Gandhi

1. Gandhi The Young Protester who Founded a Nation

2. Key Terms • Satyargraha • Salt March • Clement Attlee • Pakistan • Nathuram Godse

3. Overview • Early Years • Student and lawyer • Return to India • The Struggle for Freedom

4. Early Years • Mohandas Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in Porbandar, India. • His family was Hindu. • He got married in 1882 at the age of 13 to Kasturbai Makanji, who was also 13. They were married for 62 years.

5. Student and Lawyer • In September 1888, Gandhi left India to go to London and study law. • On June 10, 1891, Gandhi passed his examinations and was now qualified to work as a lawyer.

6. Student and Lawyer • He returned to India but found his job as a lawyer difficult. • In 1893, he moved to South Africa where he got a job as a legal adviser. • In South Africa, he formed an Association of Indian Settlers so that all Indian groups—Hindus, Muslims, and others—could come together. • He set up a law office and soon had work fighting cases for local Indians.

7. Student and Lawyer • In 1906, a law was passed in South Africa that ordered Indians to register with the government and be given a registration certificate. They had to carry it at all times. They also had to pay a special tax and the government refused to recognize marriages that were carried out in the traditional Hindu way.

8. Satyagraha • Gandhi invented a new form of protest, which he called satyagraha, a term that combines two words meaning “truth” and “force.” The term meant that Indians would stand up against injustice and would carry out protests, but they would never do so violently.

9. Satyargraha in action • In 1908 many Indians refused to register so they were imprisoned, including Gandhi. • Gen. Smutts told Gandhi they would abolish the law if the majority of Indians registered. So Gandhi called off the protest and Indians began to register again.

10. Satyargraha in action • However, the government broke its promise. Soon Indians were burning their registration certificates, and full satyargraha campaign was in underway. • In 1914, the government gave in. They abandoned the special tax, agreed to recognize Hindu marriages, and changed the registration law.

11. February 9—Write an identification for Satyargraha.

12. Return to India • Gandhi felt that his work in South Africa was done so he returned to India in January 1915. • Gandhi thought that India should be ruled by Indians, not by the British. But he was not sure how to bring about this change.

13. Return to India • Gandhi also saw that life was difficult for many people, and would remain so even if India was governed by Indians. • He felt especially sorry for the “untouchables.”

14. The Struggle for Freedom • In 1919 Gandhi became one of the leaders of the Indian National Congress and in 1920 he became the president of the All-India Home Rule League. • These two associations began a campaign against the British government. Thousands joined Gandhi in non-cooperation with the British government.

15. The Struggle for Freedom • Violence broke out and Gandhi stopped the protest. The authorities arrested Gandhi for trying to destroy the government’s authority and sentenced him to 4 years in prison.

16. The Struggle for Freedom • With Gandhi in prison, the campaigners began to argue with each other. Hindus and Muslims wanted independence to work in different ways.

17. The Salt March • In 1929, Gandhi protested a British law that stated that the British government had the sole right to gather and sell salt, by marching to the sea and gathering his own salt from the seashore.

18. The Salt March • Protests spread throughout India. Thousands of people including Gandhi were imprisoned. • Was a success. • It forced the British to release the protesters from prison and allow people to make their own salt. • The British also allowed Gandhi to go to a conference in London about India’s future.

19. The Struggle for Freedom • In 1942 the British created a plan for Indian independence. • Each province of India could decide if it wanted to join an Indian Union. • Gandhi saw that this could divide India, since Muslims might want a separate Muslim state.

20. The Struggle for Freedom • The Indian National Congress turned down the proposal and threatened to begin a satyargraha if the British didn’t leave immediately. • Gandhi and other leaders were arrested for anti-British activities, which unleashed violent protests.

21. Clement Attlee • Became prime minister of Great Britain in 1945. • He wanted India to be self-governed. • He announced that there would be an election in India, followed by an assembly to draw up a new constitution.

22. Independence • India finally became independent on August 15, 1947, but only after it had been partitioned. Alongside an independent India, a separate Muslim state, Pakistan was formed. Pakistan was in two parts, West Pakistan and East Pakistan. These later became Pakistan and Bangladesh.

23. February 13—Write an identification for the Salt March.

25. Death • Extremist Hindus felt that Gandhi was too sympathetic to Muslims. One of these Hindus, Nathuram Godse, went to a prayer meeting on June 30, 1948 attended by Gandhi and shot him.

26. Do you think that non-violence non-cooperation is a good strategy to combat injustice? Why or why not?