Trekkie parsons biography of mahatma gandhi

Upon returning to India in , Gandhi learned that his mother had died just weeks earlier. He struggled to gain his footing as a lawyer. In his first courtroom case, a nervous Gandhi blanked when the time came to cross-examine a witness. He immediately fled the courtroom after reimbursing his client for his legal fees. Gandhi grew up worshiping the Hindu god Vishnu and following Jainism, a morally rigorous ancient Indian religion that espoused non-violence, fasting, meditation and vegetarianism.

Living in South Africa, Gandhi continued to study world religions. He immersed himself in sacred Hindu spiritual texts and adopted a life of simplicity, austerity, fasting and celibacy that was free of material goods. After struggling to find work as a lawyer in India, Gandhi obtained a one-year contract to perform legal services in South Africa.

When Gandhi arrived in South Africa, he was quickly appalled by the discrimination and racial segregation faced by Indian immigrants at the hands of white British and Boer authorities. Upon his first appearance in a Durban courtroom, Gandhi was asked to remove his turban. He refused and left the court instead. Refusing to move to the back of the train, Gandhi was forcibly removed and thrown off the train at a station in Pietermaritzburg.

From that night forward, the small, unassuming man would grow into a giant force for civil rights. Gandhi formed the Natal Indian Congress in to fight discrimination.

Trekkie parsons biography of mahatma gandhi

Gandhi prepared to return to India at the end of his year-long contract until he learned, at his farewell party, of a bill before the Natal Legislative Assembly that would deprive Indians of the right to vote. Fellow immigrants convinced Gandhi to stay and lead the fight against the legislation. After a brief trip to India in late and early , Gandhi returned to South Africa with his wife and children.

Gandhi ran a thriving legal practice, and at the outbreak of the Boer War, he raised an all-Indian ambulance corps of 1, volunteers to support the British cause, arguing that if Indians expected to have full rights of citizenship in the British Empire, they also needed to shoulder their responsibilities. After years of protests, the government imprisoned hundreds of Indians in , including Gandhi.

Under pressure, the South African government accepted a compromise negotiated by Gandhi and General Jan Christian Smuts that included recognition of Hindu marriages and the abolition of a poll tax for Indians. In Gandhi founded an ashram in Ahmedabad, India, that was open to all castes. Wearing a simple loincloth and shawl, Gandhi lived an austere life devoted to prayer, fasting and meditation.

The Salt March marked a significant escalation in the struggle for Indian independence, showcasing the power of peaceful protest and civil disobedience. In response, the British authorities arrested Gandhi and thousands of others, further galvanizing the movement and drawing widespread sympathy and support for the cause. The impact of the Salt March was profound and far-reaching.

It succeeded in undermining the moral authority of British rule in India and demonstrated the effectiveness of non-violent resistance. Gandhi vehemently opposed the age-old practice of untouchability in Hindu society, considering it a moral and social evil that needed to be eradicated. He believed that for India to truly gain independence from British rule, it had to first cleanse itself of internal social evils like untouchability.

This stance sometimes put him at odds with traditionalists within the Hindu community, but Gandhi remained unwavering in his belief that social reform was integral to the national movement. By elevating the issue of untouchability, Gandhi sought to unify the Indian people under the banner of social justice, making the independence movement a struggle for both political freedom and social equality.

He argued that the segregation and mistreatment of any group of people were against the fundamental principles of justice and non-violence that he stood for. The talks were often contentious, with significant disagreements, particularly regarding the partition of India to create Pakistan, a separate state for Muslims. Gandhi was deeply involved in these discussions, advocating for a united India while striving to alleviate communal tensions.

Despite his efforts, the partition became inevitable due to rising communal violence and political pressures. On August 15, , India finally gained its independence from British rule, marking the end of nearly two centuries of colonial dominance. The announcement of independence was met with jubilant celebrations across the country as millions of Indians, who had longed for this moment, rejoiced in their newfound freedom.

Gandhi, though revered for his leadership and moral authority, was personally disheartened by the partition and worked tirelessly to ease the communal strife that followed. His commitment to peace and unity remained steadfast, even as India and the newly formed Pakistan navigated the challenges of independence. The geography of the Indian subcontinent was dramatically altered by the partition, with the creation of Pakistan separating the predominantly Muslim regions in the west and east from the rest of India.

This division led to one of the largest mass migrations in human history, as millions of Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs crossed borders in both directions, seeking safety amidst communal violence. Gandhi spent these crucial moments advocating for peace and communal harmony, trying to heal the wounds of a divided nation. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi married Kasturba Makhanji Kapadia, often referred to as Kasturba Gandhi or Ba, in an arranged marriage in , when he was just 13 years old.

Kasturba, who was of the same age as Gandhi, became his partner in life and in the struggle for Indian independence. Despite the initial challenges of an arranged marriage, Kasturba and Gandhi grew to share a deep bond of love and mutual respect. Together, they had four sons: Harilal, born in ; Manilal, born in ; Ramdas, born in ; and Devdas, born in Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated because some extremists saw him as too accommodating to Muslims during the partition of India.

He was 78 years old when he died. The assassination occurred on January 30, , when Nathuram Godse, a Hindu nationalist, shot Gandhi at point-blank range in the garden of the Birla House in New Delhi. He supported the British war effort in World War I but remained critical of colonial authorities for measures he felt were unjust. He backed off after violence broke out—including the massacre by British-led soldiers of some Indians attending a meeting at Amritsar—but only temporarily, and by he was the most visible figure in the movement for Indian independence.

The iconic Indian activist, known for his principle of nonviolent resistance, had humble beginnings and left an outsized legacy. As part of his nonviolent non-cooperation campaign for home rule, Gandhi stressed the importance of economic independence for India. He particularly advocated the manufacture of khaddar, or homespun cloth, in order to replace imported textiles from Britain.

Invested with all the authority of the Indian National Congress INC or Congress Party , Gandhi turned the independence movement into a massive organization, leading boycotts of British manufacturers and institutions representing British influence in India, including legislatures and schools. After sporadic violence broke out, Gandhi announced the end of the resistance movement, to the dismay of his followers.

British authorities arrested Gandhi in March and tried him for sedition; he was sentenced to six years in prison but was released in after undergoing an operation for appendicitis. In , after British authorities made some concessions, Gandhi again called off the resistance movement and agreed to represent the Congress Party at the Round Table Conference in London.

He employed non-violent principles and peaceful disobedience as a means to achieve his goal. He was assassinated in , shortly after achieving his life goal of Indian independence. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it—always. Mohandas K. Gandhi was born in , in Porbandar, India.

Mohandas was from the social cast of tradesmen. As a youngster, Mohandas was a good student, but the shy young boy displayed no signs of leadership. On the death of his father, Mohandas travelled to England to gain a degree in law. He became involved with the Vegetarian Society and was once asked to translate the Hindu Bhagavad Gita.

This classic of Hindu literature awakened in Gandhi a sense of pride in the Indian scriptures, of which the Gita was the pearl. Around this time, he also studied the Bible and was struck by the teachings of Jesus Christ — especially the emphasis on humility and forgiveness. He remained committed to the Bible and Bhagavad Gita throughout his life, though he was critical of aspects of both religions.

On completing his degree in Law, Gandhi returned to India, where he was soon sent to South Africa to practise law. In South Africa, Gandhi was struck by the level of racial discrimination and injustice often experienced by Indians. In , he was thrown off a train at the railway station in Pietermaritzburg after a white man complained about Gandhi travelling in first class.

This experience was a pivotal moment for Gandhi and he began to represent other Indias who experienced discrimination. As a lawyer he was in high demand and soon he became the unofficial leader for Indians in South Africa. It was in South Africa that Gandhi first experimented with campaigns of civil disobedience and protest; he called his non-violent protests satyagraha.

Despite being imprisoned for short periods of time, he also supported the British under certain conditions. During the Boer war, he served as a medic and stretcher-bearer. He felt that by doing his patriotic duty it would make the government more amenable to demands for fair treatment.