of forces of virtue and sin, and of the
potential of love asan historical force. From Jainism, Gandhi took the idea of applying nonviolence to
human situationsand the theory thatAbsolute Reality can be comprehended only relatively in human
affairs.

10. Gandhism
• Gandhismdesignates theideas and principles Gandhi promoted. Of central importance
is nonviolentresistance.
• M. M. Sankhdherargues thatGandhism is not a systematic position in metaphysics or in
political philosophy. Rather, it is a political creed, an economic doctrine, a religious
outlook,a moral precept, and especially, a humanitarianworldview. It is an effortnot to
systematise wisdom butto transform society and is based on an undying faithin the
goodness of humannature.

11. Gandhi himselfdid not approve of the notionof "Gandhism", as he
explained in 1936:
“There is no such thingas "Gandhism",and I do not wantto leave any sect after me. I do not
claim to have originated any new principleor doctrine. I have simply tried in my own way to
apply theeternal truthsto our dailylife and problems...The opinions I have formed and the
conclusions I have arrived at are not final.I may change themtomorrow. I have nothingnew
to teach theworld. Truthand nonviolence are as old as the hills.”

12. Civil rights movement in South
Africa (1893–1914)
- Indians in South Africa were led by wealthy Muslims, who employed Gandhi as a lawyer, and by
impoverished Hindu indentured labourers with very limited rights.
- He believed he could bridge historic differences, especially regarding religion, and he took that belief
back to India where he tried to implement it.
- The South African experience exposed handicapsto Gandhi that he had not known about.

13. - In South Africa, Gandhi faced the discrimination directed at all coloured people. He was thrown off a train
at Pietermaritzburg after refusing to movefrom the first-class. He protested and was allowed onfirst class the next
day.
- Hesuffered otherhardships on the journey as well, including being barredfrom several hotels. In another incident, the
magistrate of a Durban court ordered Gandhi to removehis turban, which he refused to do.
• -These events werea turning point in Gandhi's life and shaped his social activism and awakened him to social injustice.
• After witnessing racism, prejudice and injustice against Indians in South Africa, Gandhi began to question his place in
society and his people's standing in the British Empire.

14. Satyagraha
• The Non-Cooperation Movement (est. August 1st 1920)

15. A policy of passive
resistance to British rule
• A protest againstgovernment repression
• Rowlatt Act of 1919
• JalianWallahBagh Massacresof April 1919
• Truth and non-violence were to be strictly observed by Non-Cooperators.

16. How successful it was……
• Accepted bythe Congress party
• January 1921, gaining success allover India
• Gandhi along with AliBrothers undertook a nation-wide tour during which he addressed hundreds of
meetings.
• 9,000 students left schools and colleges and joined more than800 nationalinstitutions that had
sprung up allover the country
• women of Bengal were willing to play anactive role in the protest movement. The women
nationalistshere organised themselves under the MahilaKarmaSamaj or the Ladies Organisation
Board of the BengalPradesh Congress Committee.

17. Oo…oohhh
• Thegovernment promulgated Sections 108 and 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure
• by December1921, over 30,000 people were arrested from all over India. Among prominent leaders, only Gandhi
remained out of jail.
• Thetragedy of Chauri Chaura occurredin which a mob of 3,000 killed twenty-five policemenand one inspector.
• This was too much for Gandhi whostood for complete non-violence
• Theresult was that hegave orderfor the suspension of the movement at once.
• Thus on 12 February 1922, the Non-Cooperation Movementcame to an end

18. 1919-1924
KHILAFAT MOVEMENT

19. Pan Islamic Movement
• Started by The OttomanEmperor Abdul Hamid II (1876-1909)
• An attemptto save his disintegratingempire from foreign
attacks (WWI)
• SentJamaluddinAfghanito India to propagate the ideas
• Received a favorable response from some IndianMuslim
leaders

20. Gandhiji’s Involvement
• To gain support from Muslims for Satyagraha
• Support Khilafatand became a member of the CentralKhilafatCommittee
• By mid-1920 theKhilafatleaders promised non-violencein return for his support
• The success of this movementmade himthenationalleaderand facilitatedhis strong
position in Congress party

21. Oo…oohhh
• Hijrat (Exodus) to Afghanistanin 1920 of about 18,000 Muslim peasants
• theexcesses of Muslims who feltthatIndia was Dar-ul-Harb(Apostate land)
• theMoplah rebellion in South India in August1921
• Chauri-Chauraincident in February 1922 where a violent mob set fireto a police
stationkillingtwenty-twopolicemen.

22. Aftermath
• Khilafatmovement collapsedbadly in1922
• Gandhicalledoff the Non-cooperationmovement,leaving Khilafat
leaders with a feelingof betrayal.
• Gap betweenHindus and Muslims widened.

23. DandiMarch (March 12th tillApril 5th 1930)
SALT MARCH

24. Why Did Mahatma Gandhi march 241 miles for salt?
• an act of civil disobedience to protest British rule inIndia
• An ingeniouslysimple way for many Indians to break a British law non-violently
• Britain’s Salt Acts prohibited Indians from collecting or selling salt, a staplein theIndian
diet.
• Citizensmust buy salt from theBritish, who, in addition to exercising a monopoly over the
manufactureand sale of salt
• Heavy salt taxalso exerted

25. • defy British policy by making saltfrom seawater
• All along the way, Gandhi addressed large crowds, and with each passing day an increasing number of
people joined
• Head of a crowd of tens of thousands, by the time they reached Dandi
• He spoke and led prayers and early the next morning walked down to the sea to make salt.
• In the coastalcities of Bombay (now calledMumbai) and Karachi,Indian nationalistsled crowds of
citizens in making salt.
• Civil disobedience broke out allacross India, soon involving millions of Indians, and Britishauthorities
arrested more than 60,000 people.
• Gandhi himself was arrested on May 5

26. • OnMay 21,the poetSarojiniNaidu (1879-1949) led2,500 marchers on
the Dharasana Salt Works, some 150 miles northof Bombay.
• Several hundredBritish-led Indianpolicemenmet them and viciously
beat the peaceful demonstrators.
• The incident,recordedby American journalist Webb Miller,prompted an
international outcry against British policyin India

28. Why walk?
• The frail, 61-year-old Gandhi didn't have to
walk--he could have taken acar or train to
gather saltfrom the sea. But he knew what he
was doing.
• His march was a symbolic protest designed to
attract media attention and inspire action
more thananything else.
• Many historians now consider it his most
powerful campaign.
Why Salt?
• Gandhi realized that a simple, key commodity
like saltwas the perfect symbol around which
ordinary Indians could rally.
• He understood that the salttax impacted every
person in India directly, whether they were
Hindu, Muslimor Sikh, and was more easily
understood thancomplex questions of
constitutional law or land tenure

29. • However, Gandhi's goalwasn't tosimplybreak laws,but togotojailforbreaking them.
• In MarkShepard's bookMahatmaGandhiandHisMyths:CivilDisobedience,Nonviolenceand
SatyagrahaintheRealWorld, Shepard writesthat,
• "He [Gandhi] just wantedtomakea statement.He wantedtosay,
• “IcaresodeeplyaboutthismatterthatI’mwillingtotakeonthelegalpenalties,tositinthisprison
cell,tosacrificemyfreedom,inordertoshowyouhowdeeplyIcare.Becausewhenyouseethe
depthofmyconcern,andhow‘civil’Iamingoingaboutthis,you’reboundtochangeyourmind
aboutme,toabandonyourrigid,unjustposition,andtoletmehelpyouseethetruthofmy
cause.'”

30. Aftermath
• Literally millions turned out to make their own salt.
• People across India boycotted all kinds of British goods, including paper and textiles.
• Peasants refused to pay land taxes.
• The colonial government imposed even harsher laws in an attempt to quell the movement
• imposed strict censorship on Indian media and even private correspondence, but to no avail.
• Raised international awareness of British injustices in India
• The British authorities jailed him several times, but his following was so great that he was
always released.
• It soon led to the Gandhi-Irwin Pact, an agreement that made it legal for people to gather and
manufacture salt.
• the government lifted the tax a year later.

31. Indian Independence and Partition
• In 1944, Britain pledged to grant independence to India once the war was over. Gandhi
called for the Congress to reject the proposal, since it set forth a division of India among
Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh states.
• When sectarian violence rocked India's cities in 1946, leaving more than 5,000 dead,
Congress party members convinced Gandhi that the only options were partition or civil
war.
• Amid the massive riots that followed Partition, Gandhi urged Hindus and Muslims to live
peacefully together
• He reluctantly agreed, and then went on a hunger strike that single-handedly stopped the
violence in Delhi and Calcutta.
• On August 14, 1947, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan was founded.
• The Republic of India declared its independence the following day.

32. Gandhi's Assassination
• On January 30, 1948, Mohandas Gandhi was shot dead by a young Hinduradical named
NathuramGodse.
• The assassin blamed Gandhifor weakeningIndia by insistingon paying reparations to
Pakistan.
• Despite Gandhi'srejection of violence and revenge duringhis lifetime, Godse and an
accomplice were both executed in 1949 for themurder.

33. Gandhiji’s greatest achievement was in
motivating and mobilizing the masses
of India across the states, regardless of
their differences in language, religion,
caste, creed and sex, to come together
and fight for the cause of freedom
under the banner of Indian National
Congress.

34. Influencing The World
Leaders

35. NELSON MANDELA
• "Mandela was inspired by the Satyagrahacampaign led by
Gandhi. It was a compelling act of passive protest against
oppression.

36. "Nonviolent passive resistance is effective as long as your opposition adheres to the same rules as you
do," Mandela stated in his autobiography, unfavourably comparing the dominant Afrikaner minority in
his country to British imperialists. "But if peaceful protest is met with violence, its efficacy is at an end.
For me.nonviolence wasnot amoral principlebutastrategy.“
*Mandela never ceased regarding Gandhi as an inspiration, and, in fact, saw nonviolence as an integral
part of the movement. "Violence and nonviolence are not mutually exclusive; it is the predominance of
theoneor theother thatlabelsastruggle," Mandela said.**

37. MARTIN LUTHER KING
• MartinLutherKingJr. issaidtobehave
beenheavilyinfluencedbyGandhi's
philosophyofnon-violence,believingitto
betheonlylogicalapproachtotheproblem
ofrace relationsinAmerica.

38. MARTIN LUTHER KING

39. MARTIN LUTHER KING
MLK greatly admired Gandhi and preached non violence adamantly in hisdesegregation campaigns.
Even when blackswere under attackby segregationist whites, King preached non violence. He felt
fighting back against whites would just exacerbate the issuesthe whites had and give them reason to
lynch the blacksand cause further harm to them.
King wasan advocate of it as he saw it work for Gandhi, and he was apriest who believed in the power
of love and brotherhood. He felt that non violence showed love for the white man, and that without it,
tensions would escalate even further.

40. MARTIN LUTHER KING
“Since being in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the method of
nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in
their struggle for justice and human dignity. In a real sense, Mahatma Gandhi
embodied in his life certain universal principles that are inherent in the moral
structure of the universe, and these principles are as inescapable as the law of
gravitation.”