Remembering the 'Mahatma' on his 151st birth anniversary

Guwahati: As India celebrates the 151st birth anniversary of the legendary Indian freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi, let us take a look at the exemplary life of the 'Mahatma' and what he stood for.

Throughout his life, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi evoked mixed feelings among the people. At times, he was viewed as a fanatic, at times as an eccentric, and it times a reactionary.

There were some who called him a revolutionary, while others saw him merely as a lawyer, a saint, or someone "who must be killed." Somewhat ironically, Gandhi championed a philosophy of non-violence only to die at the hands of an assassin.

Gandhi led a peaceful resistance movement to free India from British rule, yet independent India was born at an hour of brutal carnage. Amid sectarian killings on an unprecedented scale, Gandhi risked his life to preach non-violence until his dying day.

Mahatma Gandhi and his life:

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born and raised in a Hindu family in Gujarat, western India. His family belonged to the Baniya caste, hard-working merchants from the western Gujarat state. Gandhi's marriage at the age of 13 was arranged. He and his wife Kasturba would have four children. At Inner temple, London he was trained in law.

After 2 years of uncertain years in India, he moved to South Africa in 1893 to represent an Indian merchant in a lawsuit. It was in South Africa where he first employed non-violent resistance in a campaign for civil rights.

At the age of 45, in 1915, he returned to India. He was a changed man completely; the barrister had become a political activist trading his English suit and tie for a Dhoti, the traditional dress of India. 

When Gandhi arrived on the scene, the movement for Indian independence was gaining momentum. Gandhi addressed crowds in every town and village he visited and spoke of human dignity justice, and independence.

Across the country, nationalists organized bonfire protests to burn textiles imported from England. Soon, Gandhi launched his Charkha or spinning wheel movement.

In 1930, Gandhi led the three weeks salt march walking 358 kilometers to the village of Dandi on the Arabian Sea. There, Gandhi defied the British salt monopoly by lifting and auctioning off a fistful of salt.

From the beginning to the end, the struggle for independence was led by the Indian National Congress Party. If Gandhi was its guiding light; Nehru was its chief organizer. The two men shared a deep bond even if they didn't always see eye to eye.

On 20th January 1948, Gopal Godse, a Hindu fanatic, attempted to assassinate Mahatma Ganghi. And ten days later, his brother Nathuram Godse managed to kill Gandhi.

The brothers felt that Gandhi betrayed India's Hindus by supporting the plan for South Asia's Partition.

Gandhi's birthday, 2nd October is celebrated in India as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday. In 2007, the United Nations designated this day as the International Day of Non-Violence. Indeed, this day is an occasion for reflecting on the different stages of his life and his unique philosophy of bringing change through nonviolence. He was commonly called Bapu.

Gandhi was cremated as per Hindu custom, and his ashes are interred at Aga Khan's place in Pune, the site of his incarceration in 1942, and the place his wife had also died. Gandhi's memorial bears the epigraph "Hey Ram". Notably, Gandhi was nominated for the Nobel Prize five times although he never received it.

Mahatma Gandhi is such a towering figure in South Asian history that he and his writings have been the subject of praise, criticism, and everything in between.

Gandhi's life, values, ethics, and teachings have inspired many liberationists of the 20th Century, including Dr. Martin Luther King in the United States, Nelson Mandela and Steve Biko in South Africa, and Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar.

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