Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in Porbandar State, India. He grew up in Gujarat, and age 11 he entered Alfred High School where he was described as an “average” student who was shy and reluctant to engage with others. After graduation, he attended Samaldas College in Bombay, but dropped out shortly after. In 1888, Mahatma indicated that we wanted to study law in London, England. To secure permission from his mother and wife, he vowed that he would avoid the corrupt practices of the West and abstain from meat, alcohol and women. In 1891, at age 22, Gandhi was called to the bar and returned to India to open a law practice. After two years of modest business, he emigrated with his family to South Africa where he established a successful law practice and he remained there until 1915.
On his return to India in 1915, he organized labourers and farmers to protest excessive land tax and discrimination. This was the beginning of his campaign of nonviolent resistance to gain India’s independence from British rule. In the years that followed, Gandhi was imprisoned many times yet he relentlessly pursued his practice of passive resistance, sometimes engaging in hunger strikes and sometimes organizing protests. By 1921 he had become the leader of the Indian National Congress, dedicated to reducing poverty, expanding women’s rights, and ending the class structure that defined “untouchables,” .
In this role, Mahatma continued to escalate demands for independence and on January 26, 1930 the Indian National Congress declared India’s independence. When negotiations failed in 1942, Gandhi demanded immediate independence. England tightened its control by imprisoning Gandhi and thousands of Congress members. Finally, in August 1947, against Gandhi’s objections, the British, annexed that part of India containing a predominantly Muslim population, as a new nation to be called “Pakistan,’ thereby dividing the previous territory of India into two sovereign nations.
In spite of attempts to unify India and Pakistan, the two nations became engaged in constant conflict as political polarization intensified. At 5:17, on January 30, 1948, as Ghandi made his way to a prayer meeting where he was to deliver a speech, he was shot in the chest from short range and died 30 minutes later. The assassin, a Hindu nationalist, was unrepentant. declaring before his execution a year later, that Ghandi had been too accommodating of the Muslims in allowing India to be partitioned.
Reflecting the deep sadness that prevailed throughout the nation, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru stated on All-India Radio:
Friends and comrades, the light has gone out of our lives, and there is darkness everywhere, and I do not quite know what to tell you or how to say it. Our beloved leader, Bapu as we called him, the father of the nation, is no more. Perhaps I am wrong to say that; nevertheless, we will not see him again, as we have seen him for these many years, we will not run to him for advice or seek solace from him, and that is a terrible blow, not only for me, but for millions and millions in this country.
