Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi "Gandhi" redirects here. For other uses, see Gandhi (disambiguation).

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi The face of Gandhi in old age--smiling, wearing glasses, and with a white sash o ver his right shoulder Born 2 October 1869 Porbandar, Kathiawar Agency, Bombay Presidency, British India[1] (now in Gujarat, India) Died 30 January 1948 (aged 78) New Delhi, Dominion of India (now in Delhi (Territory), India) Cause of death Assassination by shooting Resting place Rajghat, New Delhi, Dominion of India (now in Delhi (Territory), India) 28.6415N 77.2483E Nationality Indian Other names Mahatma Gandhi, Bapu, Gandhiji Alma mater University College London,[2] University of London Known for Prominent figure of Indian independence movement Propounding the philosophy of Satyagraha and Ahimsa Advocating non-violence Pacifism Religion Hinduism Spouse Kasturba Gandhi Children Harilal Manilal Ramdas Devdas child who died in infancy Parents Putlibai Gandhi (Mother) Karamchand Gandhi (Father) Signature Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Gujarati: ??????? ?????? ?????; Hindi: ??????? ????? ? ?????, pronounced: [mo?'??nd?a?s k?'r?mt??nd? 'ga?nd??i] ( listen); 2 October 1869[1] 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement. Pioneering the use of non-violen t resistance to tyrannical colonial rule through mass civil disobedience, saying , "I shall resist organized tyranny to the uttermost."[3] he developed a model t o fight for civil rights and freedom that he called satyagraha. He founded his d octrine of nonviolent protest to achieve political and social progress based upo n ahimsa, or total nonviolence for which he is internationally renowned.[4][5] Gandhi led India to its independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world.[6] Gandhi is often referred to as Mahatma (or "Great Soul," an honorific first applied to him by Rabindranath Tagore).[7] In India, h e is also called Bapu (or "Father") and officially honoured as the Father of the Nation. His birthday, 2 October, is commemorated in India as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and worldwide as the International Day of Non-Violence. After earning a degree in law in 1891 from the University College London, Gandhi settled in South Africa to practice law, following some unsuccessful attempts t o establish practice in India. Gandhi first employed non-violent civil disobedie nce 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 organ ising peasants, farmers, and urban labourers to protest excessive land-tax and d iscrimination. Assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Gand hi led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding women's rights, buildi ng religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability, increasing economic self-r

eliance, but above all for achieving Swaraj the independence of India from foreign domination. Gandhi famously led Indians in protesting the British-imposed salt tax with the 400 km (250 mi) Dandi Salt March in 1930, and later in calling for the British t o Quit India in 1942. He was imprisoned for many years, upon many occasions, in both South Africa and India. Gandhi strove to practice non-violence and truth in all situations, and advocated that others do the same. He lived modestly in a s elf-sufficient residential community and wore the traditional Indian dhoti and s hawl, woven with yarn he had hand spun on a charkha. He ate simple vegetarian fo od, and also undertook long fasts as means of both self-purification and social protest. Gandhi was assassinated on 30 January 1948, by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu nationali st who felt Gandhi was sympathetic to Muslims. January 30 is hence observed as M artyrs' Day in India. Contents [hide] 1 Early life and background 2 English barrister 3 Civil rights movement in South Africa (1893 1914) 3.1 Reactions to blacks 4 Struggle for Indian Independence (1915 45) 4.1 Role in World War I 4.2 Champaran and Kheda 4.3 Non-cooperation 4.4 Salt Satyagraha (Salt March) 4.4.1 Women 4.4.2 Gandhi as folk hero 4.4.3 Negotiations 4.5 World War II and Quit India 5 Partition of India 6 Assassination 6.1 Ashes 7 Principles, practices and beliefs 7.1 Influences 7.2 Tolstoy 7.3 Truth and Satyagraha 7.4 Nonviolence 7.5 Vegetarianism and fasting 7.6 Celibacy 7.7 Nai Talim, Basic Education 7.8 Swaraj, Self-Rule 8 Literary works 9 Legacy and depictions in popular culture 9.1 Followers and international influence 9.2 Global holidays 9.3 Awards 9.4 Film and literature 9.5 Current impact within India 10 Notes 11 Citations 12 References 12.1 Books 12.2 Primary sources 12.3 Web sites 12.4 Journal articles 12.5 News reports 13 External links

Early life and background Mahatma Gandhi in his earliest known photo, aged 7, c. 1876 Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi[8] was born on 2 October 1869[1] in Porbandar, a coas tal town which was then part of the Bombay Presidency, British India.[9] He was born in his ancestral home, now known as Kirti Mandir.[10] His father, Karamchan d Gandhi (1822 1885), who belonged to the Hindu Modh community, served as the diwa n (a high official) of Porbander state, a small princely state in the Kathiawar Agency of British India.[10][11] His grandfather was Uttamchand Gandhi, also cal led Utta Gandhi.[10] His mother, Putlibai, who came from the Hindu Pranami Vaish nava community, was Karamchand's fourth wife, the first three wives having appar ently died in childbirth.[12] Growing up with a devout mother and the Jain tradi tions of the region, the young Mohandas absorbed early the influences that would play an important role in his adult life including compassion for all forms of life, vegetarianism, fasting for self-purification and mutual tolerance among in dividuals of different creeds.[13] The Indian classics, especially the stories of Shravana and Maharaja Harishchand ra, had a great impact on Gandhi in his childhood. In his autobiography, he admi ts that they left an indelible impression on his mind. He writes: "It haunted me and I must have acted Harishchandra to myself times without number." Gandhi's e arly self-identification with truth and love as supreme values is traceable to t hese epic characters.[14][15] In May 1883, the 13-year-old Mohandas was married to 14-year-old Kasturbai Makha nji (her first name was usually shortened to "Kasturba", and affectionately to " Ba") in an arranged child marriage, according to the custom of the region.[16] I n the process, he lost a year at school.[17] Recalling the day of their marriage , he once said, "As we didn't know much about marriage, for us it meant only wea ring new clothes, eating sweets and playing with relatives." However, as was pre vailing tradition, the adolescent bride was to spend much time at her parents' h ouse, and away from her husband.[18] In 1885, when Gandhi was 15, the couple's f irst child was born, but survived only a few days. Gandhi's father, Karamchand G andhi, had also died earlier that year.[19] Mohandas and Kasturba had four more children, all sons: Harilal, born in 1888; M anilal, born in 1892; Ramdas, born in 1897; and Devdas, born in 1900.[16] At his middle school in Porbandar and high school in Rajkot, Gandhi remained a mediocr e student. He shone neither in the classroom nor on the playing field. One of th e terminal reports rated him as good at English, fair in Arithmetic and weak in G eography; conduct very good, bad handwriting. He passed the matriculation exam at Samaldas College in Bhavnagar, Gujarat, with some difficulty. Gandhi's family w anted him to be a barrister as it would increase the prospects of succeeding to his father's post.[20] English barrister Gandhi and his wife Kasturba (1902) In 1888, Gandhi travelled to London, England, to study law at University College London where he studied Indian law and jurisprudence and to train as a barriste r at the Inner Temple. His time in London, was influenced by a vow he had made t o his mother upon leaving India, in the presence of a Jain monk, to observe the Hindu precepts of abstinence from meat and alcohol as well as of promiscuity.[21 ] Gandhi tried to adopt "English" customs, including taking dancing lessons for example. However, he could not appreciate the bland vegetarian food offered by h is landlady and was frequently hungry until he found one of London's few vegetar ian restaurants. Influenced by Henry Salt's writing, he joined the Vegetarian So ciety, was elected to its executive committee,[22] and started a local Bayswater chapter.[12] Some of the vegetarians he met were members of the Theosophical So ciety, which had been founded in 1875 to further universal brotherhood, and whic

h was devoted to the study of Buddhist and Hindu literature. They encouraged Gan dhi to join them in reading the Bhagavad Gita both in translation as well as in the original.[22] Not having shown interest in religion before, he became intere sted in religious thought. Gandhi was called to the bar in June 1891 and then left London for India, where he learned that his mother had died while he was in London and that his family h ad kept the news from him.[22] His attempts at establishing a law practice in Bo mbay failed because he was too shy to speak up in court. He returned to Rajkot t o make a modest living drafting petitions for litigants but was forced to close it when he ran afoul of a British officer.[12][22] In 1893, he accepted a year-l ong contract from Dada Abdulla & Co., an Indian firm, to a post in the Colony of Natal, South Africa, then part of the British Empire.[12] Civil rights movement in South Africa (1893 1914) Main article: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in South Africa Gandhi in South Africa (1895) Gandhi spent 21 years in South Africa, where he developed his political views, e thics and political leadership skills. Indians in South Africa were led by wealt hy Muslims, who employed Gandhi as a lawyer, and by impoverished Hindu indenture d laborers with very limited rights. Gandhi considered them all to be Indians, t aking a lifetime view that "Indianness" transcended religion and caste. He belie ved 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 handicaps to Gandhi that he had not known about. He realised he was out of contact with the enormous complexities of religious and cultural life in India, and believed he understood India by getting to know and leading I ndians in South Africa.[23] In South Africa, Gandhi faced the discrimination directed at all coloured people . He was thrown off a train at Pietermaritzburg after refusing to move from the first-class. He protested and was allowed on first class the next day.[24] Trave lling farther on by stagecoach, he was beaten by a driver for refusing to move t o make room for a European passenger.[25] He suffered other hardships on the jou rney as well, including being barred from several hotels. In another incident, t he magistrate of a Durban court ordered Gandhi to remove his turban, which he re fused to do. [26] These events were a turning point in Gandhi's life and shaped his social activis m and awakened him to social injustice. After witnessing racism, prejudice and i njustice against Indians in South Africa, Gandhi began to question his place in society and his people's standing in the British Empire. Gandhi extended his original period of stay in South Africa to assist Indians in opposing a bill to deny them the right to vote. Though unable to halt the bill' s passage, his campaign was successful in drawing attention to the grievances of Indians in South Africa. He helped found the Natal Indian Congress in 1894,[12] [24] and through this organisation, he moulded the Indian community of South Afr ica into a unified political force. In January 1897, when Gandhi landed in Durba n, a mob of white settlers attacked him and he escaped only through the efforts of the wife of the police superintendent. He, however, refused to press charges against any member of the mob, stating it was one of his principles not to seek redress for a personal wrong in a court of law.[12] In 1906, the Transvaal government promulgated a new Act compelling registration of the colony's Indian population. At a mass protest meeting held in Johannesbur g on 11 September that year, Gandhi adopted his still evolving methodology of sa tyagraha (devotion to the truth), or non-violent protest, for the first time. He urged Indians to defy the new law and to suffer the punishments for doing so. T he community adopted this plan, and during the ensuing seven-year struggle, thou

sands of Indians were jailed, flogged, or shot for striking, refusing to registe r, for burning their registration cards or engaging in other forms of non-violen t resistance. The government successfully repressed the Indian protesters, but t he public outcry over the harsh treatment of peaceful Indian protesters by the S outh African government forced South African General Jan Christiaan Smuts to neg otiate a compromise with Gandhi. Gandhi's ideas took shape, and the concept of s atyagraha matured during this struggle. Reactions to blacks M.K. Gandhi while serving in the Ambulance Corps during the Boer War (1899) After the black majority came to power in South Africa, Gandhi was proclaimed a national hero with numerous monuments.[27] Gandhi focused his attention on India ns in South Africa, but historians have also examined his changing ideas on the proper role for blacks. White rule enforced strict segregation among all races a nd generated conflict between these communities. At first Gandhi shared racial n otions prevalent in the 1890s. Bhana and Vahed argue that Gandhi's experiences i n jail sensitized him to the plight of blacks. "His negative views in the Johann esburg jail were reserved for hardened African prisoners rather than Africans ge nerally."[28] In 1906, the British declared war against the Zulu kingdom in Natal. Gandhi acti vely encouraged the British to recruit Indians. He argued that Indians should su pport the war efforts in order to legitimise their claims to full citizenship. T he British accepted Gandhi's offer to let a detachment of 20 Indians volunteer a s a stretcher-bearer corps to treat wounded British soldiers. This corps was com manded by Gandhi and operated for less than two months.[29] The experience taugh t him it was hopeless to directly challenge the overwhelming military power of t he British army he decided it could only be resisted in non-violent fashion by the pure of heart.[30] Struggle for Indian Independence (1915 45) See also: Indian independence movement In 1915, Gandhi returned to India permanently. He brought a reputation as a lead ing Indian nationalist, theorist and organizer. He joined the Indian National Co ngress and was introduced to Indian issues, politics and the Indian people prima rily by Gopal Krishna Gokhale. Gokhale was a key leader of the Congress Party be st known for his restraint and moderation, and his insistence on working inside the system. Gandhi took Gokhale's liberal approach based on British Whiggish tra ditions and transformed it to make it look wholly Indian.[31] Role in World War I Main article: World War I#The role of India In April 1918, during the latter part of World War I, the Viceroy invited Gandhi to a War Conference in Delhi.[32] Perhaps to show his support for the Empire an d help his case for India's independence,[33] Gandhi agreed to actively recruit Indians for the war effort.[34] In contrast to the Zulu War of 1906 and the outb reak of World War I in 1914, when he recruited volunteers for the Ambulance Corp s, this time Gandhi attempted to recruit combatants. In a June 1918 leaflet enti tled "Appeal for Enlistment", Gandhi wrote "To bring about such a state of thing s we should have the ability to defend ourselves, that is, the ability to bear a rms and to use them...If we want to learn the use of arms with the greatest poss ible despatch, it is our duty to enlist ourselves in the army."[35] He did, howe ver, stipulate in a letter to the Viceroy's private secretary that he "personall y will not kill or injure anybody, friend or foe." [36] Gandhi's war recruitment campaign brought into question his consistency on nonvi olence as his friend Charlie Andrews confirms, "Personally I have never been abl e to reconcile this with his own conduct in other respects, and it is one of the points where I have found myself in painful disagreement."[37] Gandhi's private secretary also had acknowledged that "The question of the consistency between h

is creed of 'Ahimsa' (non-violence) and his recruiting campaign was raised not o nly then but has been discussed ever since."[34] Champaran and Kheda Main article: Champaran and Kheda Satyagraha Gandhi in 1918, at the time of the Kheda and Champaran satyagrahas Gandhi's first major achievements came in 1918 with the Champaran and Kheda agit ations of Bihar and Gujarat. The Champaran agitation pitted the local peasantry against their largely British landlords who were backed by the local administrat ion. The peasantry was forced to grow Indigo, a cash crop whose demand had been declining over two decades, and were forced to sell their crops to the planters at a fixed price. Unhappy wIth this, the peasantry appealed to Gandhi at his ash ram in Ahmedabad. Pursuing a strategy of non-violent protest, Gandhi took the ad ministration by surprise and won concessions from the authorities.[38] In 1918, Kheda was hit by floods and famine and the peasantry was demanding reli ef from taxes. Gandhi moved his headquarters to Nadiad,[39] organising scores of supporters and fresh volunteers from the region, the most notable being Vallabh bhai Patel. [40] Using non-cooperation as a technique, Gandhi initiated a signat ure campaign where peasants pledged non-payment of revenue even under the threat of confiscation of land. A social boycott of mamlatdars and talatdars (revenue officials within the district) accompanied the agitation. Gandhi worked hard to win public support for the agitation across the country. For five months, the ad ministration refused but finally in end-May 1918, the Government gave way on imp ortant provisions and relaxed the conditions of payment of revenue tax until the famine ended. In Kheda, Sardar Patel represented the farmers in negotiations wi th the British, who suspended revenue collection and released all the prisoners. [41] Non-cooperation Main article: Non-cooperation movement Mahatma Gandhi spinning yarn Gandhi employed non-cooperation, non-violence and peaceful resistance as his "we apons" in the struggle against the British Raj. In Punjab, the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of civilians by British troops (also known as the Amritsar Massacre) ca used deep trauma to the nation, leading to increased public anger and acts of vi olence. Gandhi criticised both the actions of the British Raj and the retaliator y violence of Indians. He authored the resolution offering condolences to Britis h civilian victims and condemning the riots which, after initial opposition in t he party, was accepted following Gandhi's emotional speech advocating his princi ple that all violence was evil and could not be justified.[42] After the massacre and subsequent violence, Gandhi began to focus on winning com plete self-government and control of all Indian government institutions, maturin g soon into Swaraj or complete individual, spiritual, political independence.[ci tation needed] During this period, Gandhi claimed to be a "highly orthodox hindu " and in January 1921 during a speech at a temple in Vadtal, he spoke of the rel evance of non-cooperation to Hindu Dharma, "At this holy place, I declare, if yo u want to protect your 'Hindu Dharma', non-cooperation is first as well as the l ast lesson you must learn up.".[43] Sabarmati Ashram, Gandhi's home in Gujarat In December 1921, Gandhi was invested with executive authority on behalf of the Indian National Congress. Under his leadership, the Congress was reorganised wit h a new constitution, with the goal of Swaraj. Membership in the party was opene d to anyone prepared to pay a token fee. A hierarchy of committees was set up to improve discipline, transforming the party from an elite organisation to one of mass national appeal. Gandhi expanded his non-violence platform to include the swadeshi policy the boycott of foreign-made goods, especially British goods. Linke d to this was his advocacy that khadi (homespun cloth) be worn by all Indians in

stead of British-made textiles. Gandhi exhorted Indian men and women, rich or po or, to spend time each day spinning khadi in support of the independence movemen t.[44] Gandhi even invented a small, portable spinning wheel that could be folded into the size of a small typewriter.[45] This was a strategy to inculcate discipline and dedication to weeding out the unwilling and ambitious and to include women i n the movement at a time when many thought that such activities were not respect able activities for women. In addition to boycotting British products, Gandhi ur ged the people to boycott British educational institutions and law courts, to re sign from government employment, and to forsake British titles and honours.[46] "Non-cooperation" enjoyed widespread appeal and success, increasing excitement a nd participation from all strata of Indian society. Yet, just as the movement re ached its apex, it ended abruptly as a result of a violent clash in the town of Chauri Chaura, Uttar Pradesh, in February 1922. Fearing that the movement was ab out to take a turn towards violence, and convinced that this would be the undoin g of all his work, Gandhi called off the campaign of mass civil disobedience.[47 ] This was the third time that Gandhi had called off a major campaign.[48] Gandh i was arrested on 10 March 1922, tried for sedition, and sentenced to six years' imprisonment. He began his sentence on 18 March 1922. He was released in Februa ry 1924 for an appendicitis operation, having served only 2 years.[49] Without Gandhi's unifying personality, the Indian National Congress began to spl inter during his years in prison, splitting into two factions, one led by Chitta Ranjan Das and Motilal Nehru favouring party participation in the legislatures, and the other led by Chakravarti Rajagopalachari and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, opposing this move. Furthermore, cooperation among Hindus and Muslims, which had been strong at the height of the non-violence campaign, was breaking down. Gand hi attempted to bridge these differences through many means, including a three-w eek fast in the autumn of 1924, but with limited success.[50] Salt Satyagraha (Salt March) Main article: Salt Satyagraha Salt March.ogg Original footage of Gandhi and his followers marching to Dandi in the Salt Satya graha Gandhi stayed out of active politics and, as such, the limelight for most of the 1920s. He focused instead on resolving the wedge between the Swaraj Party and t he Indian National Congress, and expanding initiatives against untouchability, a lcoholism, ignorance and poverty. He returned to the fore in 1928. In the preced ing year, the British government had appointed a new constitutional reform commi ssion under Sir John Simon, which did not include any Indian as its member. The result was a boycott of the commission by Indian political parties. Gandhi pushe d through a resolution at the Calcutta Congress in December 1928 calling on the British government to grant India dominion status or face a new campaign of noncooperation with complete independence for the country as its goal. Gandhi had n ot only moderated the views of younger men like Subhas Chandra Bose and Jawaharl al Nehru, who sought a demand for immediate independence, but also reduced his o wn call to a one year wait, instead of two.[51] The British did not respond. On 31 December 1929, the flag of India was unfurled in Lahore. 26 January 1930 was celebrated as India's Independence Day by the In dian National Congress meeting in Lahore. This day was commemorated by almost ev ery other Indian organisation. Gandhi then launched a new satyagraha against the tax on salt in March 1930. This was highlighted by the famous Salt March to Dan di from 12 March to 6 April, where he marched 388 kilometres (241 mi) from Ahmed abad to Dandi, Gujarat to make salt himself. Thousands of Indians joined him on this march to the sea. This campaign was one of his most successful at upsetting British hold on India; Britain responded by imprisoning over 60,000 people.[52]

Women Salt as a household necessity was of special interest to women. Gandhi strongly favoured the emancipation of women, and he went so far as to say that "the women have come to look upon me as one of themselves." He opposed purdah, child marri age, untouchability, and the extreme oppression of Hindu widows, up to and inclu ding sati. He especially recruited women to participate in the salt tax campaign s and the boycott of foreign products.[53] Sarma concludes that Gandhi's success in enlisting women in his campaigns, including the salt tax campaign, anti-unto uchability campaign and the peasant movement, gave many women a new self-confide nce and dignity in the mainstream of Indian public life.[54] Gandhi as folk hero Congress in the 1920s appealed to peasants by portraying Gandhi as a sort of Mes siah, a strategy that succeeded in incorporating radical forces within the peasa ntry into the nonviolent resistance movement. In thousands of villages plays wer e performed that presented Gandhi as the reincarnation of earlier Indian nationa list leaders, or even as a demigod. The plays built support among illiterate pea sants steeped in traditional Hindu culture. Similar messianic imagery appeared i n popular songs and poems, and in Congress-sponsored religious pageants and cele brations. The result was Gandhi became not only a folk hero but the Congress was widely seen in the villages as his sacred instrument.[55] Negotiations Mahadev Desai (left) reading out a letter to Gandhi from the viceroy at Birla Ho use, Bombay, 7 April 1939 The government, represented by Lord Edward Irwin, decided to negotiate with Gand hi. The Gandhi Irwin Pact was signed in March 1931. The British Government agreed to free all political prisoners, in return for the suspension of the civil disob edience movement. Also as a result of the pact, Gandhi was invited to attend the Round Table Conference in London as the sole representative of the Indian Natio nal Congress. The conference was a disappointment to Gandhi and the nationalists , because it focused on the Indian princes and Indian minorities rather than on a transfer of power. Lord Irwin's successor, Lord Willingdon, taking a hard line against nationalism, began a new campaign of controlling and subduing the natio nalist movement. Gandhi was again arrested, and the government tried and failed to negate his influence by completely isolating him from his followers.[56] In 1932, through the campaigning of the Dalit leader B. R. Ambedkar, the governm ent granted untouchables separate electorates under the new constitution. In pro test, Gandhi embarked on a six-day fast in September 1932. The resulting public outcry successfully forced the government to adopt an equitable arrangement thro ugh negotiations mediated by Palwankar Baloo. This was the start of a new campai gn by Gandhi to improve the lives of the untouchables, whom he named Harijans, t he children of God.[57] On 8 May 1933, Gandhi began a 21-day fast of self-purification to help the Harij an movement.[58] This new campaign was not universally embraced within the Dalit community, as prominent leader B. R. Ambedkar condemned Gandhi's use of the ter m Harijans as saying that Dalits were socially immature, and that privileged cas te Indians played a paternalistic role. Ambedkar and his allies also felt Gandhi was undermining Dalit political rights. Gandhi had also refused to support the untouchables in 1924 25 when they were campaigning for the right to pray in temple s. Because of Gandhi's actions, Ambedkar described him as "devious and untrustwo rthy".[48] Gandhi, although born into the Vaishya caste, insisted that he was ab le to speak on behalf of Dalits, despite the presence of Dalit activists such as Ambedkar.[citation needed] In the summer of 1934, three attempts were made on Gandhi's life.[59][60]

When the Congress Party chose to contest elections and accept power under the Fe deration scheme, Gandhi resigned from party membership. He did not disagree with the party's move, but felt that if he resigned, his popularity with Indians wou ld cease to stifle the party's membership, which actually varied, including comm unists, socialists, trade unionists, students, religious conservatives, and thos e with pro-business convictions, and that these various voices would get a chanc e to make themselves heard. Gandhi also wanted to avoid being a target for Raj p ropaganda by leading a party that had temporarily accepted political accommodati on with the Raj.[61] Gandhi returned to active politics again in 1936, with the Nehru presidency and the Lucknow session of the Congress. Although Gandhi wanted a total focus on the task of winning independence and not speculation about India's future, he did n ot restrain the Congress from adopting socialism as its goal. Gandhi had a clash with Subhas Chandra Bose, who had been elected president in 1938, and who had p reviously expressed a lack of faith in non-violence as a means of protest. Despi te Gandhi's opposition, Bose won a second term as Congress President, but left t he Congress when the All-India leaders resigned en masse in protest of his aband onment of the principles introduced by Gandhi.[62][63] World War II and Quit India Main articles: World War II and Quit India Movement Gandhi initially favoured offering "non-violent moral support" to the British ef fort when World War II broke out in 1939, but the Congressional leaders were off ended by the unilateral inclusion of India in the war without consultation of th e people's representatives. All Congressmen resigned from office.[64] After long deliberations, Gandhi declared that India could not be party to a war ostensibl y being fought for democratic freedom while that freedom was denied to India its elf. As the war progressed, Gandhi intensified his demand for independence, call ing for the British to Quit India in a speech at Gowalia Tank Maidan. This was G andhi's and the Congress Party's most definitive revolt aimed at securing the Br itish exit from India.[65] Gandhi was criticised by some Congress party members and other Indian political groups, both pro-British and anti-British. Some felt that not supporting Britain more in its struggle against Nazi Germany was unethical. Others felt that Gandh i's refusal for India to participate in the war was insufficient and more direct opposition should be taken, while Britain fought against Nazism yet continued t o contradict itself by refusing to grant India Independence. Quit India became t he most forceful movement in the history of the struggle, with mass arrests and violence on an unprecedented scale.[66] Thousands of freedom fighters were killed or injured by police gunfire, and hund reds of thousands were arrested. Gandhi and his supporters made it clear they wo uld not support the war effort unless India were granted immediate independence. He even clarified that this time the movement would not be stopped if individua l acts of violence were committed, saying that the "ordered anarchy" around him was "worse than real anarchy." He called on all Congressmen and Indians to maint ain discipline via ahimsa, and Karo Ya Maro ("Do or Die") in the cause of ultima te freedom. Gandhi and the entire Congress Working Committee were arrested in Bombay by the British on 9 August 1942. Gandhi was held for two years in the Aga Khan Palace i n Pune. It was here that Gandhi suffered two terrible blows in his personal life . His 50-year old secretary Mahadev Desai died of a heart attack 6 days later an d his wife Kasturba died after 18 months imprisonment on 22 February 1944; six w eeks later Gandhi suffered a severe malaria attack. He was released before the e nd of the war on 6 May 1944 because of his failing health and necessary surgery; the Raj did not want him to die in prison and enrage the nation. He came out of detention to an altered political scene the Muslim League for example, which a fe

w years earlier had appeared marginal, "now occupied the centre of the political stage"[67] and the topic of Jinnah's campaign for Pakistan was a major talking point. Gandhi met Jinnah in September 1944 in Bombay but Jinnah rejected, on the grounds that it fell short of a fully independent Pakistan, his proposal of the right of Muslim provinces to opt out of substantial parts of the forthcoming po litical union.[citation needed] Although the Quit India movement had moderate success in its objective, the ruth less suppression of the movement[68] brought order to India by the end of 1943. At the end of the war, the British gave clear indications that power would be tr ansferred to Indian hands. At this point Gandhi called off the struggle, and aro und 100,000 political prisoners were released, including the Congress's leadersh ip.[46] Partition of India See also: Partition of India While the Indian National Congress and Gandhi called for the British to quit Ind ia, the Muslim League passed a resolution for them to divide and quit, in 1943.[ 69] Gandhi is believed to have been opposed to the partition during independence and suggested an agreement which required the Congress and Muslim League to coo perate and attain independence under a provisional government, thereafter, the q uestion of partition could be resolved by a plebiscite in the districts with a M uslim majority.[70] When Jinnah called for Direct Action, on 16 August 1946, Gan dhi was infuriated and visited the most riot prone areas to stop the massacres, personally.[71] He made strong efforts to unite the Indian Hindus, Muslims and C hristians and struggled for the emancipation of the "untouchables" in Hindu soci ety.[72] On the 14 and 15 August 1947 the Indian Independence Act was invoked. In border areas people moved from one side to another and upwards of a half million were k illed in riots.[73] But for his teachings, the efforts of his followers, and his own presence, there would have been much more bloodshed during the partition, a ccording to prominent Norwegian historian, Jens Arup Seip.[74] Stanley Wolpert has argued, The "plan to carve up British India was never approv ed of or accepted by Gandhi...who realised too late that his closest comrades an d disciples were more interested in power than principle, and that his own visio n had long been clouded by the illusion that the struggle he led for India's fre edom was a nonviolent one."[75] Assassination See also: Assassination of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi Raj Ghat, Delhi is a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi that marks the spot of his crema tion On 30 January 1948, Gandhi was shot while he was walking to a platform from whic h he was to address a prayer meeting. The assassin, Nathuram Godse, was a Hindu nationalist with links to the extremist Hindu Mahasabha, who held Gandhi respons ible for weakening India by insisting upon a payment to Pakistan.[76] Godse and his co-conspirator Narayan Apte were later tried and convicted; they were execut ed on 15 November 1949. Gandhi's memorial (or Samadhi) at Raj Ghat, New Delhi, b ears the epigraph "He Ram", (Devanagari: ?? ! ??? or, He Ram), which may be tran slated as "Oh God". These are widely believed to be Gandhi's last words after he was shot, though the veracity of this statement has been disputed.[77] Jawaharl al Nehru addressed the nation through radio:[78] "Friends and comrades, the light has gone out of our lives, and there is dar kness everywhere, and I do not quite know what to tell you or how to say it. Our beloved leader, Bapu as we called him, the father of the nation, is no more. Pe rhaps I am wrong to say that; nevertheless, we will not see him again, as we hav e seen him for these many years, we will not run to him for advice or seek solac

e from him, and that is a terrible blow, not only for me, but for millions and m illions in this country." Jawaharlal Nehru's address to Gandhi[79] Gandhi's death was mourned nationwide. Over 2 million people joined the 5 mile l ong funeral procession that took over 5 hours to reach Raj Ghat from Birla house , where he was assassinated. Gandhi's body was transported on a weapons carrier, whose chassis was dismantled overnight to allow a high-floor to be installed so that people could catch a glimpse of his body. The engine of the vehicle was no t used, instead 4 drag-ropes manned by 50 people each pulled the vehicle.[80] Al l Indian owned establishments in London remained closed in mourning as thousands of people from all faiths and denominations and Indians from all over Britain c onverged at India House in London.[81] Gandhi's sarcophagus in the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine in Los Angel es. Khan argues that Gandhi's death and funeral helped consolidate the authority of the new Indian state. With Nehru in charge, the government made sure everyone kn ew the guilty party was not a Muslim. Congress tightly controlled the epic publi c displays of grief over a two-week period the funeral, mortuary rituals and distr ibution of the martyr's ashes as millions participated and hundreds of millions wa tched. The goal was to assert the power of the government and legitimize the Con gress Party's control. This move built upon the massive outpouring of Hindu expr essions of grief. The government suppressed the RSS, the Muslim National Guards, and the Khaksars, with some 200,000 arrests. Gandhi's death and funeral linked the distant state with the Indian people and made more understand the need to su ppress religious parties during the transition to independence for the Indian pe ople.[82] Ashes Gandhi's ashes were poured into urns which were sent across India for memorial s ervices. Most were immersed at the Sangam at Allahabad on 12 February 1948, but some were secretly taken away.[83] In 1997, Tushar Gandhi immersed the contents of one urn, found in a bank vault and reclaimed through the courts, at the Sanga m at Allahabad.[83][84] Some of Gandhi's ashes were scattered at the source of t he Nile River near Jinja, Uganda, and a memorial plaque marks the event. On 30 J anuary 2008, the contents of another urn were immersed at Girgaum Chowpatty by t he family after a Dubai-based businessman had sent it to a Mumbai museum.[83] An other urn has ended up in the palace of the Aga Khan in Pune[83] (where he had b een imprisoned from 1942 to 1944) and another in the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine in Los Angeles.[85][Note 1] Principles, practices and beliefs Main article: Gandhism Gandhism designates the ideas and principles Gandhi promoted. Of central importa nce is nonviolent resistance. A Gandhian can mean either an individual who follo ws, or a specific philosophy which is attributed to, Gandhism.[38] Sankhdher arg ues that Gandhism is not a systematic position in metaphysics or in political ph ilosophy. Rather, it is a political creed, an economic doctrine, a religious out look, a moral precept, and especially, a humanitarian world view. It is an effor t not to systematize wisdom but to transform society and is based on an undying faith in the goodness of human nature.[86] However Gandhi himself did not approv e of the notion of "Gandhism". He explained in 1936: There is no such thing as "Gandhism," and I do not want to leave any sect af ter me. I do not claim to have originated any new principle or doctrine. I have simply tried in my own way to apply the eternal truths to our daily life and pro blems...The opinions I have formed and the conclusions I have arrived at are not final. I may change them tomorrow. I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and non-violence are as old as the hills.[87]

Influences Gandhi with Rabindranath Tagore, 1940 Cribb argues that Gandhi's thought evolved over time, with his early ideas becom ing a core of belief around which his mature philosophy was later constructed. H is London experience provided a solid philosophical base focused on truthfulness , temperance, chastity, and vegetarianism. When he returned to India in 1891, hi s outlook was parochial and he could not make a living as a lawyer. This challen ged his belief that practicality and morality necessarily coincided. Bu moving i n 1893 to South Africa he found a solution to this problem and developed the cen tral concepts of his mature philosophy.[88] Noted Social Scientist N. A. Toothi[ 89] felt that Gandhi was influenced by the reforms and teachings of Swaminarayan , stating "Close parallels do exist in programs of social reform based on to non -violence, truth-telling, cleanliness, temperance and uplifltment of the masses. "[90] It is claimed that Vallabhbhai Patel, who grew up in a Swaminarayan housho ld was attracted to Gandhi due to this aspect of Gandhi's doctrine.[91] Gandhi's ethical thinking was heavily influenced by a handful of books, which he repeatedly meditated upon. They included especially Plato's Apology, (which he translated into his native Gujarati); William Salter's Ethical Religion (1889); Henry David Thoreau's On the Duty of Civil Disobedience (1847); Leo Tolstoy's Th e Kingdom of God Is Within You (1893); and John Ruskin's Unto this Last (1862), which he also translated into Gujarati . Ruskin inspired his decision to live an austere life on a commune, at first on the Phoenix Farm in Natal and then on th e Tolstoy Farm just outside Johannesburg, South Africa.[23] Gokhale argues that Gandhi took his philosophy of history from Hinduism and Jain ism, supplemented by selected Christian traditions and ideas of Tolstoy and Rusk in. Hinduism provided central concepts of God's role in history, of man as the b attleground of forces of virtue and sin, and of the potential of love as an hist orical force. From Jainism, Gandhi took the idea of applying nonviolence to huma n situations and the theory that Absolute Reality can be comprehended only relat ively in human affairs.[92] Spodek argues for the importance of the culture of Gujarat in shaping his method s. He finds that some of Gandhi's most effective methods such as fasting, noncoo peration and appeals to the justice and compassion of the rulers were learned as a youth in Gujarat. Later on, the financial, cultural, organizational and geogr aphical support needed to bring his campaigns to a national audience were drawn from Ahmedabad and Gujarat, his Indian residence 1915 1930.[93] Tolstoy In 1908 Leo Tolstoy (1828 1910) wrote A Letter to a Hindu, which said that only by using love as a weapon through passive resistance could the Indian people overt hrow colonial rule. In 1909, Gandhi wrote to Tolstoy seeking advice and permissi on to republish A Letter to a Hindu in Gujarati. Tolstoy responded and the two c ontinued a correspondence until Tolstoy's death in 1910. The letters concern pra ctical and theological applications of non-violence.[94] Gandhi saw himself a di sciple of Tolstoy, for they agreed regarding opposition to state authority and c olonialism; both hated violence and preached non-resistance. However, they diffe red sharply on political strategy. Gandhi called for political involvement; he w as a nationalist and was prepared to use nonviolent force. He was also willing t o compromise.[95] It was at Tolstoy Farm where Gandhi and Hermann Kallenbach (18 71 1945) systematically trained their disciples in the philosophy of nonviolence.[ 96] Truth and Satyagraha "God is truth. The way to truth lies through ahimsa (non-violence)" Sabarmati 13 M arch 1927 Gandhi dedicated his life to the wider purpose of discovering truth, or Satya. H

e tried to achieve this by learning from his own mistakes and conducting experim ents on himself. He called his autobiography The Story of My Experiments with Tr uth. Watson argues that Gandhi based satyagraha on the Vedantic ideal of self-realiza tion, and notes it also contains Jain and Buddhist notions of nonviolence, veget arianism, the avoidance of killing, and 'agape' (universal love). Gandhi also bo rrowed Christian-Islamic ideas of equality, the brotherhood of man, and the conc ept of turning the other cheek.[97] Gandhi stated that the most important battle to fight was overcoming his own dem ons, fears, and insecurities. Gandhi summarised his beliefs first when he said " God is Truth". He would later change this statement to "Truth is God". Thus, Sat ya (Truth) in Gandhi's philosophy is "God".[98] The essence of Satyagraha (lit. 'insistence/holding of truth') is that it seeks to eliminate antagonisms without harming the antagonists themselves and seeks to transform or purify it to a higher level. A euphemism sometimes used for Satyagra ha is that it is a silent force or a soul force (a term also used by Martin Luther K ing Jr. during his famous I Have a Dream speech). It arms the individual with mora l power rather than physical power. Satyagraha is also termed a universal force, a s it essentially makes no distinction between kinsmen and strangers, young and ol d, man and woman, friend and foe. [99] Gandiji wrote: There must be no impatience, no barbarity, no insolence, no undue pressure. If we want to cultivate a true spirit of democracy, we cannot afford t o be intolerant. Intolerance betrays want of faith in one's cause. [100] Civil dis obedience and non-cooperation as practised under Satyagraha are based on the law of suffering ,[101] a doctrine that the endurance of suffering is a means to an en d. This end usually implies a moral upliftment or progress of an individual or s ociety. Therefore, non-cooperation in Satyagraha is in fact a means to secure th e cooperation of the opponent consistently with truth and justice.[102] Nonviolence Gandhi with textile workers at Darwen, Lancashire, 26 September 1931. Although Gandhi was not the originator of the principle of non-violence, he was the first to apply it in the political field on a large scale.[103] The concept of nonviolence (ahimsa) and nonresistance has a long history in Indian religious thought and has had many revivals in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Jewish and Christia n contexts. Gandhi explains his philosophy and way of life in his autobiography The Story of My Experiments with Truth. Some of his remarks were widely quoted, such as "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."[104] "There are many ca uses that I am prepared to die for but no causes that I am prepared to kill for. "[105] Gandhi's views came under heavy criticism in Britain when it was under attack fr om Nazi Germany, and later when the Holocaust was revealed. He told the British people in 1940, "I would like you to lay down the arms you have as being useless for saving you or humanity. You will invite Herr Hitler and Signor Mussolini to take what they want of the countries you call your possessions... If these gent lemen choose to occupy your homes, you will vacate them. If they do not give you free passage out, you will allow yourselves, man, woman, and child, to be slaug htered, but you will refuse to owe allegiance to them."[106] In a post-war interview in 1946, he said, "Hitler killed five million Jews. It i s the greatest crime of our time. But the Jews should have offered themselves to the butcher s knife. They should have thrown themselves into the sea from cliffs. .. It would have aroused the world and the people of Germany... As it is they su ccumbed anyway in their millions."[107]

However, Gandhi realised that this level of nonviolence required incredible fait h and courage, which he believed everyone did not possess. He therefore advised that everyone need not keep to nonviolence, especially if it were used as a cove r for cowardice, saying, "where there is only a choice between cowardice and vio lence, I would advise violence."[108] Vegetarianism and fasting Hay argues that Gandhi in London looked into numerous religious and intellectual currents. He especially appreciated how the theosophical movement encouraged a religious eclecticism and an antipathy to atheism. Hay says the vegetarian movem ent had the greatest impact for it was Gandhi's point of entry into other reform ist agendas of the time.[109] The idea of vegetarianism is deeply ingrained in H indu and Jain traditions in India, especially in his native Gujarat.[110] Gandhi was close to the chairman of the London Vegetarian Society, Dr. Josiah Oldfield , and corresponded with Henry Stephens Salt, a vegetarian campaigner. Gandhi bec ame a strict vegetarian. He wrote the book The Moral Basis of Vegetarianism and wrote for the London Vegetarian Society's publication.[111] Gandhi used fasting as a political device, often threatening suicide unless dema nds were met. Gandhi noted in his autobiography that vegetarianism was the begin ning of his deep commitment to Brahmacharya; without total control of the palate , his success in Bramacharya would likely falter. "You wish to know what the mar ks of a man are who wants to realize Truth which is God," he wrote. "He must red uce himself to zero and have perfect control over all his senses-beginning with the palate or tongue."[112][113] Congress publicized the fasts as a political action that generated widespread sy mpathy. In response the government tried to manipulate news coverage to minimize his challenge to the Raj. He fasted in 1932 to protest the voting scheme for se parate political representation for Dalits; Gandhi did not want them segregated. The government stopped the London press from showing photographs of his emaciat ed body, because it would elicit sympathy. Gandhi's 1943 hunger strike took plac e during a two-year prison term for the anticolonial Quit India movement. The go vernment called on nutritional experts to demystify his action, and again no pho tos were allowed. However his final fast in 1948, after India was independent, w as lauded by the British press and this time did include full-length photos.[114 ] Alter argues that Gandhi's fixation on diet and celibacy were much deeper than e xercises in self-discipline. Rather, his beliefs regarding health offered a crit ique of both the traditional Hindu system of ayurvedic medicine and Western conc epts. This challenge was integral to his deeper challenge to tradition and moder nity, as health and nonviolence became part of the same ethics.[115] Celibacy A core Gandhian value that came in for much bantering and ribald music hall humo ur in Britain was his nakedness Churchill publicly called him a "half-naked fakir" [116] and his experiments in "brahmacharya" or the elimination of all desire in the face of temptation.[117] In 1906 Gandhi, although married and a father, vowe d to abstain from sexual relations. In the 1940s, in his mid-seventies, he broug ht his grandniece Manubehn to sleep naked in his bed as part of a spiritual expe riment in which Gandhi could test himself as a "brahmachari." Two other women al so sometimes shared his bed. Gandhi discussed his experiment with friends and re lations; most disagreed and the experiment ceased in 1947.[118] Nai Talim, Basic Education Main article: Nai Talim Nai Talim is a spiritual principle which states that knowledge and work are not separate. Gandhi promoted an educational curriculum with the same name based on this pedagogical principle.[119]

It can be translated with the phrase 'Basic Education for all'.[120] However, th e concept has several layers of meaning. It developed out of Gandhi's experience with the English educational system and with colonialism in general. In that sy stem, he saw that Indian children would be alienated and 'career-based thinking' would become dominant. In addition, it embodied a series of negative outcomes: the disdain for manual work, the development of a new elite class, and the incre asing problems of industrialisation and urbanisation. The three pillars of Gandhi's pedagogy were its focus on the life-long character of education, its social character and its form as a holistic process. For Gand hi, education is 'the moral development of the person', a process that is by def inition 'life-long'.[121] Swaraj, Self-Rule Main article: Swaraj Rudolph argues that after a false start in trying to emulate the English in an a ttempt to overcome his timidity, Gandhi discovered the inner courage he was seek ing by helping his countrymen in South Africa. The new courage consisted of obse rving the traditional Bengali way of "self-suffering" and, in finding his own co urage, he was enabled also to point out the way of 'satyagraha' and 'ahimsa' to the whole of India.[122] Gandhi was a self-described philosophical anarchist,[123] and his vision of Indi a meant an India without an underlying government.[124] He once said that "the i deally nonviolent state would be an ordered anarchy."[125] While political syste ms are largely hierarchical, with each layer of authority from the individual to the central government have increasing levels of authority over the layer below , Gandhi believed that society should be the exact opposite, where nothing is do ne without the consent of anyone, down to the individual. His idea was that true self-rule in a country means that every person rules his or herself and that th ere is no state which enforces laws upon the people.[126] This would be achieved over time with nonviolent conflict mediation, as power is divested from layers of hierarchical authorities, ultimately to the individual, which would come to embody the ethic of nonviolence. Rather than a system where rights are enforced by a higher authority, people are self-governed by mutual r esponsibilities. On returning from South Africa, when Gandhi received a letter a sking for his participation in writing a world charter for human rights, he resp onded saying, "in my experience, it is far more important to have a charter for human duties."[127] A free India for him meant the existence of thousands of self-sufficient small c ommunities (an idea possibly from Tolstoy) who rule themselves without hindering others. It did not mean merely transferring a British established administrativ e structure into Indian hands which he said was just making Hindustan into Engli stan.[128] He wanted to ultimately dissolve the Congress Party after independenc e and establish a system of direct democracy in India,[129] having no faith in t he British styled parliamentary system.[128] Literary works Young India, a journal published by Gandhi Gandhi was a prolific writer. One of Gandhis earliest publications, Hind Swaraj published in Gujarati in 1909 is recognised as the intellectual blueprint of Ind ia's freedom movement. The book was translated into English the next year, with a copyright legend that read No Rights Reserved .[130] For decades he edited severa l newspapers including Harijan in Gujarati, in Hindi and in the English language ; Indian Opinion while in South Africa and, Young India, in English, and Navajiv an, a Gujarati monthly, on his return to India. Later, Navajivan was also publis hed in Hindi. In addition, he wrote letters almost every day to individuals and

newspapers.[131] Gandhi also wrote several books including his autobiography, An Autobiography of My Experiments with Truth ((Gujarati "?????? ??????? ???? ???????")), of which he bought the entire first edition to make sure it was reprinted.[48] His other autobiographies included: Satyagraha in South Africa about his struggle there, H ind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule, a political pamphlet, and a paraphrase in Gujara ti of John Ruskin's Unto This Last.[132] This last essay can be considered his p rogramme on economics. He also wrote extensively on vegetarianism, diet and heal th, religion, social reforms, etc. Gandhi usually wrote in Gujarati, though he a lso revised the Hindi and English translations of his books.[133] Gandhi's complete works were published by the Indian government under the name T he Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi in the 1960s. The writings comprise about 5 0,000 pages published in about a hundred volumes. In 2000, a revised edition of the complete works sparked a controversy, as Gandhian followers argue that the g overnment incorporated the changes for political purposes.[citation needed]The I ndian government later withdrew the revised edition.[134] Legacy and depictions in popular culture See also: List of artistic depictions of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi A wall graffiti in San Francisco containing a quote and image of Gandhi The word Mahatma, while often mistaken for Gandhi's given name in the West, is t aken from the Sanskrit words maha (meaning Great) and atma (meaning Soul). Rabin dranath Tagore is said to have accorded the title to Gandhi.[135] In his autobio graphy, Gandhi nevertheless explains that he never valued the title, and was oft en pained by it.[136] Followers and international influence Mahatma Gandhi on a 1969 postage stamp of the Soviet Union. Gandhi influenced important leaders and political movements. Leaders of the civi l rights movement in the United States, including Martin Luther King and James L awson, drew from the writings of Gandhi in the development of their own theories about non-violence.[137][138][139] Anti-apartheid activist and former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, was inspired by Gandhi.[140] Others include Kh an Abdul Ghaffar Khan,[141] Steve Biko, and Aung San Suu Kyi.[142] "Christ gave us the goals and Mahatma Gandhi the tactics." Martin Luther King Jr, 1955[143] In his early years, the former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela was a fo llower of the non-violent resistance philosophy of Gandhi.[140] Bhana and Vahed commented on these events as "Gandhi inspired succeeding generations of South Af rican activists seeking to end White rule. This legacy connects him to Nelson Ma ndela...in a sense Mandela completed what Gandhi started."[28] Gandhi's life and teachings inspired many who specifically referred to Gandhi as their mentor or who dedicated their lives to spreading Gandhi's ideas. In Europ e, Romain Rolland was the first to discuss Gandhi in his 1924 book Mahatma Gandh i, and Brazilian anarchist and feminist Maria Lacerda de Moura wrote about Gandh i in her work on pacifism. In 1931, notable European physicist Albert Einstein e xchanged written letters with Gandhi, and called him "a role model for the gener ations to come" in a later writing about him.[144] Lanza del Vasto went to India in 1936 intending to live with Gandhi; he later returned to Europe to spread Ga ndhi's philosophy and founded the Community of the Ark in 1948 (modelled after G andhi's ashrams). Madeleine Slade (known as "Mirabehn") was the daughter of a Br itish admiral who spent much of her adult life in India as a devotee of Gandhi.[ 145][146] In addition, the British musician John Lennon referred to Gandhi when discussing

his views on non-violence.[147] At the Cannes Lions International Advertising F estival in 2007, former U.S. Vice-President and environmentalist Al Gore spoke o f Gandhi's influence on him.[148] President of the United States Barack Obama in an address to a Joint Session of the Parliament of India said that: "I am mindful that I might not be standing before you today, as President of the United States, had it not been for Gandhi and the message he shared with Am erica and the world." Barack Obama in an address to a Joint Session of the Parliam ent of India, 2010[149] Obama at the Wakefield High School speech in Sept 2009, said that his biggest in spiration came from Mahatma Gandhi. His reply was in response to the question 'W ho was the one person, dead or live, that you would choose to dine with?'. He co ntinued that "He's somebody I find a lot of inspiration in. He inspired Dr. King with his message of nonviolence. He ended up doing so much and changed the worl d just by the power of his ethics."[150] The Mahatma Gandhi District in Houston, Texas, United States, an ethnic Indian e nclave, is named after Gandhi. The district officially received its named on 16 January 2010 when the City of Houston held a naming ceremony.[151] Global holidays On 15 June 2007, it was announced that the "United Nations General Assembly" has "unanimously adopted" a resolution declaring 2 October as "the International Da y of Non-Violence."[152] First proposed by UNESCO in 1948, as the School Day of Non-violence and Peace (DENIP in Spanish),[153] 30 January of every year is obse rved the School Day of Non-violence and Peace in schools of many countries[154] In countries with a Southern Hemisphere school calendar, it can be observed on 3 0 March.[154] Awards Monument to Mahatma Gandhi in New Belgrade, Serbia. On the monument is written " Non-violence is the essence of all religions". Time magazine named Gandhi the Man of the Year in 1930. Gandhi was also the runn er-up to Albert Einstein as "Person of the Century"[155] at the end of 1999. Ein stein said of Gandhi: Mahatma Gandhi's life achievement stands unique in political history. He has invented a completely new and humane means for the liberation war of an oppress ed country, and practised it with greatest energy and devotion. The moral influe nce he had on the consciously thinking human being of the entire civilized world will probably be much more lasting than it seems in our time with its overestim ation of brutal violent forces. Because lasting will only be the work of such st atesmen who wake up and strengthen the moral power of their people through their example and educational works. We may all be happy and grateful that destiny gi fted us with such an enlightened contemporary, a role model for the generations to come. Time Magazine named The 14th Dalai Lama, Lech Walesa, Martin Luther King, Cesar Chavez, Aung San Suu Kyi, Benigno Aquino, Jr., Desmond Tutu, and Nelson Mandela as Children of Gandhi and his spiritual heirs to non-violence.[156] The Governme nt of India awards the annual Gandhi Peace Prize to distinguished social workers , world leaders and citizens. Nelson Mandela, the leader of South Africa's strug gle to eradicate racial discrimination and segregation, is a prominent non-India n recipient. In 2011, Time magazine named Gandhi as one of the top 25 political icons of all time.[157] Gandhi never received the Nobel Peace Prize, although he was nominated five time

s between 1937 and 1948, including the first-ever nomination by the American Fri ends Service Committee,[158] though he made the short list only twice, in 1937 a nd 1947.[72] Decades later, the Nobel Committee publicly declared its regret for the omission, and admitted to deeply divided nationalistic opinion denying the award.[72] Gandhi was nominated in 1948 but was assassinated before nominations closed. That year, the committee chose not to award the peace prize stating that "there was no suitable living candidate" and later research shows that the poss ibility of awarding the prize posthumously to Gandhi was discussed and that the reference to no suitable living candidate was to Gandhi.[72] When the 14th Dalai Lama was awarded the Prize in 1989, the chairman of the committee said that thi s was "in part a tribute to the memory of Mahatma Gandhi."[72] Film and literature Mahatma Gandhi has been portrayed in film, literature, and in the theatre. Ben K ingsley portrayed Gandhi in the 1982 film Gandhi, which won the Academy Award fo r Best Picture. The 2007 film, Gandhi, My Father explores the relationship betwe en Gandhi and his son Harilal. The 1996 film, The Making of the Mahatma, documen ts Gandhi's time in South Africa and his transformation from an inexperienced ba rrister to recognised political leader.[159] Several biographers have undertaken the task of describing Gandhi's life. Among them are: D. G. Tendulkar with his Mahatma. Life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi i n eight volumes, and Pyarelal and Sushila Nayyar with their Mahatma Gandhi in 10 volumes. There is also another documentary, titled Mahatma: Life of Gandhi, 186 9 1948, which is 14 chapters and 6 hours long.[160] The April 2010 biography, Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle With India by Joseph Lelyveld contained controversial material speculating about Gandhi's sexual life.[161] Because of this material, the book was banned in the Indian st ate of Gujarat, his birthplace.[162] Lelyveld, however, stated that the press co verage "grossly distort[s]" the overall message of the book.[163] Current impact within India The Gandhi Mandapam Kanyakumari. India, with its rapid economic modernization and urbanization, has rejected Gand hi's economics but accepted much of his politics and continues to revere his mem ory. Reporter Jim Yardley notes that, "modern India is hardly a Gandhian nation, if it ever was one. His vision of a village-dominated economy was shunted aside during his lifetime as rural romanticism, and his call for a national ethos of personal austerity and nonviolence has proved antithetical to the goals of an as piring economic and military power." By contrast he is "given full credit for In dia s political identity as a tolerant, secular democracy."[164] Gandhi's birthday, 2 October, is a national holiday in India, Gandhi Jayanti. Ga ndhi's image also appears on paper currency of all denominations issued by India , except for the one rupee note.[165] Gandhi's date of death is commemorated as Martyrs' Day in India.[166] There are two temples in India dedicated to Gandhi.[167] One is located at Samba lpur in Orissa and the other at Nidaghatta village near Kadur in Chikmagalur dis trict of Karnataka.[167] The Gandhi Memorial in Kanyakumari resembles central In dian Hindu temples in formThe Tamukkam or Summer Palace in Madurai now houses th e Mahatma Gandhi Museum.[168]