Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi
Introduction
• Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is widely
recognized as one of the twentieth
century's greatest political and spiritual
leaders.
• Honored in India as the father of the nation,
he pioneered and practiced the principle of
Satyagraha—resistance to tyranny through
mass nonviolent civil disobedience.
What is this presentation
about?
• In this presentation we will know about Mahatma Gandhi and their role in
getting independence from Britishers.
Early Life
• Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on 2 October 1869 into a Gujarati Hindu Modh Bania family in
Porbandar (also known as Sudamapuri), a coastal town on the Kathiawar Peninsula.
• On 2 October 1869, his father Karamchand’s fourth wife gave birth to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.
• As a child, Gandhi was described by his sister Raliat as "restless as mercury, either playing or roaming about.
• The family's religious background was eclectic. Gandhi's father Karamchand was Hindu, and his mother
Putlibai was from a Pranami Vaishnava Hindu family. They were from Vaishya caste.
• Gandhi was deeply influenced by his mother, an extremely pious lady who "would not think of taking her
meals without her daily prayers... she would take the hardest vows and keep them without flinching.
• At age 9, Gandhi entered the local school in Rajkot, near his home. There he studied the rudiments of
arithmetic, history, the Gujarati language and geography.
• In May 1883, the 13-year-old Mohandas was married to 14-year-old Kasturbai Makhanji Kapadia in
an arranged marriage, according to the custom of the region at that time in which he losted a year at school.
• In November 1887, the 18-year-old Gandhi graduated from high school in Ahmedabad.
Gandhiji’s Early Campaigns
Some of the Gandhiji’s early campaigns were:-
1. Champaran Agitation
Gandhi's first major achievement came in 1917 with the Champaran agitation in Bihar. The Champaran
agitation pitted the local peasantry against largely Anglo-Indian plantation owners who were backed by the local
administration. The peasants were forced to grow Indigo, a cash crop for Indigo dye, whose demand had been
declining over two decades and were forced to sell their crops to the planters at a fixed price. Unhappy with this,
the peasantry appealed to Gandhi at his ashram in Ahmedabad. Pursuing a strategy of nonviolent protest, Gandhi
took the administration by surprise and won concessions from the authorities.
2. Kheda Agitations
In 1918, Kheda was hit by floods and famine and the peasantry was demanding relief from taxes. Using
non-co-operation as a technique, Gandhi initiated a signature campaign where peasants pledged non-payment of
revenue even under the threat of confiscation of land. Gandhi worked hard to win public support for the agitation
across the country. For five months, the administration refused, but by the end of May 1918, the Government gave
way on important provisions and relaxed the conditions of payment of revenue tax until the famine ended.
Some Pics of Gandhiji
Non-Cooperation
Movement
In February 1919, Gandhi cautioned the Viceroy of India with a cable
communication that if the British were to pass the Rowlett Act, he
would appeal to Indians to start civil disobedience. The British
government ignored him and passed the law, stating it would not yield
to threats. The satyagraha civil disobedience followed, with people
assembling to protest the Rowlatt Act. On 30 March 1919, British law
officers opened fire on an assembly of unarmed people, peacefully
gathered, participating in satyagraha in Delhi. Gandhi expanded his
nonviolent non-co-operation platform to include the swadeshi policy-
the boycott of foreign-made goods, especially British goods. Linked to
this was his advocacy that khadi (homespun cloth) be worn by all
Indians instead of British-made textiles. Gandhi exhorted Indian men
and women, rich or poor, to spend time each day spinning khadi in
support of the independence movement. In addition to boycotting
British products, Gandhi urged the people to boycott British
institutions and law courts, to resign from government employment,
and to forsake British Titles and honors.
Partition and Independence
Gandhi opposed the partition of Indian subcontinent along religious lines. [176] The Indian National Congress and
Gandhi called for the British to Quit India. However, the Muslim League demanded "Divide and Quit
India". Gandhi suggested an agreement which required the Congress and the Muslim League to co-operate and
attain independence under a provisional government, thereafter, the question of partition could be resolved by a
plebiscite in the districts with a Muslim majority.
The British reluctantly agreed to grant independence to the people of the Indian subcontinent, but accepted
Jinnah's proposal of partitioning the land into Pakistan and India. Gandhi was involved in the final negotiations,
but Stanley Wolpert states the "plan to carve up British India was never approved of or accepted by Gandhi".
The partition was controversial and violently disputed. More than half a million were killed in religious riots as
10 million to 12 million non-Muslims (Hindus and Sikhs mostly) migrated from Pakistan into India, and
Muslims migrated from India into Pakistan, across the newly created borders of India, West Pakistan and East
Pakistan.
Gandhi spent the day of independence not celebrating the end of the British rule but appealing for peace among
his countrymen by fasting and spinning in Calcutta on 15 August 1947. The partition had gripped the Indian
subcontinent with religious violence and the streets were filled with corpses
Thank you
Presented by:-
1. Lokanshu Jhakanaria
2. Nilanshi Verma
3. Navnendra Singh
4. Noori Singh Baghel
5. Pradeep Sharma
6. Parag Sharma
7. Keshav Bhagat

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