"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 very being"
Mahatma Ghandi, War or Peace, "Young India" 1926
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, know as Mahatma Gandhi, was born on this day in 1869; his birthday is celebrated in India s Gandhi Jayandi, a public holiday on which people pay tribute to the "father of the nation".
Born in Porbandar, Kathiawar, Gandhi studied law in London and worked as a lawyer in South Africa for more than twenty years before returning to his native land in 1914. After WW1 he became involved in India's Home Rule movement, leading a series of non-violent campaigns of civil disobedience for which he was repeatedly arrested and imprisoned. Revered by the Indian people as a moral teacher, and always ready to practise what he preached, Gandhi sought to create a more equal and less amterialistic society. His diminutive dhoti-clad figure, seen on newsreels worldwide, became a symbol of the principles he held so dear.
Gandhi's negotiations with the British government eventually bore fruit: in 1947, India was granted independence from the UK. The separate state of Pakistan was created for the Muslim minority, but the continuing strife between Hindus and Muslims caused Gandhi great distress in the last months of his life. His advocacy of religious tolerance was resented by extremists, and he was assassinated by a Hindu fanatic on 30th January 1948.
Chambers Book of Days
Just a very brief overview there; find out more about him and his life here:
Mahatma Ghandi, War or Peace, "Young India" 1926
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, know as Mahatma Gandhi, was born on this day in 1869; his birthday is celebrated in India s Gandhi Jayandi, a public holiday on which people pay tribute to the "father of the nation".
Born in Porbandar, Kathiawar, Gandhi studied law in London and worked as a lawyer in South Africa for more than twenty years before returning to his native land in 1914. After WW1 he became involved in India's Home Rule movement, leading a series of non-violent campaigns of civil disobedience for which he was repeatedly arrested and imprisoned. Revered by the Indian people as a moral teacher, and always ready to practise what he preached, Gandhi sought to create a more equal and less amterialistic society. His diminutive dhoti-clad figure, seen on newsreels worldwide, became a symbol of the principles he held so dear.
Gandhi's negotiations with the British government eventually bore fruit: in 1947, India was granted independence from the UK. The separate state of Pakistan was created for the Muslim minority, but the continuing strife between Hindus and Muslims caused Gandhi great distress in the last months of his life. His advocacy of religious tolerance was resented by extremists, and he was assassinated by a Hindu fanatic on 30th January 1948.
Chambers Book of Days
Just a very brief overview there; find out more about him and his life here:
Have a look at this too:
Today, I light my candle for Mahatma Gandhi
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