Mohandas Gandhi Essay, Research Paper

Satyagraha. Meaning “force or firmness of truth, Mohandas Gandhi worked and lived by this word. By peaceful, non-violent demonstrations he, little by little, took hold of the people of India’s love and honor and freed them from British rule. This is his story: On October 2, 1869 in Porbandar, India, a region of Queen Victoria, Mohandas Gandhi was born Mohandas Gandhi died in January of 1948. (The actual date is indispute. The information from my book said that his death was on the30th, but the World Book Encyclopedia says that it was Jan. 13th) He was shot 3 times by Godse, a Hindu himself. The whole world mournedfor Gandhi, a man who had no authority in government, but definitelyhad earned the respect and most importantly, the love of his people. Showing love and humanity through peaceful acts, he became well-known and well-liked. Gandhi, no matter how they hated this, wanted peace between the Muslims and the Hindus. Their religions were always against eachother and were fighting. The Hindus thought that Gandhi was becominga traitor and siding with the Muslims. This was far from the truth-Gandhi was only looking for peace. He felt strongly about this and was, unfortunately, the cause of his assassination. Gandhi did not struggle against others for his race only. Hefought for equality for all. He led Indian workers against otherIndians in a cotton mill strike which was successful. He also workedto show that the “untouchables” (very poor and supposedly uncleanpeople) were the same as everyone else. He did this by living assimply as they did and sometimes with them. It never quite did solvethe problem, but it did help. Gandhi’s impact on other occurred in many ways but all of themgood During his life many loved him and others respected him for his

Crusades for peace. His followers loved him, but almost to the pointof worship, and that he truly hated. Toward the end of his life, people’s thoughts about him hadchanged dramatically. Most were sick of peaceful demonstrationsbecause they took too long to get results and some of the time didn’taccomplish anything. They were ready to look to someone new forleadership. Gandhi himself stopped protesting and leading for a whileand was teaching skills and helping the poor live better and simplerlives. Over all, everyone was just sick of hearing the name MohandasGandhi. For some reason when he was killed though, all of that changed. Everyone was sad, and the Hindu people were ashamed that it was one ofthem who had killed him. People began to worship Gandhi in the waysthat he had hated. They knew that if he would have been able to speaka few words before he died he would have said to the people to “havemercy on the misguided Godse”, but knowing this, they still hanged hisassassin. Gandhi once said: “I have no strength, save what God givesme. I have no authority over my country men, save the purely moral.” And he more than anyone knew how weak that authority could be. Over time, Mohandas freed India from the British rule, earningrights and respect for his people and a lasting place in history. Inmy opinion, like everyone else’s. he was a great man putting othersahead of himself, but above all else wanting, hoping, and dying forpeace. BIBLIOGRAPHY Franda, Marcus and Vonetta J. ” Gandhi, Mahatama.” The New Electronic Encyclopedia. 1991, Grolier Electronic Publishing. Iyer, Raghavan. ” Gandhi, Mohandas.” The World Book Encyclopedia. 1989 ed. Reynolds, Reginald. The True Story of Gandhi, Man of Peace. Chicago: Children’s press, 1964.