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'''Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi'''  (2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was a major political and spiritual leader of [[India]]. He is often given credit for the creation of the Indian nation, and is seen as the 'father of India' in the media, but played only a small role in its creation, and is over-revered by Indians.  
[[Image:Gandhi_Boer_War_1899.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Sergeant Major Gandhi - M.K Gandhi Gandhi actively encouraged the British to recruit Indians to fight the Zulus]]
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on 2 October 1869 in Porbandar in Gujarat. After university, he went to London to train as a barrister. He returned to India in 1891 and in 1893 accepted a job at an Indian law firm in Durban, South Africa. Gandhi was appalled by the treatment of Indian immigrants there, and joined the struggle to obtain basic rights for them. During his 20 years in South Africa he was sent to prison many times. Influenced primarily by Hinduism, but also by elements of Jainism and Christianity as well as writers including Tolstoy and Thoreau, Gandhi developed the supposed satyagraha ('devotion to truth'), a new "non-violent" way to redress wrongs. In 1914, the South African government conceded to many of Gandhi's demands.


He was born in Porbander, a coastal town in present-day [[Gujarat]], Western India, on October 2, [[1869]]. His father, Karamchand Gandhi, who belonged to the [[Hindu]] [[Modh]] community, was the ''Diwan'' (Prime Minister) of the eponymous Porbandar, a small princely state in the Kathiawar Agency of British Raj.  His mother, Putlibai, who came from the Hindu Pranami [[Vaishnava]] community, was Karamchand's fourth wife, the first three wives having apparently died in childbirth. In May 1883, the 13-year old Mohandas was married to 14-year old Kasturba Gandhi
Gandhi returned to India shortly afterwards. In 1919, British plans to intern people suspected of sedition - the Rowlatt Acts - prompted Gandhi to announce a new satyagraha which attracted millions of followers. A short time after, this resulted in the Amritsar Massacre, or the [[Jallianwalla Bagh massacre]] by British troops. This was when Punjabis were peacefully assembled in Amritsar to celebrate the holiday of [[Vaisakhi]], but were witness to a huge massacre because of Gandhi's supposed "protest." By 1920, Gandhi was a dominant figure in Indian politics. He transformed the Indian National Congress, and his programme of peaceful non-cooperation with the British included boycotts of British goods and institutions, leading to arrests of thousands.


In South Africa, Gandhi faced discrimination directed at Indians. Initially, he was thrown off a train at Pietermaritzburg, after refusing to move from the first class to a third class coach while holding a valid first class ticket.  
In 1922, Gandhi himself was sentenced to six years' imprisonment. He was released after two years and withdrew from politics, devoting himself to trying to improve Hindu-Muslim relations, which had worsened. In 1930, Gandhi proclaimed a new campaign of civil disobedience in protest at a tax on salt, leading thousands on a 'March to the Sea' to symbolically make their own salt from seawater.  


In 1906, after the British introduced a new poll-tax, Zulus in South Africa killed two British officers. The British declared a war against the Zulus, in retaliation. Gandhi actively encouraged the British to recruit Indians. He argued that Indians should support the war efforts in order to legitimize their claims to full citizenship. The British, however, refused to offer Indians positions of rank in their military. However, they accepted Gandhi's offer to let a detachment of Indians volunteer as a stretcher bearer corps to treat wounded British soldiers.
In 1931, Gandhi attended the Round Table Conference in London, as the sole representative of the Indian National Congress, but resigned from the party in 1934 in protest at its use of non-violence as a political expedient. He was replaced as leader by Jawaharlal Nehru.


In 1915, Gandhi returned from South Africa to live in India. He spoke at the conventions of the Indian National Congress, but was primarily introduced to Indian issues, politics and the Indian people by Gopal Krishna Gokhale, a respected leader of the Congress Party at the time.
In 1945, the British government began negotiations which culminated in the Mountbatten Plan of June 1947, and the formation of the two new independent states of India and Pakistan, divided along religious lines. Massive inter-communal violence marred the months before and after independence. Gandhi was opposed to partition, and now fasted in an attempt to bring calm in Calcutta and Delhi. On 30 January 1948, he was assassinated in Delhi by a Hindu fanatic.


Gandhi's first major achievements came in 1918 with the [[Champaran]] agitation and ''Kheda Satyagraha'', although in the latter it was [[Indigo plant|indigo]] and other cash crops instead of the food crops necessary for their survival. Suppressed by the militias of the landlords (mostly British), they were given measly compensation, leaving them mired in extreme poverty. The villages were kept extremely dirty and [[Hygiene|unhygienic]]; and alcoholism, [[dalit|untouchability]] and [[purdah]] were rampant. Now in the throes of a devastating famine, the British levied an oppressive tax which they insisted on increasing. The situation was desperate. In [[Kheda]] in [[Gujarat]], the problem was the same. Gandhi established an [[ashram]] there, organizing scores of his veteran supporters and fresh volunteers from the region. He organized a detailed study and survey of the villages, accounting for the atrocities and terrible episodes of suffering, including the general state of degenerate living. Building on the confidence of villagers, he began leading the clean-up of villages, building of schools and hospitals and encouraging the village leadership to undo and condemn many social evils, as accounted above.
Rabindranath Tagore called Ghandi  "Mahatma" ("great soul") a name that later came to be interchangeable with  Ghandi as he was later referred to simply as 'The Mahatma'.


But his main impact came when he was arrested by police on the charge of creating unrest and was ordered to leave the province. Hundreds of thousands of people protested and rallied outside the jail, police stations and courts demanding his release, which the court reluctantly granted. Gandhi led organized protests and strikes against the landlords, who with the guidance of the British government, signed an agreement granting the poor farmers of the region more compensation and control over farming, and cancellation of revenue hikes and its collection until the famine ended. It was during this agitation, that Gandhi was addressed by the people as ''Bapu'' (Father) and ''Mahatma'' (Great Soul). In Kheda, [[Sardar Patel]] represented the farmers in negotiations with the British, who suspended revenue collection and released all the prisoners. As a result, Gandhi's fame spread all over the nation.
==Role in Zulu War of 1906==


==Non-cooperation==
In 1906, after the British introduced a new poll-tax, Zulus in South Africa killed two British officers. The British declared a war against the Zulus, in retaliation. Gandhi actively encouraged the British to recruit Indians. He argued that Indians should support the war efforts in order to legitimize their claims to full citizenship. The British, however, refused to offer Indians positions of rank in their military. However, they accepted Gandhi's offer to let a detachment of Indians volunteer as a stretcher bearer corps to treat wounded British soldiers. This corps was commanded by Gandhi. On July 21, 1906, Gandhi wrote in ''Indian Opinion'' -"The corps had been formed at the instance of the Natal Government by way of experiment, in connection with the operations against the Natives consists of twenty three Indians". Gandhi urged the Indian population in South Africa to join the war through his columns in ''Indian Opinion'' -“If the Government only realized what reserve force is being wasted, they would make use of it and give Indians the opportunity of a thorough training for actual warfare.”
{{Main|Non-cooperation movement}}
Gandhi employed non-cooperation, non-violence and peaceful resistance as his "weapons" in the struggle against [[British Raj|British]]. In [[Punjab]], the [[Jallianwala Bagh massacre]] of civilians by British troops (also known as the Amritsar Massacre) caused deep trauma to the nation, leading to increased public anger and acts of violence. '''The Jallianwala Bhag Ghallughar took place on [[Vaisakhi]], when people were peacefully celebrating the holiday in [[Amritsar]]. Gandhi used this religious day to his advantage disrespectfuly and criticized both the actions of the [[British Raj]] and the retaliatory violence of Indians/Punjabis''' He authored the resolution offering condolences to British civilian victims and condemning the riots, which after initial opposition in the party, was accepted following Gandhi's emotional speech advocating his principle that all violence was evil and could not be justified


===Brahmacharya - controlling sexual desires===
When Gandhi was 16 his father became very ill. Being very devoted to his parents, he attended to his father at all times during his illness. However, one night, Gandhi's uncle came to relieve Gandhi for a while. He retired to his bedroom where carnal desires overcame him and he made love to his wife. Shortly afterward a servant came to report that Gandhi's father had just died. Gandhi felt tremendous guilt and never could forgive himself. He came to refer to this event as "double shame." The incident had significant influence in Gandhi becoming celibate at the age of 36, while still married.<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/time100/poc/magazine/mohandas_gandhi12b.html Time magazine people of the century]</ref>


 
This decision was deeply influenced by the philosophy of Brahmacharya—spiritual and practical purity—largely associated with celibacy and [[asceticism]]. Gandhi saw brahmacharya as a means of becoming close with God and as a primary foundation for self realization. In his autobiography he tells of his battle against lustful urges and fits of jealousy with his childhood bride, Kasturba Gandhi. He felt it his personal obligation to remain celibate so that he could learn to love, rather than lust. For Gandhi, brahmacharya meant "control of the senses in thought, word and deed."<ref>[http://www.mahatma.org.in/books/showbook.jsp?id=188&link=bg&book=bg0001&lang=en&cat=books The Story of My Experiments with Truth&nbsp;— An Autobiography], p. 176.</ref>  
==World War II and ''Quit India''==
{{Main|Quit India Movement}}
[[Image:Mahadev Desai and Gandhi 2 1939.jpg|right|thumb|[[Mahadev Desai]] (left) reading out a letter to Gandhi from the [[viceroy]] at Birla House, Bombay, [[April 7]], [[1939]]]]
[[World War II]] broke out in 1939 when [[Nazi Germany]] invaded [[Poland]]. Initially, Gandhi had favored offering "non-violent moral support" to the British effort, but other Congressional leaders were offended by the unilateral inclusion of India into the war, without consultation of the people's representatives. All Congressmen elected to resign from office en masse.<ref>R. Gandhi, ''Patel: A Life'', pp. 283–86.</ref> After lengthy deliberations, Gandhi declared that India could not be party to a war ostensibly being fought for democratic freedom, while that freedom was denied to India itself. As the war progressed, Gandhi intensified his demand for independence, drafting a resolution calling for the British to ''[[Quit India]]''. This was Gandhi's and the Congress Party's most definitive revolt aimed at securing the British exit from Indian shores.<ref>R. Gandhi, ''Patel: A Life'', p. 309.</ref>
 
[[Image:Nehruwithgandhi1942.jpg|thumb|left|[[Jawaharlal Nehru]] sitting next to Gandhi at the AICC General Session, 1942]]Gandhi was criticized by some Congress party members and other Indian political groups, both pro-British and anti-British. Some felt that opposing Britain in its life or death struggle was immoral, and others felt that Gandhi wasn't doing enough. ''Quit India'' became the most forceful movement in the history of the struggle, with mass arrests and violence on an unprecedented scale.<ref>R. Gandhi, ''Patel: A Life'', p. 318.</ref> Thousands of freedom fighters were killed or injured by police gunfire, and hundreds of thousands were arrested. Gandhi and his supporters made it clear they would not support the war effort unless India were granted immediate independence. He even clarified that this time the movement would not be stopped if individual 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 maintain discipline via [[ahimsa]], and ''Karo Ya Maro'' ("Do or Die") in the cause of ultimate freedom.
 
 
==Freedom and partition of India==
{{Main|Partition of India}}
<!-- With Mahatma Gandhi (right) in Bombay (now [[Mumbai]]) in 1944.]] what's this? -->
Gandhi advised the Congress to reject the proposals the [[British Cabinet Mission]] offered in 1946, as he was deeply suspicious of the ''grouping'' proposed for Muslim-majority states—Gandhi viewed this as a precursor to partition. However, this became one of the few times the Congress broke from Gandhi's advice (though not his leadership), as Nehru and Patel knew that if the Congress did not approve the plan, the control of government would pass to the [[Muslim League]]. Between 1946 and 1948, over 5,000 people were killed in violence. Gandhi was vehemently opposed to any plan that partitioned India into two separate countries. An overwhelming majority of Muslims living in India, side by side with Hindus and Sikhs, were in favour of Partition{{Fact|date=July 2008}}. Additionally [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]], the leader of the Muslim League, commanded widespread support in [[Punjab]], [[Sindh]], [[North-West Frontier Province]] and [[East Bengal]]{{Fact|date=July 2008}}. The partition plan was approved by the Congress leadership as the only way to prevent a wide-scale Hindu-Muslim civil war. Congress leaders knew that Gandhi would viscerally oppose partition, and it was impossible for the Congress to go ahead without his agreement, for Gandhi's support in the party and throughout India was strong. Gandhi's closest colleagues had accepted partition as the best way out, and [[Sardar Patel]] endeavoured to convince Gandhi that it was the only way to avoid civil war. A devastated Gandhi gave his assent.
 
He conducted extensive dialogue with Muslim and Hindu community leaders, working to cool passions in northern India, as well as in [[Bengal]]. Despite the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1947]], he was troubled when the Government decided to deny Pakistan the [[Indian Rupee|Rs.]] 55 [[crore]]s due as per agreements made by the Partition Council. Leaders like [[Sardar Patel]] feared that Pakistan would use the money to bankroll the war against India. Gandhi was also devastated when demands resurged for all Muslims to be deported to Pakistan, and when Muslim and Hindu leaders expressed frustration and an inability to come to terms with one another.<ref>R. Gandhi, ''Patel: A Life'', p. 462.</ref> He launched his last fast-unto-death in [[Delhi]], asking that all communal violence be ended once and for all, and that the payment of Rs. 55 crores be made to Pakistan. Gandhi feared that instability and insecurity in Pakistan would increase their anger against India, and violence would spread across the borders. He further feared that Hindus and Muslims would renew their enmity and precipitate into an open civil war. After emotional debates with his life-long colleagues, Gandhi refused to budge, and the Government rescinded its policy and made the payment to Pakistan. Hindu, Muslim and Sikh community leaders, including the [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]] and [[Hindu Mahasabha]] assured him that they would renounce violence and call for peace. Gandhi thus broke his fast by sipping orange juice.<ref>R. Gandhi, ''Patel: A Life'', pp. 464–66.</ref>
 
==Assassination==
 
 
On [[January 30]], [[1948]], Gandhi was shot and killed while having his nightly public walk on the grounds of the ''Birla Bhavan'' ([[Birla House]]) in [[New Delhi]]. The assassin, [[Nathuram Godse]], was a Hindu radical with links to the extremist [[Hindu Mahasabha]], who held Gandhi responsible for weakening India by insisting upon a payment to Pakistan.<ref>R. Gandhi, ''Patel: A Life'', p. 472.</ref> Godse and his co-conspirator [[Narayan Apte]] were later tried and convicted; they were executed on [[15 November]] [[1949]]. Gandhi's memorial (or ''Samĝdhi'') at [[Raj Ghat and other memorials|Rĝj Ghĝt]], [[New Delhi]], bears the epigraph "Hē Ram", ([[Devanagari]]: ''हे ! राम'' or, ''He [[Rama|{{IAST|Rĝm}}]]''), which may be translated 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.<ref>Vinay Lal. [http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/Gandhi/HeRam_gandhi.html ‘Hey Ram’: The Politics of Gandhi’s Last Words]. Humanscape 8, no. 1 (January 2001): pp. 34–38.</ref> [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] addressed the nation through radio:
{{cquote|Friends and comrades, the light has gone out of our lives, and there is darkness 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. Perhaps I am wrong to say that; nevertheless, we will not see him again, as we have seen him for these many years, we will not run to him for advice or seek solace from him, and that is a terrible blow, not only for me, but for millions and millions in this country.<ref>[[s:The Light Has Gone Out|Nehru's address on Gandhi's death]]. Retrieved on [[15 March]] [[2007]].</ref> }}
 
Gandhi's ashes were poured into urns which were sent across India for memorial services. Most were immersed at the [[Sangam at Allahabad]] on [[12 February]] [[1948]] but some were secreted away.<ref name="Guardian-2008-ashes">[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jan/16/india.international "Gandhi's ashes to rest at sea, not in a museum"] [[The Guardian]], [[16 January]] [[2008]]</ref> In 1997, [[Tushar Gandhi]] immersed the contents of one urn, found in a bank vault and reclaimed through the courts, at the [[Sangam at Allahabad]].<ref name="Guardian-2008-ashes" /><ref>[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-67892813.html "GANDHI'S ASHES SCATTERED"] [[The Cincinnati Post]], [[30 January]] [[1997]] "For reasons no one knows, a portion of the ashes was placed in a [[safe deposit box]] at a bank in [[Cuttack]], {{convert|1100|mi|km}} southeast of [[New Delhi]]. [[Tushar Gandhi]] went to court to gain custody of the ashes after newspapers reported in 1995 that they were at the bank."</ref> On [[30 January]] [[2008]] the contents of another urn were immersed at [[Girgaum Chowpatty]] by the family after a Dubai-based businessman had sent it to a [[Mumbai]] museum.<ref name="Guardian-2008-ashes" /> Another urn has ended up in a palace of the [[Aga Khan]] in [[Pune]]<ref name="Guardian-2008-ashes" /> (where he had been imprisoned from 1942 to 1944) and another in the [[Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine]] in [[Los Angeles]].<ref>{{cite news | last =Ferrell | first =David | title =A Little Serenity in a City of Madness | newspaper = Los Angeles Times | pages =B 2 | date = 2001-09-27}}</ref> The family is aware that these enshrined ashes could be misused for political purposes but does not want to have them removed because it would entail breaking the shrines.<ref name="Guardian-2008-ashes" />  
 
==Gandhi's principles==
{{See also|Gandhism}}
 


====Experiments with Brahmacharya====
====Experiments with Brahmacharya====
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Rudolph |publisher=Orient Longman |isbn=0002160056 |pages=56 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Cultural construction of sexuality |last=Caplan |first=Pat |coauthors=Patricia Caplan |year=1987 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0415040132 |pages=278 }}</ref> He explained that he did this for bodily warmth at night and termed his actions as "nature cure". Later in his life he started experimenting with brahmacharya in order to test his self control. His letter to Birla in April, 1945 referring to ‘women or girls who have been naked with me’ indicates that several women were part of his experiments.<ref name=bhiku>{{cite book |title=Colonialism, Tradition and Reform: An Analysis of Gandhi's Political Discourse |last=Parekh |first=Bhikhu C. |year=1999 |publisher=Sage |isbn=0761993835 |pages=210 }}</ref> Sex became the most talked about subject matter by Gandhi after [[ahimsa]] (non-violence) and increasingly so in his later years. He devoted five full editorials in Harijan discussing the practice of brahmacharya.<ref>{{cite book |title= The Book on Trial: Fundamentalism and Censorship in India |last=Kumar |first=Girja |year=1997 |publisher=Har-Anand Publications |isbn= 8124105251 |pages=98 }}</ref>  
Rudolph |publisher=Orient Longman |isbn=0002160056 |pages=56 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Cultural construction of sexuality |last=Caplan |first=Pat |coauthors=Patricia Caplan |year=1987 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0415040132 |pages=278 }}</ref> He explained that he did this for bodily warmth at night and termed his actions as "nature cure". Later in his life he started experimenting with brahmacharya in order to test his self control. His letter to Birla in April, 1945 referring to ‘women or girls who have been naked with me’ indicates that several women were part of his experiments.<ref name=bhiku>{{cite book |title=Colonialism, Tradition and Reform: An Analysis of Gandhi's Political Discourse |last=Parekh |first=Bhikhu C. |year=1999 |publisher=Sage |isbn=0761993835 |pages=210 }}</ref> Sex became the most talked about subject matter by Gandhi after [[ahimsa]] (non-violence) and increasingly so in his later years. He devoted five full editorials in Harijan discussing the practice of brahmacharya.<ref>{{cite book |title= The Book on Trial: Fundamentalism and Censorship in India |last=Kumar |first=Girja |year=1997 |publisher=Har-Anand Publications |isbn= 8124105251 |pages=98 }}</ref>  


'''As part of these experiments, he initially slept with his women associates in the same room but at a distance. Afterwards he started to lie in the same bed with his women disciples and later took to sleeping naked alongside them''' .<ref name=bhiku/> According to Gandhi active-celibacy meant perfect self control in the presence of opposite sex. Gandhi conducted his experiments with a number of women such as  Abha, the sixteen year old wife of his grand-nephew Kanu Gandhi. Gandhi acknowledged “that this experiment is very dangerous indeed”, but thought “that it was capable of yielding great results”.<ref name=tidrick>{{cite book |title=Gandhi: A Political and Spiritual Life |last=Tidrick |first=Kathryn |authorlink= |year=2007 |publisher=I.B.Tauris |isbn=1845111664 |pages=302–304 }}</ref> His nineteen year old grand-niece, Manu Gandhi, too was part of his experiments. Gandhi had earlier written to her father, Jaisukhlal Gandhi, that Manu had started to share his bed so that he may "correct her sleeping posture".<ref name=tidrick/> In Gandhi’s view experiment of sleeping naked with Manu in Noakhali  would help him in contemplating upon Hindu-Muslim unity in India before partition and ease communal tensions. Gandhi saw himself as a mother to these women and would refer to Abha and Manu  as “my walking sticks”.  
As part of these experiments, he initially slept with his women associates in the same room but at a distance. '''Afterwards he started to lie in the same bed with his women disciples and later took to sleeping naked alongside them''' .<ref name=bhiku/> According to Gandhi active-celibacy meant perfect self control in the presence of opposite sex. Gandhi conducted his experiments with a number of women such as  Abha, the sixteen year old wife of his grand-nephew Kanu Gandhi. Gandhi acknowledged “that this experiment is very dangerous indeed”, but thought “that it was capable of yielding great results”.<ref name=tidrick>{{cite book |title=Gandhi: A Political and Spiritual Life |last=Tidrick |first=Kathryn |authorlink= |year=2007 |publisher=I.B.Tauris |isbn=1845111664 |pages=302–304 }}</ref> His nineteen year old grand-niece, Manu Gandhi, too was part of his experiments. Gandhi had earlier written to her father, Jaisukhlal Gandhi, that Manu had started to share his bed so that he may "correct her sleeping posture".<ref name=tidrick/> In Gandhi’s view experiment of sleeping naked with Manu in Noakhali  would help him in contemplating upon Hindu-Muslim unity in India before partition and ease communal tensions. Gandhi saw himself as a mother to these women and would refer to Abha and Manu  as “my walking sticks”.  


Gandhi called Sarladevi, a married woman with children and a devout follower,  his “spiritual wife”. He later said that he had come close to having sexual relations with her.<ref>{{cite book |title=Gandhi: A Political and Spiritual Life |last=Tidrick |first=Kathryn |authorlink= |year=2007 |publisher=I.B.Tauris |isbn=1845111664 |pages=160 }}</ref> He had told a correspondent in march, 1945 that “sleeping together came  with my taking up of bramhacharya or even before that”; he said he had experimented with his wife “but that was not enough”.<ref name=tidrick/> Gandhi felt satisfied with his experiments and wrote to Manu that “I have successfully practiced the eleven vows taken by me. This is the culmination of my striving for last thirty six years. In this yajna I got a glimpse of the ideal truth and purity for which I have been striving”.   
Gandhi called Sarladevi, a married woman with children and a devout follower,  his “spiritual wife”. He later said that he had come close to having sexual relations with her.<ref>{{cite book |title=Gandhi: A Political and Spiritual Life |last=Tidrick |first=Kathryn |authorlink= |year=2007 |publisher=I.B.Tauris |isbn=1845111664 |pages=160 }}</ref> He had told a correspondent in march, 1945 that “sleeping together came  with my taking up of bramhacharya or even before that”; he said he had experimented with his wife “but that was not enough”.<ref name=tidrick/> Gandhi felt satisfied with his experiments and wrote to Manu that “I have successfully practiced the eleven vows taken by me. This is the culmination of my striving for last thirty six years. In this yajna I got a glimpse of the ideal truth and purity for which I have been striving”.   
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Gandhi had to take criticism for his experiments by many of his followers and opponents. His stenographer, R.P. Parasuram,  resigned when he saw Gandhi sleeping naked with Manu.<ref name=wolpert>{{cite book |title=Gandhi's Passion: The Life and Legacy of Mahatma Gandhi |last=Wolpert |first=Stanley |year=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=019515634X |pages=226–227 }} </ref> Gandhi insisted that he never felt aroused while he slept beside her, or with Sushila or Abha. “I am sorry” Gandhi said to Parasuram, “you are at liberty to leave me today”. Nirmal Kumar Bose, another close associate of Gandhi, parted company with him in April, 1947 post Gandhi’s tour of Noakhali, where some sort of altercation had taken place between Gandhi and Sushila Nayar in his bedroom at midnight that caused Gandhi to slap his forehead. Bose had stated that the nature of his experiments in bramhacharya still remained unknown and unstated.<ref name=wolpert/><ref>{{cite book |title= The Book on Trial: Fundamentalism and Censorship in India |last=Kumar |first=Girja |year=1997 |publisher=Har-Anand Publishers |isbn= 8124105251 |pages=73-107 }}</ref>  
Gandhi had to take criticism for his experiments by many of his followers and opponents. His stenographer, R.P. Parasuram,  resigned when he saw Gandhi sleeping naked with Manu.<ref name=wolpert>{{cite book |title=Gandhi's Passion: The Life and Legacy of Mahatma Gandhi |last=Wolpert |first=Stanley |year=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=019515634X |pages=226–227 }} </ref> Gandhi insisted that he never felt aroused while he slept beside her, or with Sushila or Abha. “I am sorry” Gandhi said to Parasuram, “you are at liberty to leave me today”. Nirmal Kumar Bose, another close associate of Gandhi, parted company with him in April, 1947 post Gandhi’s tour of Noakhali, where some sort of altercation had taken place between Gandhi and Sushila Nayar in his bedroom at midnight that caused Gandhi to slap his forehead. Bose had stated that the nature of his experiments in bramhacharya still remained unknown and unstated.<ref name=wolpert/><ref>{{cite book |title= The Book on Trial: Fundamentalism and Censorship in India |last=Kumar |first=Girja |year=1997 |publisher=Har-Anand Publishers |isbn= 8124105251 |pages=73-107 }}</ref>  


N.K. Bose, who stayed close to Gandhi during his Noakhali tour, testified that “there was no immorality on part of Gandhi. Moreover Gandhi tried to conquer the feeling of sex by consciously endeavouring to convert himself into a mother of those who were under his case, whether men or women”. Dattatreya Balkrishna Kalelkar, a revolutionary turned disciple of Gandhi, used to say that Gandhi’s “relationships with women were, from beginning to end, as pure as mother’s milk”.<ref>{{cite book |title=Mahatma Gandhi |last=Ghose |first=Sankar |year=1991 |publisher=Allied Publishers |isbn=8170232058 |pages=356 }} </ref>
   
 
 
 
===Faith===
Gandhi was born a Hindu and practised [[Hinduism]] all his life, deriving most of his principles from Hinduism. As a common Hindu, he believed all religions to be equal, and rejected all efforts to convert him to a different faith. He was an avid theologian and read extensively about all major religions. He had the following to say about Hinduism:
:"Hinduism as I know it entirely satisfies my soul, fills my whole being...When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and when I see not one ray of light on the horizon, I turn to the ''[[Bhagavad Gita]]'', and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. My life has been full of tragedies and if they have not left any visible and indelible effect on me, I owe it to the teachings of the ''Bhagavad Gita''."
[[Image:Gandhi Smriti.jpg|thumb|right|''Gandhi Smriti'' (The house Gandhi lodged in the last 4 months of his life has now become a monument, New Delhi)]]
<!--attribution required: see image description page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/image:Gandhi Smriti.jpg-->
 
Gandhi wrote a commentary on the ''Bhagavad Gita'' in [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]]. The Gujarati manuscript was translated into [[English language|English]] by Mahadev Desai, who provided an additional introduction and commentary. It was published with a Foreword by Gandhi in 1946.<ref>Desai, Mahadev. The Gospel of Selfless Action, or, The Gita According To Gandhi. (Navajivan Publishing House: Ahmedabad: First Edition 1946). Other editions: 1948, 1951, 1956.</ref><ref>A shorter edition, omitting the bulk of Desai's additional commentary, has been published as: Anasaktiyoga: The Gospel of Selfless Action. Jim Rankin, editor. The author is listed as M.K. Gandhi; Mahadev Desai, translator. (Dry Bones Press, San Francisco, 1998) ISBN 1-883938-47-3.</ref>
 
Gandhi believed that at the core of every religion was truth and love (compassion, nonviolence and [[Ethic of reciprocity|the Golden Rule]]). He also questioned hypocrisy, malpractices and dogma in all religions and was a tireless social reformer. Some of his comments on various religions are:
 
:"Thus if I could not accept Christianity either as a perfect, or the greatest religion, neither was I then convinced of Hinduism being such. Hindu defects were pressingly visible to me. If untouchability could be a part of Hinduism, it could but be a rotten part or an excrescence. I could not understand the ''raison d'etre'' of a multitude of sects and castes. What was the meaning of saying that the Vedas were the inspired Word of God? If they were inspired, why not also the Bible and the Koran? As Christian friends were endeavouring to convert me, so were Muslim friends. Abdullah Sheth had kept on inducing me to study Islam, and of course he had always something to say regarding its beauty." (source: [[The Story of My Experiments with Truth|his autobiography]])
 
:"As soon as we lose the moral basis, we cease to be religious. There is no such thing as religion over-riding morality. Man, for instance, cannot be untruthful, cruel or incontinent and claim to have God on his side."
 
:"The sayings of Muhammad are a treasure of wisdom, not only for Muslims but for all of mankind."
 
Later in his life when he was asked whether he was a Hindu, he replied:
 
:"Yes I am. I am also a Christian, a Muslim, a Buddhist and a Jew."


In spite of their deep reverence to each other, Gandhi and [[Rabindranath Tagore]] engaged in protracted debates more than once. These debates exemplify the philosophical differences between the two most famous Indians at the time. On [[15 January]] [[1934]], an earthquake hit [[Bihar]] and caused extensive damage and loss of life. Gandhi maintained this was because of the sin committed by upper caste [[Hindu]]s by not letting untouchables in their temples (Gandhi was committed to the cause of improving the fate of untouchables, referring to them as [[Harijan]]s, people of [[Krishna]]). [[Tagore]] vehemently opposed Gandhi's stance, maintaining that an earthquake can only be caused by natural forces, not moral reasons, however repugnant the practice of untouchability may be.<ref> http://www.indiatogether.org/2003/may/rvw-gndhtgore.htm Overview of debates between Gandhi and Tagore </ref>




==Ideals and criticisms==
==Ideals and criticisms==
Gandhi's rigid [[ahimsa]] implies [[pacifism]], and is thus a source of criticism from across the political spectrum.
Gandhi's rigid ahimsa implies pacifism, and is thus a source of criticism from across the political spectrum.


===Concept of partition===
===Concept of partition===
As a rule, Gandhi was opposed to the concept of [[Partition (politics)|partition]] as it contradicted his vision of religious unity.<ref> reprinted in ''[http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0394714660/ The Essential Gandhi: An Anthology of His Writings on His Life, Work, and Ideas].'', Louis Fischer, ed., 2002 (reprint edition) pp. 106–108.</ref> Of the [[Partition of India|partition of India to create Pakistan]], he wrote in ''[[Harijan]]'' on [[6 October]] [[1946]]:
As a rule, Gandhi was opposed to the concept of partition as it contradicted his vision of religious unity.<ref> reprinted in ''[http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0394714660/ The Essential Gandhi: An Anthology of His Writings on His Life, Work, and Ideas].'', Louis Fischer, ed., 2002 (reprint edition) pp. 106–108.</ref> Of the [[Partition of India|partition of India to create Pakistan]], he wrote in ''[[Harijan]]'' on [[6 October]] [[1946]]:


<blockquote>[The demand for Pakistan] as put forth by the Moslem League is un-Islamic and I have not hesitated to call it sinful. Islam stands for unity and the brotherhood of mankind, not for disrupting the oneness of the human family. Therefore, those who want to divide India into possibly warring groups are enemies alike of India and Islam. They may cut me into pieces but they cannot make me subscribe to something which I consider to be wrong [...] we must not cease to aspire, in spite of [the] wild talk, to befriend all Moslems and hold them fast as prisoners of our love.<ref> reprinted in ''[http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0394714660/ The Essential Gandhi: An Anthology of His Writings on His Life, Work, and Ideas].''Louis Fischer, ed., 2002 (reprint edition) pp. 308–9.</ref></blockquote>
<blockquote>[The demand for Pakistan] as put forth by the Moslem League is un-Islamic and I have not hesitated to call it sinful. Islam stands for unity and the brotherhood of mankind, not for disrupting the oneness of the human family. Therefore, those who want to divide India into possibly warring groups are enemies alike of India and Islam. They may cut me into pieces but they cannot make me subscribe to something which I consider to be wrong [...] we must not cease to aspire, in spite of [the] wild talk, to befriend all Moslems and hold them fast as prisoners of our love.<ref> reprinted in ''[http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0394714660/ The Essential Gandhi: An Anthology of His Writings on His Life, Work, and Ideas].''Louis Fischer, ed., 2002 (reprint edition) pp. 308–9.</ref></blockquote>
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<blockquote>Several letters have been received by me asking me to declare my views about the Arab-Jew question in Palestine and [[History of the Jews in Germany#Jews under the Nazis (1930s-1940)|persecution of the Jews in Germany]]. It is not without hesitation that I venture to offer my views on this very difficult question. My sympathies are all with the Jews. I have known them intimately in South Africa. Some of them became life-long companions. Through these friends I came to learn much of their age-long persecution. They have been the untouchables of Christianity [...] But my sympathy does not blind me to the requirements of justice. The cry for the national home for the Jews does not make much appeal to me. The sanction for it is sought in the Bible and the tenacity with which the Jews have hankered after return to Palestine. Why should they not, like other peoples of the earth, make that country their home where they are born and where they earn their livelihood? Palestine belongs to the Arabs in the same sense that England belongs to the English or France to the French. It is wrong and inhuman to impose the Jews on the Arabs. What is going on in Palestine today cannot be justified by any moral code of conduct.<ref> reprinted in ''[http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0394714660/ The Essential Gandhi: An Anthology of His Writings on His Life, Work, and Ideas].'', Louis Fischer, ed., 2002 (reprint edition) pp. 286-288.</ref><ref>[http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0109&L=sanet-mg&P=31587. SANET-MG Archives - September 2001 (#303)]</ref></blockquote>
<blockquote>Several letters have been received by me asking me to declare my views about the Arab-Jew question in Palestine and [[History of the Jews in Germany#Jews under the Nazis (1930s-1940)|persecution of the Jews in Germany]]. It is not without hesitation that I venture to offer my views on this very difficult question. My sympathies are all with the Jews. I have known them intimately in South Africa. Some of them became life-long companions. Through these friends I came to learn much of their age-long persecution. They have been the untouchables of Christianity [...] But my sympathy does not blind me to the requirements of justice. The cry for the national home for the Jews does not make much appeal to me. The sanction for it is sought in the Bible and the tenacity with which the Jews have hankered after return to Palestine. Why should they not, like other peoples of the earth, make that country their home where they are born and where they earn their livelihood? Palestine belongs to the Arabs in the same sense that England belongs to the English or France to the French. It is wrong and inhuman to impose the Jews on the Arabs. What is going on in Palestine today cannot be justified by any moral code of conduct.<ref> reprinted in ''[http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0394714660/ The Essential Gandhi: An Anthology of His Writings on His Life, Work, and Ideas].'', Louis Fischer, ed., 2002 (reprint edition) pp. 286-288.</ref><ref>[http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0109&L=sanet-mg&P=31587. SANET-MG Archives - September 2001 (#303)]</ref></blockquote>


===Rejection of violent resistance===
===Rejection of resistance which he did not take part in===
Gandhi also came under some political fire for his criticism of those who attempted to achieve independence through more violent means. His refusal to protest against the hanging of [[Shaheed Bhagat Singh]], Sukhdev, [[Udham Singh]] and Rajguru were sources of condemnation among some parties.<ref>[http://www.kamat.com/mmgandhi/onbhagatsingh.htm Mahatama Gandhi on Bhagat Singh].</ref><ref>[http://india_resource.tripod.com/gandhi.html Gandhi&nbsp;— 'Mahatma' or Flawed Genius?].</ref>  
Gandhi also came under some political fire for his criticism of those who attempted to achieve independence through more violent means. His refusal to protest against the hanging of [[Shaheed Bhagat Singh|Bhagat Singh]], [[Sukhdev]], [[Udham Singh]] and [[Rajguru]] were sources of condemnation among some parties.<ref>[http://www.kamat.com/mmgandhi/onbhagatsingh.htm Mahatama Gandhi on Bhagat Singh].</ref><ref>[http://india_resource.tripod.com/gandhi.html Gandhi&nbsp;— 'Mahatma' or Flawed Genius?].</ref>  


Of this criticism, Gandhi stated, "There was a time when people listened to me because I showed them how to give fight to the British without arms when they had no arms...but today I am told that my non-violence can be of no avail against the [Hindu–Moslem riots] and, therefore, people should arm themselves for self-defense."<ref> reprinted in ''[http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0394714660/ The Essential Gandhi: An Anthology of His Writings on His Life, Work, and Ideas].'', Louis Fischer, ed., 2002 (reprint edition) p. 311.</ref>  
Of this criticism, Gandhi stated, "There was a time when people listened to me because I showed them how to give fight to the British without arms when they had no arms...but today I am told that my non-violence can be of no avail against the [Hindu–Moslem riots] and, therefore, people should arm themselves for self-defense."<ref> reprinted in ''[http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0394714660/ The Essential Gandhi: An Anthology of His Writings on His Life, Work, and Ideas].'', Louis Fischer, ed., 2002 (reprint edition) p. 311.</ref>  
Line 118: Line 70:
===Early South African articles===
===Early South African articles===


Some of Gandhi's early South African articles are controversial. On [[7 March]], [[1908]], Gandhi wrote in the ''[[Indian Opinion]]'' of his time in a South African prison: "Many of the native prisoners are only one degree removed from the animal and often created rows and fought among themselves."<ref>{{cite book|title=The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi|volume=8|pages=183}}</ref> Gandhi also wrote: "Kaffirs are as a rule uncivilised — the convicts even more so. They are troublesome, very dirty and live almost like animals."<ref>{{cite book|title=The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi|volume=8|pages=199}}</ref> Writing on the subject of immigration in 1903, Gandhi commented: "We believe as much in the purity of race as we think they do... We believe also that the white race in South Africa should be the predominating race."<ref>{{cite book|title=The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi|volume=3|pages=255}}</ref> Gandhi gave a speech on [[26 September]] [[1896]] in which he referred to the "raw kaffir, whose occupation is hunting and whose sole ambition is to collect a certain number of cattle to buy a wife with, and then pass his life in indolence and nakedness".<ref>{{cite book|title=The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi|volume=2|pages=74}}</ref> It is worth noting that during Gandhi's time, the term ''Kaffir'' had [[Kaffir (Historical usage in southern Africa)|a different connotation]] than [[Kaffir (ethnic slur)|its present-day usage]]. Remarks such as these have led some to accuse Gandhi of racism.<ref name="guardian_racist">Rory Carroll, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/oct/17/southafrica.india "Gandhi branded racist as Johannesburg honours freedom fighter"], ''The Guardian'', [[October 17]], [[2003]].</ref>
Some of Gandhi's early South African articles are controversial. On 7 March, 1908, Gandhi wrote in the ''Indian Opinion'' of his time in a South African prison: "Many of the native prisoners are only one degree removed from the animal and often created rows and fought among themselves."<ref>{{cite book|title=The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi|volume=8|pages=183}}</ref> Gandhi also wrote: "Kaffirs are as a rule uncivilised — the convicts even more so. They are troublesome, very dirty and live almost like animals."<ref>{{cite book|title=The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi|volume=8|pages=199}}</ref> Writing on the subject of immigration in 1903, Gandhi commented: "We believe as much in the purity of race as we think they do... We believe also that the white race in South Africa should be the predominating race."<ref>{{cite book|title=The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi|volume=3|pages=255}}</ref> Gandhi gave a speech on 26 September 1896 in which he referred to the "raw kaffir, whose occupation is hunting and whose sole ambition is to collect a certain number of cattle to buy a wife with, and then pass his life in indolence and nakedness
 
===Anti Statism===
Two professors of history who specialize in South Africa, Surendra Bhana and Goolam Vahed, examined this controversy in their text, ''The Making of a Political Reformer: Gandhi in South Africa, 1893–1914.'' (New Delhi: Manohar, 2005).<ref>[https://www.vedamsbooks.com/no49854.htm The Making of a Political Reformer: Gandhi in South Africa, 1893–1914]</ref> They focus in Chapter 1, "Gandhi, Africans and Indians in Colonial Natal" on the relationship between the African and Indian communities under "White rule" and policies which enforced segregation (and, they argue, inevitable conflict between these communities). Of this relationship they state that, "the young Gandhi was influenced by segregationist notions prevalent in the 1890s."<ref> ''The Making of a Political Reformer: Gandhi in South Africa, 1893–1914.'' Surendra Bhana and Goolam Vahed, 2005: p.44</ref> At the same time, they state, "Gandhi's experiences in jail seemed to make him more sensitive to their plight...the later Gandhi mellowed; he seemed much less categorical in his expression of prejudice against Africans, and much more open to seeing points of common cause. His negative views in the Johannesburg jail were reserved for hardened African prisoners rather than Africans generally."<ref> ''The Making of a Political Reformer: Gandhi in South Africa, 1893–1914.'' Surendra Bhana and Goolam Vahed, 2005: p.45</ref>


Former [[President of South Africa]] [[Nelson Mandela]] is a follower of Gandhi,<ref name="Mandela-2000" /> despite efforts in 2003 on the part of Gandhi's critics to prevent the unveiling of a statue of Gandhi in [[Johannesburg]].<ref name="guardian_racist"/> Bhana and Vahed commented on the events surrounding the unveiling in the conclusion to ''The Making of a Political Reformer: Gandhi in South Africa, 1893–1914''. In the section "Gandhi's Legacy to South Africa," they note that "Gandhi inspired succeeding generations of South African activists seeking to end White rule. This legacy connects him to [[Nelson Mandela]]...in a sense Mandela completed what Gandhi started."<ref> ''The Making of a Political Reformer: Gandhi in South Africa, 1893–1914.'' Surendra Bhana and Goolam Vahed, 2005: p.149</ref> They continue by referring to the controversies which arose during the unveiling of the statue of Gandhi.<ref> ''The Making of a Political Reformer: Gandhi in South Africa, 1893–1914.'' Surendra Bhana and Goolam Vahed, 2005: pp.150–1</ref> In response to these two perspectives of Gandhi, Bhana and Vahed argue: "Those who seek to appropriate Gandhi for political ends in post-apartheid South Africa do not help their cause much by ignoring certain facts about him; and those who simply call him a racist are equally guilty of distortion."<ref> ''The Making of a Political Reformer: Gandhi in South Africa, 1893–1914.'' Surendra Bhana and Goolam Vahed, 2005: p.151</ref>
Gandhi was an anti statist in the sense that his vision of India meant India without an underlying government.<ref>Jesudasan, Ignatius. A Gandhian theology of liberation. Gujarat Sahitya Prakash: Ananda India, 1987, pp 236–237</ref> His idea was that true self rule in a country means that every person rules himself and that there is no state which enforces laws upon the people.<ref>Murthy, Srinivas.Mahatma Gandhi and Leo Tolstoy Letters. Long Beach Publications: Long Beach, 1987, pp 13</ref><ref>Murthy, Srinivas.Mahatma Gandhi and Leo Tolstoy Letters. Long Beach Publications: Long Beach, 1987, pp 189.</ref> On occasions he described himself as a [[Philosophical Anarchism|philosophical anarchist]].<ref>[http://www.mkgandhi.org/articles/snow.htm Articles on and by Gandhi], Retrieved on [[June 7]], [[2008]].</ref> A free India for him meant existence of thousands of self sufficient small communities (an idea possibly from [[Leo Tolstoy|Tolstoy]]) who rule themselves without hindering others. It did not mean merely transferring a British established administrative structure into Indian hands which he said was just ''making Hindustan into Englistan''.<ref>Chapter VI ''Hind Swaraj'' by M.K. Gandhi</ref> He wanted to dissolve the Congress Party after independence and establish a system of [[direct democracy]] in India,<ref> Bhattacharyya, Buddhadeva. Evolution of the political philosophy of Gandhi. Calcutta Book House: Calcutta, 1969, pp 479</ref> having no faith in the British styled parliamentary system.<ref>Chapter VI ''Hind Swaraj'' by M.K. Gandhi</ref>  


===Anti Statism===
{{seealso|Swaraj}}
Gandhi was an [[Antistatism|anti statist]] in the sense that his vision of India meant India without an underlying government.<ref>Jesudasan, Ignatius. A Gandhian theology of liberation. Gujarat Sahitya Prakash: Ananda India, 1987, pp 236–237</ref> His idea was that true [[Swaraj|self rule]] in a country means that every person rules himself and that there is no state which enforces laws upon the people.<ref>Murthy, Srinivas.Mahatma Gandhi and Leo Tolstoy Letters. Long Beach Publications: Long Beach, 1987, pp 13</ref><ref>Murthy, Srinivas.Mahatma Gandhi and Leo Tolstoy Letters. Long Beach Publications: Long Beach, 1987, pp 189.</ref> On occasions he described himself as a [[Philosophical Anarchism|philosophical anarchist]].<ref>[http://www.mkgandhi.org/articles/snow.htm Articles on and by Gandhi], Retrieved on [[June 7]], [[2008]].</ref> A free India for him meant existence of thousands of self sufficient small communities (an idea possibly from [[Leo Tolstoy|Tolstoy]]) who rule themselves without hindering others. It did not mean merely transferring a British established administrative structure into Indian hands which he said was just ''making Hindustan into Englistan''. He wanted to dissolve the Congress Party after independence and establish a system of [[direct democracy]] in India.


==Gandhi and Sikhs==
==Gandhi and Sikhs==
Gandhi has been reported to have called [[Guru Gobind Singh]], the tenth Guru of the Sikhs, a 'misguided patriot,' because he said he had used violence.  Gandhi has not had a good relation with many Sikhs, because of his relation to freedom-fighters like Shaheed [[Udham Singh]], and [[Kartar Singh Sarabha]].  Sikhs have always been taught to use a sword only as a last resort, and Gandhi was unable to understand that.
Gandhi has been reported to have called [[Guru Gobind Singh]], the tenth Guru of the Sikhs, a 'misguided patriot,' because he said he had used violence.  Gandhi has not had a good relation with many Sikhs, because of his relation to freedom-fighters like Shaheed [[Udham Singh]], and [[Kartar Singh Sarabha]].  Sikhs have always been taught to use a sword only as a last resort, and Gandhi was unable to understand that.
 
Listen to Katha of Giani Sant Singh Maskeen on what was stated about Guru Gobind Singh Ji about him.
 
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZFBcXAB6cc Giani Sant Singh Maskeen Ji's Katha]
 
One can also read throughout the work of [[Professor Puran Singh]] and many of his other works.
 
* [[Professor Puran Singh on Guru Gobind Singh Ji]]
==Gandhi and the credit he is given==
==Gandhi and the credit he is given==
The nation of India was created in 1947, with World War II, and the many things that were taking place.  Many freedom-fighters took part in the movement to get independence.  As a high-caste Hindu brahmin, Gandhi was given credit as the 'father of the nation' when many people took part.  This has created many criticisms of M.K Gandhi, and has given us a lot to learn about.
The nation of India was created in 1947, with World War II, and the many things that were taking place.  Many freedom-fighters took part in the movement to get independence.  As a high-caste Hindu brahmin, Gandhi was given credit as the 'father of the nation' when many people took part.  This has created many criticisms of M.K Gandhi, and has given us a lot to learn about.
==References==
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi See More at Wikipedia]
[[category:Hindu]]

Latest revision as of 14:26, 5 May 2012

Sergeant Major Gandhi - M.K Gandhi Gandhi actively encouraged the British to recruit Indians to fight the Zulus

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on 2 October 1869 in Porbandar in Gujarat. After university, he went to London to train as a barrister. He returned to India in 1891 and in 1893 accepted a job at an Indian law firm in Durban, South Africa. Gandhi was appalled by the treatment of Indian immigrants there, and joined the struggle to obtain basic rights for them. During his 20 years in South Africa he was sent to prison many times. Influenced primarily by Hinduism, but also by elements of Jainism and Christianity as well as writers including Tolstoy and Thoreau, Gandhi developed the supposed satyagraha ('devotion to truth'), a new "non-violent" way to redress wrongs. In 1914, the South African government conceded to many of Gandhi's demands.

Gandhi returned to India shortly afterwards. In 1919, British plans to intern people suspected of sedition - the Rowlatt Acts - prompted Gandhi to announce a new satyagraha which attracted millions of followers. A short time after, this resulted in the Amritsar Massacre, or the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre by British troops. This was when Punjabis were peacefully assembled in Amritsar to celebrate the holiday of Vaisakhi, but were witness to a huge massacre because of Gandhi's supposed "protest." By 1920, Gandhi was a dominant figure in Indian politics. He transformed the Indian National Congress, and his programme of peaceful non-cooperation with the British included boycotts of British goods and institutions, leading to arrests of thousands.

In 1922, Gandhi himself was sentenced to six years' imprisonment. He was released after two years and withdrew from politics, devoting himself to trying to improve Hindu-Muslim relations, which had worsened. In 1930, Gandhi proclaimed a new campaign of civil disobedience in protest at a tax on salt, leading thousands on a 'March to the Sea' to symbolically make their own salt from seawater.

In 1931, Gandhi attended the Round Table Conference in London, as the sole representative of the Indian National Congress, but resigned from the party in 1934 in protest at its use of non-violence as a political expedient. He was replaced as leader by Jawaharlal Nehru.

In 1945, the British government began negotiations which culminated in the Mountbatten Plan of June 1947, and the formation of the two new independent states of India and Pakistan, divided along religious lines. Massive inter-communal violence marred the months before and after independence. Gandhi was opposed to partition, and now fasted in an attempt to bring calm in Calcutta and Delhi. On 30 January 1948, he was assassinated in Delhi by a Hindu fanatic.

Rabindranath Tagore called Ghandi "Mahatma" ("great soul") a name that later came to be interchangeable with Ghandi as he was later referred to simply as 'The Mahatma'.

Role in Zulu War of 1906

In 1906, after the British introduced a new poll-tax, Zulus in South Africa killed two British officers. The British declared a war against the Zulus, in retaliation. Gandhi actively encouraged the British to recruit Indians. He argued that Indians should support the war efforts in order to legitimize their claims to full citizenship. The British, however, refused to offer Indians positions of rank in their military. However, they accepted Gandhi's offer to let a detachment of Indians volunteer as a stretcher bearer corps to treat wounded British soldiers. This corps was commanded by Gandhi. On July 21, 1906, Gandhi wrote in Indian Opinion -"The corps had been formed at the instance of the Natal Government by way of experiment, in connection with the operations against the Natives consists of twenty three Indians". Gandhi urged the Indian population in South Africa to join the war through his columns in Indian Opinion -“If the Government only realized what reserve force is being wasted, they would make use of it and give Indians the opportunity of a thorough training for actual warfare.”

Brahmacharya - controlling sexual desires

When Gandhi was 16 his father became very ill. Being very devoted to his parents, he attended to his father at all times during his illness. However, one night, Gandhi's uncle came to relieve Gandhi for a while. He retired to his bedroom where carnal desires overcame him and he made love to his wife. Shortly afterward a servant came to report that Gandhi's father had just died. Gandhi felt tremendous guilt and never could forgive himself. He came to refer to this event as "double shame." The incident had significant influence in Gandhi becoming celibate at the age of 36, while still married.[1]

This decision was deeply influenced by the philosophy of Brahmacharya—spiritual and practical purity—largely associated with celibacy and asceticism. Gandhi saw brahmacharya as a means of becoming close with God and as a primary foundation for self realization. In his autobiography he tells of his battle against lustful urges and fits of jealousy with his childhood bride, Kasturba Gandhi. He felt it his personal obligation to remain celibate so that he could learn to love, rather than lust. For Gandhi, brahmacharya meant "control of the senses in thought, word and deed."[2]

Experiments with Brahmacharya

Towards the end of his life, it became known to public knowledge that Gandhi had been sharing his bed for a number of years with young women.[3][4] He explained that he did this for bodily warmth at night and termed his actions as "nature cure". Later in his life he started experimenting with brahmacharya in order to test his self control. His letter to Birla in April, 1945 referring to ‘women or girls who have been naked with me’ indicates that several women were part of his experiments.[5] Sex became the most talked about subject matter by Gandhi after ahimsa (non-violence) and increasingly so in his later years. He devoted five full editorials in Harijan discussing the practice of brahmacharya.[6]

As part of these experiments, he initially slept with his women associates in the same room but at a distance. Afterwards he started to lie in the same bed with his women disciples and later took to sleeping naked alongside them .[5] According to Gandhi active-celibacy meant perfect self control in the presence of opposite sex. Gandhi conducted his experiments with a number of women such as Abha, the sixteen year old wife of his grand-nephew Kanu Gandhi. Gandhi acknowledged “that this experiment is very dangerous indeed”, but thought “that it was capable of yielding great results”.[7] His nineteen year old grand-niece, Manu Gandhi, too was part of his experiments. Gandhi had earlier written to her father, Jaisukhlal Gandhi, that Manu had started to share his bed so that he may "correct her sleeping posture".[7] In Gandhi’s view experiment of sleeping naked with Manu in Noakhali would help him in contemplating upon Hindu-Muslim unity in India before partition and ease communal tensions. Gandhi saw himself as a mother to these women and would refer to Abha and Manu as “my walking sticks”.

Gandhi called Sarladevi, a married woman with children and a devout follower, his “spiritual wife”. He later said that he had come close to having sexual relations with her.[8] He had told a correspondent in march, 1945 that “sleeping together came with my taking up of bramhacharya or even before that”; he said he had experimented with his wife “but that was not enough”.[7] Gandhi felt satisfied with his experiments and wrote to Manu that “I have successfully practiced the eleven vows taken by me. This is the culmination of my striving for last thirty six years. In this yajna I got a glimpse of the ideal truth and purity for which I have been striving”.

Gandhi had to take criticism for his experiments by many of his followers and opponents. His stenographer, R.P. Parasuram, resigned when he saw Gandhi sleeping naked with Manu.[9] Gandhi insisted that he never felt aroused while he slept beside her, or with Sushila or Abha. “I am sorry” Gandhi said to Parasuram, “you are at liberty to leave me today”. Nirmal Kumar Bose, another close associate of Gandhi, parted company with him in April, 1947 post Gandhi’s tour of Noakhali, where some sort of altercation had taken place between Gandhi and Sushila Nayar in his bedroom at midnight that caused Gandhi to slap his forehead. Bose had stated that the nature of his experiments in bramhacharya still remained unknown and unstated.[9][10]



Ideals and criticisms

Gandhi's rigid ahimsa implies pacifism, and is thus a source of criticism from across the political spectrum.

Concept of partition

As a rule, Gandhi was opposed to the concept of partition as it contradicted his vision of religious unity.[11] Of the partition of India to create Pakistan, he wrote in Harijan on 6 October 1946:

[The demand for Pakistan] as put forth by the Moslem League is un-Islamic and I have not hesitated to call it sinful. Islam stands for unity and the brotherhood of mankind, not for disrupting the oneness of the human family. Therefore, those who want to divide India into possibly warring groups are enemies alike of India and Islam. They may cut me into pieces but they cannot make me subscribe to something which I consider to be wrong [...] we must not cease to aspire, in spite of [the] wild talk, to befriend all Moslems and hold them fast as prisoners of our love.[12]

However, as Homer Jack notes of Gandhi's long correspondence with Jinnah on the topic of Pakistan: "Although Gandhi was personally opposed to the partition of India, he proposed an agreement...which provided that the Congress and the Moslem League would cooperate to attain independence under a provisional government, after which the question of partition would be decided by a plebiscite in the districts having a Moslem majority."[13]

These dual positions on the topic of the partition of India opened Gandhi up to criticism from both Hindus and Muslims. Muhammad Ali Jinnah and contemporary Pakistanis condemned Gandhi for undermining Muslim political rights. Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and his allies condemned Gandhi, accusing him of politically appeasing Muslims while turning a blind eye to their atrocities against Hindus, and for allowing the creation of Pakistan (despite having publicly declared that "before partitioning India, my body will have to be cut into two pieces").[14] This continues to be politically contentious: some, like Pakistani-American historian Ayesha Jalal argue that Gandhi and the Congress' unwillingness to share power with the Muslim League hastened partition; others, like Hindu nationalist politician Pravin Togadia have also criticized Gandhi's leadership and actions on this topic, but indicating that excessive weakeness on his part led to the division of India.

Gandhi also expressed his dislike for partition during the late 1930s in response to the topic of the partition of Palestine to create Israel. He stated in Harijan on 26 October 1938:

Several letters have been received by me asking me to declare my views about the Arab-Jew question in Palestine and persecution of the Jews in Germany. It is not without hesitation that I venture to offer my views on this very difficult question. My sympathies are all with the Jews. I have known them intimately in South Africa. Some of them became life-long companions. Through these friends I came to learn much of their age-long persecution. They have been the untouchables of Christianity [...] But my sympathy does not blind me to the requirements of justice. The cry for the national home for the Jews does not make much appeal to me. The sanction for it is sought in the Bible and the tenacity with which the Jews have hankered after return to Palestine. Why should they not, like other peoples of the earth, make that country their home where they are born and where they earn their livelihood? Palestine belongs to the Arabs in the same sense that England belongs to the English or France to the French. It is wrong and inhuman to impose the Jews on the Arabs. What is going on in Palestine today cannot be justified by any moral code of conduct.[15][16]

Rejection of resistance which he did not take part in

Gandhi also came under some political fire for his criticism of those who attempted to achieve independence through more violent means. His refusal to protest against the hanging of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Udham Singh and Rajguru were sources of condemnation among some parties.[17][18]

Of this criticism, Gandhi stated, "There was a time when people listened to me because I showed them how to give fight to the British without arms when they had no arms...but today I am told that my non-violence can be of no avail against the [Hindu–Moslem riots] and, therefore, people should arm themselves for self-defense."[19]

He continued this argument in a number of articles reprinted in Homer Jack's The Gandhi Reader: A Sourcebook of His Life and Writings. In the first, "Zionism and Anti-Semitism," written in 1938, Gandhi commented upon the 1930s persecution of the Jews in Germany within the context of Satyagraha. He offered non-violence as a method of combating the difficulties Jews faced in Germany, stating,

If I were a Jew and were born in Germany and earned my livelihood there, I would claim Germany as my home even as the tallest Gentile German might, and challenge him to shoot me or cast me in the dungeon; I would refuse to be expelled or to submit to discriminating treatment. And for doing this I should not wait for the fellow Jews to join me in civil resistance, but would have confidence that in the end the rest were bound to follow my example. If one Jew or all the Jews were to accept the prescription here offered, he or they cannot be worse off than now. And suffering voluntarily undergone will bring them an inner strength and joy...the calculated violence of Hitler may even result in a general massacre of the Jews by way of his first answer to the declaration of such hostilities. But if the Jewish mind could be prepared for voluntary suffering, even the massacre I have imagined could be turned into a day of thanksgiving and joy that Jehovah had wrought deliverance of the race even at the hands of the tyrant. For to the God-fearing, death has no terror.[20]

Gandhi was highly criticized for these statements and responded in the article "Questions on the Jews" with "Friends have sent me two newspaper cuttings criticizing my appeal to the Jews. The two critics suggest that in presenting non-violence to the Jews as a remedy against the wrong done to them, I have suggested nothing new...what I have pleaded for is renunciation of violence of the heart and consequent active exercise of the force generated by the great renunciation.[21] He responded to the criticisms in "Reply to Jewish Friends"[22] and "Jews and Palestine."[23] by arguing that "What I have pleaded for is renunciation of violence of the heart and consequent active exercise of the force generated by the great renunciation."[21]

Gandhi's statements regarding Jews facing the impending Holocaust have attracted criticism from a number of commentators.[24] Martin Buber, himself an opponent of a Jewish state, wrote a sharply critical open letter to Gandhi on February 24, 1939. Buber asserted that the comparison between British treatment of Indian subjects and Nazi treatment of Jews was inapposite; moreover, he noted that when Indians were the victims of persecution, Gandhi had, on occasion, supported the use of force.[25]

Gandhi commented upon the 1930s persecution of the Jews in Germany within the context of Satyagraha. In the November 1938 article on the Nazi persecution of the Jews quoted above, he offered non-violence as a solution:

The German persecution of the Jews seems to have no parallel in history. The tyrants of old never went so mad as Hitler seems to have gone. And he is doing it with religious zeal. For he is propounding a new religion of exclusive and militant nationalism in the name of which any inhumanity becomes an act of humanity to be rewarded here and hereafter. The crime of an obviously mad but intrepid youth is being visited upon his whole race with unbelievable ferocity. If there ever could be a justifiable war in the name of and for humanity, a war against Germany, to prevent the wanton persecution of a whole race, would be completely justified. But I do not believe in any war. A discussion of the pros and cons of such a war is therefore outside my horizon or province. But if there can be no war against Germany, even for such a crime as is being committed against the Jews, surely there can be no alliance with Germany. How can there be alliance between a nation which claims to stand for justice and democracy and one which is the declared enemy of both?"[26][27]

Early South African articles

Some of Gandhi's early South African articles are controversial. On 7 March, 1908, Gandhi wrote in the Indian Opinion of his time in a South African prison: "Many of the native prisoners are only one degree removed from the animal and often created rows and fought among themselves."[28] Gandhi also wrote: "Kaffirs are as a rule uncivilised — the convicts even more so. They are troublesome, very dirty and live almost like animals."[29] Writing on the subject of immigration in 1903, Gandhi commented: "We believe as much in the purity of race as we think they do... We believe also that the white race in South Africa should be the predominating race."[30] Gandhi gave a speech on 26 September 1896 in which he referred to the "raw kaffir, whose occupation is hunting and whose sole ambition is to collect a certain number of cattle to buy a wife with, and then pass his life in indolence and nakedness

Anti Statism

Gandhi was an anti statist in the sense that his vision of India meant India without an underlying government.[31] His idea was that true self rule in a country means that every person rules himself and that there is no state which enforces laws upon the people.[32][33] On occasions he described himself as a philosophical anarchist.[34] A free India for him meant existence of thousands of self sufficient small communities (an idea possibly from Tolstoy) who rule themselves without hindering others. It did not mean merely transferring a British established administrative structure into Indian hands which he said was just making Hindustan into Englistan.[35] He wanted to dissolve the Congress Party after independence and establish a system of direct democracy in India,[36] having no faith in the British styled parliamentary system.[37]


Gandhi and Sikhs

Gandhi has been reported to have called Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru of the Sikhs, a 'misguided patriot,' because he said he had used violence. Gandhi has not had a good relation with many Sikhs, because of his relation to freedom-fighters like Shaheed Udham Singh, and Kartar Singh Sarabha. Sikhs have always been taught to use a sword only as a last resort, and Gandhi was unable to understand that.

Listen to Katha of Giani Sant Singh Maskeen on what was stated about Guru Gobind Singh Ji about him.

One can also read throughout the work of Professor Puran Singh and many of his other works.

Gandhi and the credit he is given

The nation of India was created in 1947, with World War II, and the many things that were taking place. Many freedom-fighters took part in the movement to get independence. As a high-caste Hindu brahmin, Gandhi was given credit as the 'father of the nation' when many people took part. This has created many criticisms of M.K Gandhi, and has given us a lot to learn about.

References

  1. ^ Time magazine people of the century
  2. ^ The Story of My Experiments with Truth — An Autobiography, p. 176.
  3. ^ {{ #if: Birkett | {{ #if: | [[{{{authorlink}}}|{{ #if: Birkett | Birkett{{ #if: Dea | , Dea }} | {{{author}}} }}]] | {{ #if: Birkett | Birkett{{ #if: Dea | , Dea }} | {{{author}}} }} }} }}{{ #if: Birkett | {{ #if: Susanne Hoeber Rudolph, Lloyd I Rudolph | ; Susanne Hoeber Rudolph, Lloyd I Rudolph }} }}{{ #if: | [{{{origdate}}}] | {{ #if: | {{ #if: | [{{{origmonth}}} {{{origyear}}}] | [{{{origyear}}}] }} }} }}{{ #if: | ({{{date}}}) | {{ #if: | {{ #if: | ({{{month}}} {{{year}}}) | ({{{year}}}) }} }} }}{{ #if: Birkett | . }}{{ #if: | "{{ #if: | [{{{chapterurl}}} {{{chapter}}}] | {{{chapter}}} }}",}}{{ #if: | in {{{editor}}}: }} {{ #if: | [{{{url}}} Gandhi: The Traditional Roots of Charisma] | Gandhi: The Traditional Roots of Charisma }}{{ #if: | ({{{format}}}) }}{{ #if: | , {{{others}}} }}{{ #if: | , {{{edition}}} }}{{ #if: | , {{{series}}} }}{{ #if: | (in {{{language}}}) }}{{ #if: Orient Longman | {{#if: | , | . }}{{ #if: | {{{location}}}: }}Orient Longman }}{{ #if: 56 | , 56 }}{{ #if: | . DOI:{{{doi}}} }}{{ #if: | . {{{id}}} }}{{ #if: 0002160056 | . ISBN 0002160056 }}{{ #if: | . OCLC {{{oclc}}} }}{{ #if: | {{ #if: | . Retrieved on [[{{{accessdate}}}]] | {{ #if: | . Retrieved {{ #if: | on [[{{{accessmonth}}} {{{accessyear}}}]] | during [[{{{accessyear}}}]] }}}} }} }}.{{ #if: |  “{{{quote}}}” }} </in
  4. ^ {{ #if: Caplan | {{ #if: | [[{{{authorlink}}}|{{ #if: Caplan | Caplan{{ #if: Pat | , Pat }} | {{{author}}} }}]] | {{ #if: Caplan | Caplan{{ #if: Pat | , Pat }} | {{{author}}} }} }} }}{{ #if: Caplan | {{ #if: Patricia Caplan | ; Patricia Caplan }} }}{{ #if: | [{{{origdate}}}] | {{ #if: | {{ #if: | [{{{origmonth}}} {{{origyear}}}] | [{{{origyear}}}] }} }} }}{{ #if: | ({{{date}}}) | {{ #if: 1987 | {{ #if: | ({{{month}}} 1987) | (1987) }} }} }}{{ #if: Caplan | . }}{{ #if: | "{{ #if: | [{{{chapterurl}}} {{{chapter}}}] | {{{chapter}}} }}",}}{{ #if: | in {{{editor}}}: }} {{ #if: | [{{{url}}} The Cultural construction of sexuality] | The Cultural construction of sexuality }}{{ #if: | ({{{format}}}) }}{{ #if: | , {{{others}}} }}{{ #if: | , {{{edition}}} }}{{ #if: | , {{{series}}} }}{{ #if: | (in {{{language}}}) }}{{ #if: Routledge | {{#if: | , | . }}{{ #if: | {{{location}}}: }}Routledge }}{{ #if: 278 | , 278 }}{{ #if: | . DOI:{{{doi}}} }}{{ #if: | . {{{id}}} }}{{ #if: 0415040132 | . ISBN 0415040132 }}{{ #if: | . OCLC {{{oclc}}} }}{{ #if: | {{ #if: | . Retrieved on [[{{{accessdate}}}]] | {{ #if: | . Retrieved {{ #if: | on [[{{{accessmonth}}} {{{accessyear}}}]] | during [[{{{accessyear}}}]] }}}} }} }}.{{ #if: |  “{{{quote}}}” }} </in
  5. ^ a b {{ #if: Parekh | {{ #if: | [[{{{authorlink}}}|{{ #if: Parekh | Parekh{{ #if: Bhikhu C. | , Bhikhu C. }} | {{{author}}} }}]] | {{ #if: Parekh | Parekh{{ #if: Bhikhu C. | , Bhikhu C. }} | {{{author}}} }} }} }}{{ #if: Parekh | {{ #if: | ; {{{coauthors}}} }} }}{{ #if: | [{{{origdate}}}] | {{ #if: | {{ #if: | [{{{origmonth}}} {{{origyear}}}] | [{{{origyear}}}] }} }} }}{{ #if: | ({{{date}}}) | {{ #if: 1999 | {{ #if: | ({{{month}}} 1999) | (1999) }} }} }}{{ #if: Parekh | . }}{{ #if: | "{{ #if: | [{{{chapterurl}}} {{{chapter}}}] | {{{chapter}}} }}",}}{{ #if: | in {{{editor}}}: }} {{ #if: | [{{{url}}} Colonialism, Tradition and Reform: An Analysis of Gandhi's Political Discourse] | Colonialism, Tradition and Reform: An Analysis of Gandhi's Political Discourse }}{{ #if: | ({{{format}}}) }}{{ #if: | , {{{others}}} }}{{ #if: | , {{{edition}}} }}{{ #if: | , {{{series}}} }}{{ #if: | (in {{{language}}}) }}{{ #if: Sage | {{#if: | , | . }}{{ #if: | {{{location}}}: }}Sage }}{{ #if: 210 | , 210 }}{{ #if: | . DOI:{{{doi}}} }}{{ #if: | . {{{id}}} }}{{ #if: 0761993835 | . ISBN 0761993835 }}{{ #if: | . OCLC {{{oclc}}} }}{{ #if: | {{ #if: | . Retrieved on [[{{{accessdate}}}]] | {{ #if: | . Retrieved {{ #if: | on [[{{{accessmonth}}} {{{accessyear}}}]] | during [[{{{accessyear}}}]] }}}} }} }}.{{ #if: |  “{{{quote}}}” }} </in
  6. ^ {{ #if: Kumar | {{ #if: | [[{{{authorlink}}}|{{ #if: Kumar | Kumar{{ #if: Girja | , Girja }} | {{{author}}} }}]] | {{ #if: Kumar | Kumar{{ #if: Girja | , Girja }} | {{{author}}} }} }} }}{{ #if: Kumar | {{ #if: | ; {{{coauthors}}} }} }}{{ #if: | [{{{origdate}}}] | {{ #if: | {{ #if: | [{{{origmonth}}} {{{origyear}}}] | [{{{origyear}}}] }} }} }}{{ #if: | ({{{date}}}) | {{ #if: 1997 | {{ #if: | ({{{month}}} 1997) | (1997) }} }} }}{{ #if: Kumar | . }}{{ #if: | "{{ #if: | [{{{chapterurl}}} {{{chapter}}}] | {{{chapter}}} }}",}}{{ #if: | in {{{editor}}}: }} {{ #if: | [{{{url}}} The Book on Trial: Fundamentalism and Censorship in India] | The Book on Trial: Fundamentalism and Censorship in India }}{{ #if: | ({{{format}}}) }}{{ #if: | , {{{others}}} }}{{ #if: | , {{{edition}}} }}{{ #if: | , {{{series}}} }}{{ #if: | (in {{{language}}}) }}{{ #if: Har-Anand Publications | {{#if: | , | . }}{{ #if: | {{{location}}}: }}Har-Anand Publications }}{{ #if: 98 | , 98 }}{{ #if: | . DOI:{{{doi}}} }}{{ #if: | . {{{id}}} }}{{ #if: 8124105251 | . ISBN 8124105251 }}{{ #if: | . OCLC {{{oclc}}} }}{{ #if: | {{ #if: | . Retrieved on [[{{{accessdate}}}]] | {{ #if: | . Retrieved {{ #if: | on [[{{{accessmonth}}} {{{accessyear}}}]] | during [[{{{accessyear}}}]] }}}} }} }}.{{ #if: |  “{{{quote}}}” }} </in
  7. ^ a b c {{ #if: Tidrick | {{ #if: | [[|{{ #if: Tidrick | Tidrick{{ #if: Kathryn | , Kathryn }} | {{{author}}} }}]] | {{ #if: Tidrick | Tidrick{{ #if: Kathryn | , Kathryn }} | {{{author}}} }} }} }}{{ #if: Tidrick | {{ #if: | ; {{{coauthors}}} }} }}{{ #if: | [{{{origdate}}}] | {{ #if: | {{ #if: | [{{{origmonth}}} {{{origyear}}}] | [{{{origyear}}}] }} }} }}{{ #if: | ({{{date}}}) | {{ #if: 2007 | {{ #if: | ({{{month}}} 2007) | (2007) }} }} }}{{ #if: Tidrick | . }}{{ #if: | "{{ #if: | [{{{chapterurl}}} {{{chapter}}}] | {{{chapter}}} }}",}}{{ #if: | in {{{editor}}}: }} {{ #if: | [{{{url}}} Gandhi: A Political and Spiritual Life] | Gandhi: A Political and Spiritual Life }}{{ #if: | ({{{format}}}) }}{{ #if: | , {{{others}}} }}{{ #if: | , {{{edition}}} }}{{ #if: | , {{{series}}} }}{{ #if: | (in {{{language}}}) }}{{ #if: I.B.Tauris | {{#if: | , | . }}{{ #if: | {{{location}}}: }}I.B.Tauris }}{{ #if: 302–304 | , 302–304 }}{{ #if: | . DOI:{{{doi}}} }}{{ #if: | . {{{id}}} }}{{ #if: 1845111664 | . ISBN 1845111664 }}{{ #if: | . OCLC {{{oclc}}} }}{{ #if: | {{ #if: | . Retrieved on [[{{{accessdate}}}]] | {{ #if: | . Retrieved {{ #if: | on [[{{{accessmonth}}} {{{accessyear}}}]] | during [[{{{accessyear}}}]] }}}} }} }}.{{ #if: |  “{{{quote}}}” }} </in
  8. ^ {{ #if: Tidrick | {{ #if: | [[|{{ #if: Tidrick | Tidrick{{ #if: Kathryn | , Kathryn }} | {{{author}}} }}]] | {{ #if: Tidrick | Tidrick{{ #if: Kathryn | , Kathryn }} | {{{author}}} }} }} }}{{ #if: Tidrick | {{ #if: | ; {{{coauthors}}} }} }}{{ #if: | [{{{origdate}}}] | {{ #if: | {{ #if: | [{{{origmonth}}} {{{origyear}}}] | [{{{origyear}}}] }} }} }}{{ #if: | ({{{date}}}) | {{ #if: 2007 | {{ #if: | ({{{month}}} 2007) | (2007) }} }} }}{{ #if: Tidrick | . }}{{ #if: | "{{ #if: | [{{{chapterurl}}} {{{chapter}}}] | {{{chapter}}} }}",}}{{ #if: | in {{{editor}}}: }} {{ #if: | [{{{url}}} Gandhi: A Political and Spiritual Life] | Gandhi: A Political and Spiritual Life }}{{ #if: | ({{{format}}}) }}{{ #if: | , {{{others}}} }}{{ #if: | , {{{edition}}} }}{{ #if: | , {{{series}}} }}{{ #if: | (in {{{language}}}) }}{{ #if: I.B.Tauris | {{#if: | , | . }}{{ #if: | {{{location}}}: }}I.B.Tauris }}{{ #if: 160 | , 160 }}{{ #if: | . DOI:{{{doi}}} }}{{ #if: | . {{{id}}} }}{{ #if: 1845111664 | . ISBN 1845111664 }}{{ #if: | . OCLC {{{oclc}}} }}{{ #if: | {{ #if: | . Retrieved on [[{{{accessdate}}}]] | {{ #if: | . Retrieved {{ #if: | on [[{{{accessmonth}}} {{{accessyear}}}]] | during [[{{{accessyear}}}]] }}}} }} }}.{{ #if: |  “{{{quote}}}” }} </in
  9. ^ a b {{ #if: Wolpert | {{ #if: | [[{{{authorlink}}}|{{ #if: Wolpert | Wolpert{{ #if: Stanley | , Stanley }} | {{{author}}} }}]] | {{ #if: Wolpert | Wolpert{{ #if: Stanley | , Stanley }} | {{{author}}} }} }} }}{{ #if: Wolpert | {{ #if: | ; {{{coauthors}}} }} }}{{ #if: | [{{{origdate}}}] | {{ #if: | {{ #if: | [{{{origmonth}}} {{{origyear}}}] | [{{{origyear}}}] }} }} }}{{ #if: | ({{{date}}}) | {{ #if: 2001 | {{ #if: | ({{{month}}} 2001) | (2001) }} }} }}{{ #if: Wolpert | . }}{{ #if: | "{{ #if: | [{{{chapterurl}}} {{{chapter}}}] | {{{chapter}}} }}",}}{{ #if: | in {{{editor}}}: }} {{ #if: | [{{{url}}} Gandhi's Passion: The Life and Legacy of Mahatma Gandhi] | Gandhi's Passion: The Life and Legacy of Mahatma Gandhi }}{{ #if: | ({{{format}}}) }}{{ #if: | , {{{others}}} }}{{ #if: | , {{{edition}}} }}{{ #if: | , {{{series}}} }}{{ #if: | (in {{{language}}}) }}{{ #if: Oxford University Press | {{#if: | , | . }}{{ #if: | {{{location}}}: }}Oxford University Press }}{{ #if: 226–227 | , 226–227 }}{{ #if: | . DOI:{{{doi}}} }}{{ #if: | . {{{id}}} }}{{ #if: 019515634X | . ISBN 019515634X }}{{ #if: | . OCLC {{{oclc}}} }}{{ #if: | {{ #if: | . Retrieved on [[{{{accessdate}}}]] | {{ #if: | . Retrieved {{ #if: | on [[{{{accessmonth}}} {{{accessyear}}}]] | during [[{{{accessyear}}}]] }}}} }} }}.{{ #if: |  “{{{quote}}}” }} </in
  10. ^ {{ #if: Kumar | {{ #if: | [[{{{authorlink}}}|{{ #if: Kumar | Kumar{{ #if: Girja | , Girja }} | {{{author}}} }}]] | {{ #if: Kumar | Kumar{{ #if: Girja | , Girja }} | {{{author}}} }} }} }}{{ #if: Kumar | {{ #if: | ; {{{coauthors}}} }} }}{{ #if: | [{{{origdate}}}] | {{ #if: | {{ #if: | [{{{origmonth}}} {{{origyear}}}] | [{{{origyear}}}] }} }} }}{{ #if: | ({{{date}}}) | {{ #if: 1997 | {{ #if: | ({{{month}}} 1997) | (1997) }} }} }}{{ #if: Kumar | . }}{{ #if: | "{{ #if: | [{{{chapterurl}}} {{{chapter}}}] | {{{chapter}}} }}",}}{{ #if: | in {{{editor}}}: }} {{ #if: | [{{{url}}} The Book on Trial: Fundamentalism and Censorship in India] | The Book on Trial: Fundamentalism and Censorship in India }}{{ #if: | ({{{format}}}) }}{{ #if: | , {{{others}}} }}{{ #if: | , {{{edition}}} }}{{ #if: | , {{{series}}} }}{{ #if: | (in {{{language}}}) }}{{ #if: Har-Anand Publishers | {{#if: | , | . }}{{ #if: | {{{location}}}: }}Har-Anand Publishers }}{{ #if: 73-107 | , 73-107 }}{{ #if: | . DOI:{{{doi}}} }}{{ #if: | . {{{id}}} }}{{ #if: 8124105251 | . ISBN 8124105251 }}{{ #if: | . OCLC {{{oclc}}} }}{{ #if: | {{ #if: | . Retrieved on [[{{{accessdate}}}]] | {{ #if: | . Retrieved {{ #if: | on [[{{{accessmonth}}} {{{accessyear}}}]] | during [[{{{accessyear}}}]] }}}} }} }}.{{ #if: |  “{{{quote}}}” }} </in
  11. ^ reprinted in The Essential Gandhi: An Anthology of His Writings on His Life, Work, and Ideas., Louis Fischer, ed., 2002 (reprint edition) pp. 106–108.
  12. ^ reprinted in The Essential Gandhi: An Anthology of His Writings on His Life, Work, and Ideas.Louis Fischer, ed., 2002 (reprint edition) pp. 308–9.
  13. ^ Jack, Homer. The Gandhi Reader, p. 418.
  14. ^ "The life and death of Mahatma Gandhi", on BBC News, see section "Independence and partition."
  15. ^ reprinted in The Essential Gandhi: An Anthology of His Writings on His Life, Work, and Ideas., Louis Fischer, ed., 2002 (reprint edition) pp. 286-288.
  16. ^ SANET-MG Archives - September 2001 (#303)
  17. ^ Mahatama Gandhi on Bhagat Singh.
  18. ^ Gandhi — 'Mahatma' or Flawed Genius?.
  19. ^ reprinted in The Essential Gandhi: An Anthology of His Writings on His Life, Work, and Ideas., Louis Fischer, ed., 2002 (reprint edition) p. 311.
  20. ^ Jack, Homer. The Gandhi Reader, pp. 319–20.
  21. ^ a b Jack, Homer. The Gandhi Reader, p. 322.
  22. ^ Jack, Homer. The Gandhi Reader, pp. 323–4.
  23. ^ Jack, Homer The Gandhi Reader, pp. 324–6.
  24. ^ David Lewis Schaefer. What Did Gandhi Do?. National Review, 28 April 2003. Retrieved 21 March 2006; Richard Grenier. "The Gandhi Nobody Knows". Commentary Magazine. March 1983. Retrieved 21 March 2006.
  25. ^ Hertzberg, Arthur. The Zionist Idea. PA: Jewish Publications Society, 1997, pp. 463-464.; see also Gordon, Haim. "A Rejection of Spiritual Imperialism: Reflections on Buber's Letter to Gandhi." Journal of Ecumenical Studies, June 22, 1999.
  26. ^ Jack, Homer. The Gandhi Reader, Harijan, November 26, 1938, pp. 317–318.
  27. ^ Mohandas K. Gandhi. A Non-Violent Look at Conflict & Violence Published in Harijan on November 26, 1938
  28. ^ {{ #if: | {{ #if: | [[{{{authorlink}}}|{{ #if: | {{{last}}}{{ #if: | , {{{first}}} }} | {{{author}}} }}]] | {{ #if: | {{{last}}}{{ #if: | , {{{first}}} }} | {{{author}}} }} }} }}{{ #if: | {{ #if: | ; {{{coauthors}}} }} }}{{ #if: | [{{{origdate}}}] | {{ #if: | {{ #if: | [{{{origmonth}}} {{{origyear}}}] | [{{{origyear}}}] }} }} }}{{ #if: | ({{{date}}}) | {{ #if: | {{ #if: | ({{{month}}} {{{year}}}) | ({{{year}}}) }} }} }}{{ #if: | . }}{{ #if: | "{{ #if: | [{{{chapterurl}}} {{{chapter}}}] | {{{chapter}}} }}",}}{{ #if: | in {{{editor}}}: }} {{ #if: | [{{{url}}} The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi] | The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi }}{{ #if: | ({{{format}}}) }}{{ #if: | , {{{others}}} }}{{ #if: | , {{{edition}}} }}{{ #if: | , {{{series}}} }}{{ #if: | (in {{{language}}}) }}{{ #if: | {{#if: | , | . }}{{ #if: | {{{location}}}: }}{{{publisher}}} }}{{ #if: 183 | , 183 }}{{ #if: | . DOI:{{{doi}}} }}{{ #if: | . {{{id}}} }}{{ #if: | . ISBN {{{isbn}}} }}{{ #if: | . OCLC {{{oclc}}} }}{{ #if: | {{ #if: | . Retrieved on [[{{{accessdate}}}]] | {{ #if: | . Retrieved {{ #if: | on [[{{{accessmonth}}} {{{accessyear}}}]] | during [[{{{accessyear}}}]] }}}} }} }}.{{ #if: |  “{{{quote}}}” }} </in
  29. ^ {{ #if: | {{ #if: | [[{{{authorlink}}}|{{ #if: | {{{last}}}{{ #if: | , {{{first}}} }} | {{{author}}} }}]] | {{ #if: | {{{last}}}{{ #if: | , {{{first}}} }} | {{{author}}} }} }} }}{{ #if: | {{ #if: | ; {{{coauthors}}} }} }}{{ #if: | [{{{origdate}}}] | {{ #if: | {{ #if: | [{{{origmonth}}} {{{origyear}}}] | [{{{origyear}}}] }} }} }}{{ #if: | ({{{date}}}) | {{ #if: | {{ #if: | ({{{month}}} {{{year}}}) | ({{{year}}}) }} }} }}{{ #if: | . }}{{ #if: | "{{ #if: | [{{{chapterurl}}} {{{chapter}}}] | {{{chapter}}} }}",}}{{ #if: | in {{{editor}}}: }} {{ #if: | [{{{url}}} The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi] | The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi }}{{ #if: | ({{{format}}}) }}{{ #if: | , {{{others}}} }}{{ #if: | , {{{edition}}} }}{{ #if: | , {{{series}}} }}{{ #if: | (in {{{language}}}) }}{{ #if: | {{#if: | , | . }}{{ #if: | {{{location}}}: }}{{{publisher}}} }}{{ #if: 199 | , 199 }}{{ #if: | . DOI:{{{doi}}} }}{{ #if: | . {{{id}}} }}{{ #if: | . ISBN {{{isbn}}} }}{{ #if: | . OCLC {{{oclc}}} }}{{ #if: | {{ #if: | . Retrieved on [[{{{accessdate}}}]] | {{ #if: | . Retrieved {{ #if: | on [[{{{accessmonth}}} {{{accessyear}}}]] | during [[{{{accessyear}}}]] }}}} }} }}.{{ #if: |  “{{{quote}}}” }} </in
  30. ^ {{ #if: | {{ #if: | [[{{{authorlink}}}|{{ #if: | {{{last}}}{{ #if: | , {{{first}}} }} | {{{author}}} }}]] | {{ #if: | {{{last}}}{{ #if: | , {{{first}}} }} | {{{author}}} }} }} }}{{ #if: | {{ #if: | ; {{{coauthors}}} }} }}{{ #if: | [{{{origdate}}}] | {{ #if: | {{ #if: | [{{{origmonth}}} {{{origyear}}}] | [{{{origyear}}}] }} }} }}{{ #if: | ({{{date}}}) | {{ #if: | {{ #if: | ({{{month}}} {{{year}}}) | ({{{year}}}) }} }} }}{{ #if: | . }}{{ #if: | "{{ #if: | [{{{chapterurl}}} {{{chapter}}}] | {{{chapter}}} }}",}}{{ #if: | in {{{editor}}}: }} {{ #if: | [{{{url}}} The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi] | The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi }}{{ #if: | ({{{format}}}) }}{{ #if: | , {{{others}}} }}{{ #if: | , {{{edition}}} }}{{ #if: | , {{{series}}} }}{{ #if: | (in {{{language}}}) }}{{ #if: | {{#if: | , | . }}{{ #if: | {{{location}}}: }}{{{publisher}}} }}{{ #if: 255 | , 255 }}{{ #if: | . DOI:{{{doi}}} }}{{ #if: | . {{{id}}} }}{{ #if: | . ISBN {{{isbn}}} }}{{ #if: | . OCLC {{{oclc}}} }}{{ #if: | {{ #if: | . Retrieved on [[{{{accessdate}}}]] | {{ #if: | . Retrieved {{ #if: | on [[{{{accessmonth}}} {{{accessyear}}}]] | during [[{{{accessyear}}}]] }}}} }} }}.{{ #if: |  “{{{quote}}}” }} </in
  31. ^ Jesudasan, Ignatius. A Gandhian theology of liberation. Gujarat Sahitya Prakash: Ananda India, 1987, pp 236–237
  32. ^ Murthy, Srinivas.Mahatma Gandhi and Leo Tolstoy Letters. Long Beach Publications: Long Beach, 1987, pp 13
  33. ^ Murthy, Srinivas.Mahatma Gandhi and Leo Tolstoy Letters. Long Beach Publications: Long Beach, 1987, pp 189.
  34. ^ Articles on and by Gandhi, Retrieved on June 7, 2008.
  35. ^ Chapter VI Hind Swaraj by M.K. Gandhi
  36. ^ Bhattacharyya, Buddhadeva. Evolution of the political philosophy of Gandhi. Calcutta Book House: Calcutta, 1969, pp 479
  37. ^ Chapter VI Hind Swaraj by M.K. Gandhi
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