MAHATMA Gandhi (1869-1948), through the self-coined concept of Satyagraha (“asserting for truth”) as well as the idea of ahimsa (“nonviolence”), fought discrimination in South Africa in his early life and later resisted British occupation in India.
This resistance of British authority with the goal of Indian independence came through secular organization of ahimsa, as civil disobedience in response to violence and oppression was paramount to Gandhi. He led by example through what some call his nationalist-asceticism during the Indian Independence Movement, as he played the role of a political Gandhi as well as the role of Gandhi the spiritual hermit. His political nature shows within his nationalist “Quit India” speech and his attempts to prevent the partition of India, while his ascetic lifestyle is evident in how he used his body as a vehicle to embody self-discipline and simplicity during his hunger strikes and chosen attire of loin cloth. While Gandhi did not succeed in his negotiations with the Muslim League and Muhammad Ali Jinnah for a unified India, the British granted independence to India in the face of growing Indian nationalism and economic pressures.
FURTHER READING
Chakraborty, Chandrima. “Speaking through Bodies, Exhibiting the Limits: British Colonialism and Gandhian Nationalism.” Forum for world literature studies 6, no. 4 (2014): 675–691.
Jahanbegloo, Ramin. “Gandhi and the Global Satyagraha.” Social Change (New Delhi) 51, no. 1 (2021): 38–50.
Prem Anand Mishra. “POLITICAL THEORY OF ANARCHISM IN GANDHI’S WRITINGS.” Indian journal of political science 74, no. 3 (2013): 453–462.
Singh, Frances B. “A Passage to India, the National Movement, and Independence.” Twentieth Century Literature 31, no. 2/3 (1985): 265–78. https://doi.org/10.2307/441295.
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