Mahatma Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in a small state in India called Porbandar, and died on January 30th, 1948 in New Delhi, India. Gandhi was named Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, so he didn’t get the name Mahatma from his parents, he got the name from the Indians when they realized his great soul, which is what Mahatma means, great soul. Gandhi lead India to its independence through protesting in non-violent ways. When Gandhi came to South Africa he was exposed to all kinds of discrimination and racism. At Gandhi’s farewell party, he learned that there was a new rule in India that didn’t allow them to vote.
When he moved back to India, he started his non-violent protesting, and soon he had a bunch of followers. In 1924, Gandhi decided to call an end to the protesting because the Indians were using violence towards Britain, which is not what Gandhi wanted. Gandhi retired from politics in 1934, and in 1947 India got its independence from Britain. Gandhi was assassinated in 1948 on the way to a prayer meeting by a Hindu radical.
Mahatma Gandhi believed in non-violence. His whole goal in life was to teach people the ideology of non-violent solutions. Gandhi had five main ideas in his teachings.
"Power is of two kinds. One is obtained by the fear of punishment and the other by acts of love. Power based on love is a thousand times more effective and permanent then the one derived from fear of punishment" - Mahatma Gandhi. If we solve a problem by using violence or fear then the problem could be solved for a while but then it will grow larger and larger because people will just get angry, but if we solve a problem using love and kindness then we we'll know that the problem is really solved for good.
"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy"? - Mahatma Gandhi. There have been many cases where violence has been involved in trying to solve a problem, but Gandhi has proven that there are other ways to solve problems that don't include harming/killing innocent people.
"There are many causes that I am prepared to die for but no cause that I am prepared to kill for". — Mahatma Gandhi. To accomplish peace, one of the things we have to do is give up some things. Gandhi spent his whole life detecting to finding other ways to solve problems that didn't include violence and he to sacrifice a lot in the process of it. Which is one of the many reasons he is a true hero.
"An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind". — Mahatma Gandhi. We're all people in this world, so no matter what, we should all treat each other like humans. We should not fight back with violence just because the enemy has fought us with violence. It will only make things worse, and it will not solve anything.
"We must become the change we want to see in the world". — Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi was a hero because he lead many people to work for peace in the right ways, and because of that, the people changed and followed Gandhi. Everyone needs to act like they want change in the world in a peaceful way, otherwise, nothing will be solved. If more people believe that, then more will change their ways, which would hopefully lead to peace throughout the world. People need to stand up for what they believe in, so they can be heard too.
Gandhi fought against apartheid by protesting. He protested against a lot of things like passbooks and taxes. He marched, sat, held signs and just talked. Gandhi got inspired to do this by an American named David Thoreau. David Thoreau wrote a book about teachings and how he got thrown in jail by not paying taxes. Gandhi was a very peaceful person. Gandhi was very involved with Indians in South Africa getting their rights.
One way he protested was constructing a march that was to walk to the ocean and make their own salt. It was protesting against the salt tax. So, Gandhi got a bunch of people and marched 240 miles to Dandhi. When all the people got there they started making the salt, and this was breaking the law. This led to more civil disobedience in India and South Africa. Over 60,000 people were arrested with these gestures.
Gandhi is a very heroic person, who will always be remembered. He has said many different quotes on this subject, such as; “Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.” and “Nonviolence is a weapon of the strong”.
Gandhi was sent to jail 4 times in 1922, 1930, 1933 and 1942. The longest Gandhi fasted for was 21 days only drinking water, and sometimes salt. These stunts never killed Gandhi. Gandhi died by a Hindu Brahmin named Nathuram Godse. He shot him at close range because he thought Gandhi was betraying India. Gandhi was a peaceful and helpful man and what he did with the Apartheid, was only part of his amazing, heroic life.
Mahatma Gandhi Biography. Ascension Gateway, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2010.
MAHATMA.COM. WorldViewer.com, 2005. Web. 17 Feb. 2010.
Page created on 6/22/2010 12:00:00 AM
Last edited 6/22/2010 12:00:00 AM
