Mahatma Gandhi's Influence and Ideas

Mahatma Gandhi's Influence and Ideas

Mahatma Gandhi was a man of faith and great conviction. He was born into an average Hindu family in India. Like most teenagers he had a rebellious stage when he smoked, spent time with girls and ate meat (forbidden to strict Hindus). The young Gandhi changed as a person while earning a living as a lawyer in South Africa. He came in contact with the apartheid and the future Mahatma began to emerge, one who championed the truth through non-violent resistance. It was between 1915 and his assassination in 1945 that he struggled for India's freedom.

Gandhi's teachings of non-violent resistance, known as satyagraha, has had a lasting effect and influence on the world today. He has been the role model for many famous, influential people such as American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. and former South African President Nelson Mandela. His continued influence can still be felt today in many non-violent peace organizations around the world bearing his name or teaching his philosophy.

Gandhi has obviously had the greatest influence in India and South Africa where he worked for the rights of Indian citizens under British rule. While working in South Africa Gandhi experienced first hand the oppression Indian immigrants were facing. In 1984 he organized the Natal Indian Congress to help the Indian community in South Africa. Gandhi's ability as a leader first showed itself during the Anglo-Boer War in 1899 when he had over 1000 Indians serving under him in the Ambulance Corps to help the injured on the British Side.

It was in 1906 while working in his law office in Johannesburg that Gandhi invented the satyagraha. "The term meant Indians would stand up against injustice and would carry out protests but that they would never do so violently." (Wilkinson, 32) Indian citizens followed Gandhi's example and protested in ways such as refusing to register with the Transvaal government and crossing from one state to another without permission. Many of them were put in prison but, as Gandhi taught, served their sentences with dignity. Eventually, In 1914, the government gave in and abolished the special tax, agreed to recognized the Hindu marriage ceremony and changed the registration law. It is a testament to both Gandhi's abilities as a leader and the power of his ideals that he was able to rally the Indian population and bring about these vital changes. Feeling that his work in South Africa was complete he returned to India.

By 1919 Gandhi had become one of the leaders of the Indian National Congress. In 1920 he became president of the All-Indian Home Rule League and began to draw together different groups who wanted independence for India. Gandhi began a campaign of "non-cooperation" against the British and was joined by thousands of people, some of whom had given up working for the British. When violence broke out in one region Gandhi was arrested. During his trial he told the court, "I ran the risk and if I was set free I would still do the same... I am, therefore, here to submit not to a light penatily but to the highest penalty. I do not ask for mercy." (Wilkinson, 49) By saying this Gandhi was standing by his belief that by conducting themselves with dignity and humility Indians would make a greater impact on the British government than they would with violent protest. He also had it clear the he had not intended any sort of violent outbreak resulting from the protests. Possibly the largest and best known protest in Gandhi's struggle for India was the Salt March of 1929. The law at the time said that only the British had the right to gather salt. In defiance Gandhi travled to the coast and began to gather his own salt. It was not long before people joined Gandhi in his protest and began to gather salt, burn British cloth and go on strike. Thousands of protesters were imprisoned, including Gandhi, and the news of the march spread world wide finally giving the struggle the international attention it needed. Once again Gandhi had proven himself to be a strong and intelligent leader. The international attention brought on by the Salt March forced the British government to release the protesters and allow people to make their own salt.

India eventually gained it independence on August 15, 1947, but only after the partition into two new countries, independent India and the new Muslim state of Pakistan. Gandhi began one final fast in an attempt to stop the violence in Delhi. Unfortunately the violence not only carried on but was directed at Gandhi-- on January 30, 1948 Hindu extremist, Nathuram Godse, shot and killed Gandhi during a prayer meeting. Despite the struggle Gandhi faced while trying to gain he stuck fast to his belief in the concept of satyagraha and in the process converted many others into believers of this philosophy. At the root of every protest and speech was an insistence on non-violence and understanding of your oppressor. It is not an easy concept for one in a position of oppression and mistreatment to grasp and accept but Gandhi was able to convince thousand of Indians, the British government and people all over the world that this was the best and most effective way of gaining victory over an oppressor.

Gandhi's philosophy has had great influence on others. One individual who was inspired to adopt Gandhi's principal of non-violence was Martin Luther King Jr. King's admiration of Gandhi began after a sermon by Mordecai Johnson who had just returned from a trip to India. He went out and purchased as many books as he could find on the life and teachings of Gandhi and found that they held many of the same beliefs. King visited India in 1958 and his visit inspired him to take the idea of non-violence back in America and use it in the civil rights struggle. They both believed that by not protesting one was agreeing to wrong. Many times though the years "King repeated the Mahatma's words, 'Non-cooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as cooperation with good.'" (Gandhi's Influence). One example of King employing the philosophy of non-violence is the Montgomery bus incident in which Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man. Within 24 hours King had organized a complete boycott of the buses which last over a year until the US Supreme Court ruled the segregation of buses to be unconstitutional. Another example is Kings march on Washington the "1963 march ... is usually compared with Gandhi's Great Salt March in its creative presentation and astonishing organization." (Gandhi's Influence).

Another individual who was influenced by Gandhi is Nelson Mandela. He wrote an essay about Gandhi and his teachings entitled "The Sacred Warrior". In the