Indian nationalist leader. Born Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi on October 2, 1869 in Porbandar, Kathiawar, West India. He studied law in London, but in 1893 went to South Africa, where he spent 20 years opposing discriminatory legislation against Indians. When Mahatma Gandhi was only nineteen years old, he went to England to become a barrister. He obtained the degree of Barrister-at-Law and started practising law in South Africa.

When Gandhi was thirteen, he was married to Kasturbai, a girl of the same age. Child marriages, arranged by the parents, were then common in India, and since Hindu weddings were elegant, expensive affairs, the Gandhi family decided to marry off Gandhi, his older brother, and a cousin all at one time to spare the cost of three separate celebrations.

Once he had to make a journey by train,, so he bought a first-class ticket. During the journey, an officer of the railway asked him to vacate his seat for a white man, and to move to the van on the train. Mahatma Gandhi refused. The railway officials, with the help of the police, had his things thrown out. He was also removed from the carriage by force. Thus Gandhiji was subject to untold shame. This incident transformed him. Gandhi started an organisation and called it 'The Natal Indian Congress'. It was to carry on the struggle of the Indians against racial discrimination. He also started a newspaper called 'The Indian Opinion'. The paper became an organ to give information about the struggle.

Mahatma Gandhi stayed on in South Africa for nearly 21 years to fight against racial discrimination against Indian settlers. He propagated the concept of Satyagraha (satya means truth and agraha firmness). It was the use of 'Soul-Force' against 'Brute-Force' or violence.

He trained men, women and children as volunteers. He called his band a 'Peace Brigade'. He won his battle when, finally, the South African Government gave in to his demands. Gandhi now became a world-renowned person. He soon earned the title of 'Mahatma' (maha means great and atma means soul) among Indians all over the world.

As a pioneer of Satyagraha, or resistance through mass non-violent civil disobedience, he became one of the major political and spiritual leaders of his time. Satyagraha remains one of the most potent philosophies in freedom struggles throughout the world today.

In 1914, Gandhi returned to India, where he supported the Home Rule movement, and became leader of the Indian National Congress, advocating a policy of non-violent non-co-operation to achieve independence. His goal was to help poor farmers and laborers protest oppressive taxation and discrimination. He struggled to alleviate poverty, liberate women and put an end to caste discrimination, with the ultimate objective being self-rule for India.

Following his civil disobedience campaign (1919-22), he was jailed for conspiracy (1922-4). In 1930, he led a landmark 320 km/200 mi march to the sea to collect salt in symbolic defiance of the government monopoly. On his release from prison (1931), he attended the London Round Table Conference on Indian constitutional reform. In 1946, he negotiated with the Cabinet Mission which recommended the new constitutional structure. After independence (1947), he

tried to stop the Hindu-Muslim conflict in Bengal, a policy which led to his assassination in Delhi by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu fanatic.

Even after his death, Gandhi's commitment to non-violence and his belief in simple living--making his own clothes, eating a vegetarian diet, and using fasts for self-purification as well as a means of protest--have been a beacon of hope for oppressed and marginalized people throughout the world.

"An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind."

– Mahatma Gandhi

Apakah Lahir pada tanggal 2 Oktober, 1869 di Porbandar, India, Mohandas Gandhi belajar hukum dan datang untuk memperburuk hak-hak India baik di rumah maupun di Afrika Selatan. Ia menjadi pemimpin gerakan kemerdekaan India, mengorganisir boikot terhadap lembaga Inggris di bentuk pembangkangan sipil damai. Dia diberi nama Mahatmas suci dan mengawasi ashram beragam. Ia dibunuh oleh seorang fanatik pada tahun 1948.

India pemimpin nasionalis. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi lahir pada 2 Oktober 1869 di Porbandar, Kathiawar, India Barat. Ia belajar hukum di London, namun pada tahun 1893 pergi ke Afrika Selatan, di mana ia menghabiskan 20 tahun menentang undang-undang yang diskriminatif terhadap warga India. Sebagai pelopor Satyagraha, atau perlawanan melalui massa non-kekerasan pembangkangan sipil, ia menjadi salah satu pemimpin politik dan spiritual utama dari waktunya. Satyagraha tetap menjadi salah satu filsafat yang paling ampuh dalam perjuangan kebebasan di seluruh dunia saat ini.Pada tahun 1914, Gandhi kembali ke India, di mana ia mendukung gerakan Home Rule, dan menjadi pemimpin Kongres Nasional India, advokasi kebijakan non-kekerasan operasi non-co-untuk mencapai kemerdekaan. Tujuannya adalah untuk membantu para petani miskin dan buruh memprotes pajak menindas dan diskriminasi. Dia berjuang untuk mengentaskan kemiskinan, perempuan dan membebaskan mengakhiri diskriminasi kasta, dengan tujuan akhir menjadi pemerintahan sendiri bagi India.Setelah kampanye pembangkangan sipil nya (1919-1922), ia dipenjara karena konspirasi (1.922-4). Pada tahun 1930, ia memimpin 320 tengara km/200 mi march ke laut untuk mengumpulkan garam dalam pembangkangan simbolis dari monopoli pemerintah. Setelah dibebaskan dari

penjara (1931), ia menghadiri Konferensi London Putaran meja reformasi konstitusi India. Pada tahun 1946, ia bernegosiasi dengan Misi Kabinet yang direkomendasikan struktur konstitusional baru. Setelah kemerdekaan (1947), ia mencoba untuk menghentikan konflik Hindu-Muslim di Bengal, kebijakan yang menyebabkan pembunuhan di Delhi oleh Nathuram Godse, seorang fanatik Hindu.Bahkan setelah kematiannya, komitmen Gandhi untuk non-kekerasan dan keyakinannya dalam hidup sederhana - membuat baju sendiri, makan diet vegetarian, dan menggunakan puasa untuk pemurnian diri serta sarana protes - telah menjadi mercusuar harapan bagi orang-orang yang tertindas dan terpinggirkan di seluruh dunia.

"Mata ganti mata hanya berakhir membuat seluruh dunia buta."- Mahatma Gandhi

Gandhiji's full name was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. He was born on October 2, 1869 in a town called Poxbandar, Gujarat. He was the architect of India's freedom and one of the greatest men of this century. Mahatma Gandhi's life was dedicated to the ideals of truth, non-violence and love.

Young Gandhi had his primary education up to the seventh year at Porbandar. Then his education continued at Rajkot. Once an Inspector of Schools visited the school. The teacher dictated some English words. Gandhiji had spelt the word 'Kettle' incorrectly. The teacher noticed this, and made signs to Gandhiji to correct it by copying from his neighbour. But Gandhiji did not do so. He also felt that the same teacher, who had taught him that copying was bad, was not right in prompting him to do so. Still, the respect he had for his teacher did not grow less. When Mahatma Gandhi was only nineteen years old, he went to England to become a barrister. He obtained the degree of Barrister-at-Law and started practising law in South Africa.

Once he had to make a journey by train,, so he bought a first-class ticket. During the journey, an officer of the railway asked him to vacate his seat for a white man, and to move to the van on the train. Mahatma Gandhi refused. The railway officials, with the help of the police, had his things thrown out. He was also removed from the carriage by force. Thus Gandhiji was subject to untold shame. This incident transformed him. Gandhi started an organisation and called it 'The Natal Indian Congress'. It was to carry on the struggle of the Indians against racial

discrimination. He also started a newspaper called 'The Indian Opinion'. The paper became an organ to give information about the struggle.

Mahatma Gandhi stayed on in South Africa for nearly 21 years to fight against racial discrimination against Indian settlers. He propagated the concept of Satyagraha (satya means truth and agraha firmness). It was the use of 'Soul-Force' against 'Brute-Force' or violence.

He trained men, women and children as volunteers. He called his band a 'Peace Brigade'. He won his battle when, finally, the South African Government gave in to his demands. Gandhi now became a world-renowned person. He soon earned the title of 'Mahatma' (maha means great and atma means soul) among Indians all over the world.

Gandhiji came back to India in 1915 and built an ashram on the banks of the Sabaramati river near Ahmadabad. It was called 'Satyagraha Ashram'. The way of life that he practised there was known as 'Sarvodaya' the well-being of all. He fought peacefully for many causes and succeeded in persuading the government to abolish many abuses against labourers in Bihar, the Kaira peasants in Gujarat, etc.

Nama lengkap Gandhiji adalah Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Ia lahir pada tanggal 2 Oktober 1869 di sebuah kota bernama Poxbandar, Gujarat. Dia adalah arsitek kemerdekaan India dan salah satu orang terbesar abad ini. Hidup Mahatma Gandhi didedikasikan untuk cita-cita kebenaran, kekerasan non-dan cinta.Gandhi muda memiliki pendidikan dasar sampai dengan tahun ketujuh di Porbandar. Kemudian pendidikan dilanjutkan di Rajkot. Pernah menjadi Inspektur Sekolah mengunjungi sekolah. Guru mendiktekan beberapa kata bahasa Inggris. Gandhiji telah dieja 'Kettle' kata salah. Guru melihat ini, dan membuat tanda-tanda untuk Gandhiji untuk memperbaikinya dengan menyalin dari tetangganya. Tapi Gandhiji tidak melakukannya. Dia juga merasa bahwa guru yang sama, yang telah mengajarkan kepadanya bahwa penyalinan adalah buruk, tidak benar dalam mendorong dia untuk melakukannya. Namun, rasa hormat dia untuk gurunya tidak tumbuh kurang. Ketika Mahatma Gandhi hanya sembilan belas tahun, ia pergi ke Inggris untuk menjadi seorang pengacara. Dia memperoleh derajat Barrister-at-Law dan mulai berlatih hukum di Afrika Selatan.Begitu ia harus membuat perjalanan dengan kereta api,, jadi dia membeli tiket kelas satu. Selama perjalanan, petugas kereta api memintanya untuk mengosongkan tempat duduknya untuk orang kulit putih, dan untuk pindah ke van di kereta. Mahatma Gandhi menolak. Para pejabat kereta api, dengan bantuan polisi, memiliki hal-hal itu dilempar keluar. Dia juga dihapus dari gerbong dengan kekerasan. Jadi Gandhiji adalah tunduk malu tak terhitung. Kejadian ini mengubah

dirinya. Gandhi memulai sebuah organisasi dan menyebutnya 'The Natal Kongres India'. Itu untuk melanjutkan perjuangan bangsa Indian melawan diskriminasi rasial. Dia juga mulai surat kabar disebut 'The Indian Opinion'. Makalah ini menjadi sebuah organ untuk memberikan informasi tentang perjuangan.Mahatma Gandhi tinggal di Afrika Selatan selama hampir 21 tahun untuk melawan diskriminasi rasial terhadap pemukim India. Dia menyebarkan konsep Satyagraha (satya berarti kebenaran dan keteguhan agraha). Ini adalah penggunaan 'Soul-Force' melawan 'Brute-Force' atau kekerasan.Dia dilatih pria, wanita dan anak-anak sebagai relawan. Ia menyebut band-nya yang 'Perdamaian Brigade'. Ia memenangkan pertempuran ketika, akhirnya, pemerintah Afrika Selatan menyerah pada tuntutannya. Gandhi sekarang menjadi orang terkenal di dunia. Dia segera mendapatkan gelar 'Mahatma' (maha berarti jiwa berarti besar dan atma) di kalangan orang India di seluruh dunia.Gandhiji kembali ke India pada tahun 1915 dan membangun sebuah ashram di tepi sungai Sabaramati dekat Ahmadabad. Itu disebut 'Satyagraha Ashram'. Cara hidup yang ia dipraktekkan di sana dikenal sebagai 'Sarvodaya' kesejahteraan semua. Dia berjuang untuk damai banyak penyebab dan berhasil membujuk pemerintah untuk menghapuskan pelanggaran terhadap banyak buruh di Bihar, para petani Kaira di Gujarat, dll

The word Mahatma means great soul. This name was not given Gandhi at birth by his parents, but many years later by the Indian people when they discovered they had a Mahatma in their midst.

Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869, in Porbandar, a small state in western India. He was named Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. The word Gandhi means grocer, and generations earlier that had been the family occupation. But Gandhi's grandfather, father, and uncle had served as prime ministers to the princes of Porbandar and other tiny Indian states, and though lower caste, the Gandhis were middle-class, cultured, and deeply religious Hindus.

Gandhi remembered his father as truthful, brave, incorruptible, and short-tempered, but he remembered his mother as a saint. She often fasted for long periods, and once, during the four months of the rainy season, ate only on the rare days that the sun shone.

At the age of six Gandhi went to school in Porbandar and had difficulty learning to multiply. The following year his family moved to Rajkot where he remained a mediocre student, so sensitive that he ran home from school for fear the other boys might make fun of him.

When Gandhi was thirteen, he was married to Kasturbai, a girl of the same age. Child marriages, arranged by the parents, were then common in India, and since Hindu weddings were elegant,

expensive affairs, the Gandhi family decided to marry off Gandhi, his older brother, and a cousin all at one time to spare the cost of three separate celebrations.

At first the thirteen-year-old couple were almost too shy to speak to each other, but Gandhi soon became bossy and jealous. Kasturbai could not even play with her friends without his permission and often he would refuse it. But she was not easily cowed, and when she disobeyed him the two children would quarrel and not talk for days. Yet while Gandhi was desperately trying to assert his authority as a husband he remained a boy, so afraid of the dark that he had to sleep with a light on in his room though he was ashamed to explain this to Kasturbai.

The young bridegroom was still in high school, where his scholarship had improved, and he won several small prizes. Indian independence was the dream of every student, and a Moslem friend convinced Gandhi that the British were able to rule India only because they ate meat and the Hindus did not. In meat lay strength and in strength lay freedom.

Gandhi's family was sternly vegetarian, but the boy's patriotism vanquished his scruples. One day, in a hidden place by a river, his friend gave him some cooked goat's meat. To Gandhi it tasted like leather and he immediately became ill. That night he dreamed a live goat was bleating in his stomach, but he ate meat another half-dozen times, until he decided it was not worth the sin of lying to his parents. After they died, he thought, he would turn carnivorous and build up the strength to fight for freedom. Actually, he never ate meat again, and freed India with a strength that was moral rather than physical.

But Gandhi was still a rebellious teenager, and once, when he needed money, stole a bit of gold from his brother's jewelry. The crime haunted him so that he finally confessed to his father, expecting him to be angry and violent. Instead the old man wept.

"Those pearl drops of love cleansed my heart," Gandhi later wrote, "and washed my sin away." It was his first insight into the impressive psychological power of ahimsa, or nonviolence.

Gandhi was sixteen when his father died. Two years later the youth graduated from high school and enrolled in a small Indian college. But he disliked it and returned home after one term.

A friend of the family then advised him to go to England where he could earn a law degree in three years and equip himself for eventual succession to his father's post as prime minister. Though he would have preferred to study medicine, the idea of going to England excited Gandhi. After he vowed he would not touch liquor, meat, or women, his mother gave him her blessing and his brother gave him the money.

Leaving his wife and their infant son with his family in Rajkot, he went to Bombay. There he purchased some English-style clothing and sailed for England on September 4, 1888, just one month short of his nineteenth birthday.

Part 2

The Mahatma Kata berarti jiwa besar. Nama ini tidak diberikan Gandhi saat lahir oleh orang tuanya, tapi bertahun-tahun kemudian oleh orang-orang India ketika mereka menemukan mereka memiliki Mahatma di tengah-tengah mereka.Gandhi lahir pada 2 Oktober, 1869 di Porbandar, sebuah negara kecil di India barat. Dia bernama Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Kata Gandhi berarti toko kelontong, dan generasi sebelumnya yang telah pendudukan keluarga. Tapi kakek Gandhi, ayah, dan paman telah menjabat sebagai perdana menteri dengan pangeran dari Porbandar dan negara bagian India kecil, dan meskipun kasta rendah, Gandhi adalah kelas menengah, berbudaya, dan Hindu yang sangat religius.Gandhi teringat ayahnya sebagai jujur, berani, tidak fana, dan pendek-marah, tapi ia ingat ibunya sebagai orang suci. Dia sering berpuasa untuk waktu yang lama, dan sekali, selama empat bulan musim hujan, makan hanya pada hari-hari langka yang matahari bersinar.Pada usia enam Gandhi pergi ke sekolah di Porbandar dan mengalami kesulitan belajar untuk berkembang biak. Tahun berikutnya keluarganya pindah ke Rajkot di mana ia tetap seorang mahasiswa biasa-biasa saja, sangat sensitif sehingga ia berlari pulang dari sekolah karena takut anak-anak lain mungkin mengolok-olok dia.Ketika Gandhi berusia tiga belas tahun, ia menikah dengan Kasturbai, seorang gadis dari usia yang sama. Anak pernikahan, diatur oleh orang tua, yang kemudian umum di India, dan sejak Hindu pernikahan

yang elegan, urusan mahal, keluarga Gandhi memutuskan untuk menikahkan Gandhi, kakaknya, dan sepupu semua pada satu waktu luang biaya tiga terpisah perayaan.Pada pertama pasangan tiga belas tahun hampir terlalu malu untuk berbicara satu sama lain, namun Gandhi segera menjadi bossy dan cemburu. Kasturbai bahkan tidak bisa bermain dengan teman-temannya tanpa izin dan sering ia akan menolaknya. Tapi dia tidak mudah takut, dan ketika dia tidak taat kepadanya dua anak akan bertengkar dan tidak berbicara selama berhari-hari. Namun sementara Gandhi berusaha keras untuk menegaskan kekuasaannya sebagai suami dia tetap anak laki-laki, begitu takut gelap bahwa ia harus tidur dengan lampu di dalam kamarnya meskipun ia malu untuk menjelaskan hal ini kepada Kasturbai.Mempelai pria muda itu masih di sekolah menengah, di mana beasiswa telah membaik, dan ia memenangkan hadiah kecil beberapa. Kemerdekaan India adalah impian setiap siswa, dan seorang teman muslim meyakinkan Gandhi bahwa Inggris mampu memerintah India hanya karena mereka makan daging dan Hindu tidak. Dalam daging berbaring kekuatan dan kekuatan berbaring kebebasan.Keluarga Gandhi tegas vegetarian, tapi patriotisme anak itu kalah nya keberatan. Suatu hari, di tempat yang tersembunyi oleh sungai, temannya memberinya daging kambing dimasak itu. Untuk Gandhi rasanya seperti kulit dan ia langsung jatuh sakit. Malam itu ia bermimpi seekor kambing mengembik live di perutnya, namun ia makan daging setengah lusin kali, sampai ia memutuskan itu tidak layak dosa berbohong kepada orang tuanya. Setelah mereka meninggal, dia berpikir, dia akan berubah karnivora dan membangun kekuatan untuk memperjuangkan kebebasan. Sebenarnya, dia tidak pernah makan daging lagi, dan membebaskan India dengan kekuatan yang moral daripada fisik.Namun Gandhi masih seorang remaja pemberontak, dan sekali, ketika ia butuh uang, mencuri sedikit emas dari perhiasan saudaranya. Kejahatan menghantuinya sehingga ia akhirnya mengaku kepada ayahnya, mengharapkan dia menjadi marah dan kekerasan. Sebaliknya orang tua menangis."Mereka tetes mutiara cinta membersihkan hati saya," Gandhi kemudian menulis, "dan mencuci dosa saya pergi." Itu wawasan pertama ke dalam kekuatan psikologis mengesankan ahimsa, atau tanpa kekerasan.Gandhi adalah enam belas ketika ayahnya meninggal. Dua tahun kemudian pemuda lulus dari sekolah tinggi dan terdaftar di sebuah perguruan tinggi India kecil. Tapi dia tidak menyukai itu dan kembali ke rumah setelah satu periode.Seorang teman keluarga kemudian menyarankan dia untuk pergi ke Inggris di mana ia bisa memperoleh gelar sarjana hukum dalam tiga tahun dan memperlengkapi dirinya untuk suksesi akhirnya ke pos ayahnya sebagai perdana menteri. Meskipun ia lebih suka untuk belajar kedokteran, gagasan pergi ke Inggris bersemangat Gandhi. Setelah ia bersumpah ia tidak akan menyentuh minuman keras, daging, atau perempuan, ibunya memberinya restu dan saudaranya memberinya uang.Meninggalkan istri dan anak bayi mereka dengan keluarganya di Rajkot, ia pergi ke Bombay. Di sana ia membeli beberapa pakaian bergaya Inggris dan berlayar untuk Inggris pada tanggal 4 September 1888, hanya satu bulan sebelum ulang tahunnya yang kesembilan belas nya.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was a British trained lawyer of Indian origin from South Africa. He had won his political spurs organising the Indian community there against the vicious system of apartheid. During this struggle, he had developed the novel technique of non-violent agitation which he called 'satyagraha', loosely translated as moral domination. He was thus heir to the ancient traditions of Gautama Buddha, Mahavir Jain and emperor Ashoka, and was later given the title of Mahatma, or Great Soul. Gandhi, himself a devout Hindu, also espoused a total moral philosophy of tolerance, brotherhood of all religions, non-violence (ahimsa) and of simple living. He adopted an austere traditional Indian style of living, which won him wide popularity and transformed him into the undisputed leader of the Congress. As Jawaharlal Nehru said, "He was a powerful current of fresh air that made us stretch ourselves and take a deep breath" and revitalised the Freedom Movement.

Under his leadership, the Congress launched a series of mass movements - the Non Cooperation Movement of 1920 -1922 and the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930. The latter was triggered by the famous Salt March, when Gandhi captured the imagination of the nation by leading a band of followers from his ashram at Sabarmati, on a 200 mile trek to the remote village of Dandi on the west coast, there to prepare salt in symbolic violation of British law.

These were populist movements in which people from all classes and all parts of India participated with great fervour. Women too, played an active role in the struggle. Sarojini Naidu, Aruna Asaf Ali and Bhikaji Cama, to name but a few, inspired millions of others to take the first step on the road to emancipation and equality. In August 1942, the Quit India movement was launched. "I want freedom immediately, this very night before dawn if it can be had.'.. we shall free India or die in the attempt, we shall not live to see the perpetuation of our slavery", declared the Mahatma, as the British resorted to brutal repression against non-violent satyagrahis. It became evident that the British could maintain the empire only at enormous cost. At the end of the Second World War, they saw the writing on the wall, and initiated a number of constitutional moves to effect the transfer of power to the sovereign State of India. For the first and perhaps the only time in history, the power of a mighty global empire 'on which the sun never set', had been challenged and overcome by the moral might of a people armed only with ideals and courage.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi adalah seorang pengacara yang terlatih Inggris asal India dari Afrika Selatan. Dia telah memenangkan politiknya taji pengorganisasian masyarakat India ada terhadap sistem setan apartheid. Selama perjuangan ini, ia telah mengembangkan teknik baru non-kekerasan agitasi yang disebutnya 'satyagraha', longgar diterjemahkan sebagai dominasi moral. Dia dengan demikian pewaris tradisi kuno Gautama Buddha, Jain dan kaisar Mahavir Ashoka, dan kemudian diberi gelar Mahatma, atau Soul besar. Gandhi, dirinya seorang Hindu yang taat, juga ditopang oleh filsafat moral total toleransi, persaudaraan semua agama, non-kekerasan (ahimsa) dan hidup sederhana. Dia mengadopsi gaya India keras tradisional hidup, yang membuatnya memenangkan popularitas yang luas dan mengubah dirinya menjadi pemimpin tak terbantahkan dari Kongres. Seperti Jawaharlal Nehru mengatakan, "Dia adalah arus kuat udara segar yang membuat kita meregangkan diri kita sendiri dan mengambil napas dalam-dalam" dan merevitalisasi Gerakan Kebebasan.Di bawah kepemimpinannya, Kongres meluncurkan serangkaian gerakan massa - Gerakan Non Kerjasama dari 1920 -1922 dan Gerakan Ketidaktaatan Sipil pada tahun 1930. Yang terakhir dipicu oleh Salt Maret yang terkenal, ketika Gandhi menangkap imajinasi bangsa dengan memimpin sekelompok pengikut dari ashram-nya di Sabarmati, pada perjalanan 200 mil ke desa terpencil Dandi di pantai barat, ada untuk mempersiapkan garam melanggar simbolis hukum

Inggris.Ini adalah gerakan populis di mana orang-orang dari semua kelas dan semua bagian dari India berpartisipasi dengan semangat yang besar. Perempuan juga memainkan peran aktif dalam perjuangan. Sarojini Naidu, Aruna Asaf Ali dan Bhikaji Cama, untuk menyebutkan beberapa, menginspirasi jutaan orang lain untuk mengambil langkah pertama di jalan menuju emansipasi dan kesetaraan. Pada bulan Agustus 1942, Quit India gerakan diluncurkan. "Saya menginginkan kebebasan segera, malam ini sebelum fajar jika dapat memiliki '... Kami akan membebaskan India atau mati dalam usaha itu, kita tidak akan hidup untuk melihat kelangsungan perbudakan kami", menyatakan Mahatma, seperti Inggris terpaksa represi brutal terhadap non-kekerasan Satyagrahi. Ini menjadi jelas bahwa Inggris bisa mempertahankan kekaisaran hanya pada biaya yang sangat besar. Pada akhir Perang Dunia Kedua, mereka melihat tulisan di dinding, dan memprakarsai sejumlah langkah konstitusional untuk mempengaruhi pengalihan kekuasaan kepada Negara berdaulat India. Untuk yang pertama dan mungkin satu-satunya waktu dalam sejarah, kekuatan kerajaan global yang perkasa 'di mana matahari tidak pernah set', telah ditantang dan diatasi oleh kekuatan moral orang-orang bersenjata hanya dengan

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born in 1869 in Porbandar, an Indian seaside-town north of Bombay. In 1888 he came to Britain to study law. Here he read some of the Bible for the first time and was particularly impressed by the Sermon on the Mount with its advice to "resist not evil".

He returned to India in 1891 to work as a lawyer but he was unsuccessful because he was shy, yet unwilling to be pushed about. So in 1893 he took a job in South Africa, representing the interests of Indian merchants. Shortly after reaching South Africa, he experienced its racial prejudice when he was ejected from a first-class railway compartment because a white man objected to him being there, even though Gandhi had a first-class ticket.

Gandhi joined with his fellow-Indians in working for their rights, and it was in this struggle that he developed the nonviolent techniques he was to use later in India. He opposed unfair taxes levied on Indian workers and he agitated to get Indians their voting rights. In 1904 he set up Phoenix Farm outside Johannesburg, a community where he started to practise simple community living, which he continued at a new community, Tolstoy Farm, five years later.

In 1907 he began a campaign against the laws that made Indians register if they wanted to live in South Africa. 3,000 Indians publicly burnt their registration cards. Another great demonstration against racial discrimination took place in 1913, when Gandhi got a contingent of Indian women to march illegally over the border from the Transvaal into the Natal coal fields, where they persuaded the miners to go on strike. When Gandhi and the miners were savagely punished, the outcry made Prime Minister Smuts negotiate with Gandhi, and this resulted in the Indian Relief Act of 1914 which removed some of the burdens from Indians. Gandhi was now convinced of the power of nonviolent disobedience to make people aware of injustices.

Gandhi returned to India, an experienced political campaigner. He set up a new community, an 'ashram' at Ahmedabad. People living at the ashram had to be nonviolent and truthful, had to do farming and spinning for their living, and have no servants or personal possessions. At the ashram, women enjoyed full freedom and equal rights, there was complete religious tolerance, and caste distinctions were ignored.

SALT MARCHGandhi became involved in campaigns helping the Indian people. The salt march of 1930 is a good example of Gandhi 's nonviolence, or satyagraha he called it (from satya truth and graha strength). To protest at the government's salt tax, Gandhi proposed a 240-mile march from Ahmedabad to the coastal town of Dandi. The salt tax charged the Indian people for a basic human necessity and prevented them making their own salt. Gandhi wrote to the Viceroy, Lord Irwin, explaining his intentions: "My ambition is no less than to convert the British people through nonviolence, and thus make them see the wrong they have done to India".

When the marchers reached the sea, they started making salt from the sea-water, thus breaking the law. This gesture led to civil disobedience breaking out in many parts of India. 60,000 people were arrested.

The second stage of the campaign was to try and take over the salt works at Dharasana. Volunteers marched towards the salt works and, as policemen struck them down with heavy sticks, more volunteers came forward to take their place. Although thousands more arrests were made, the Viceroy decided it was a stalemate and he held talks with Gandhi, which resulted in the Salt Acts being interpreted more humanely and in an agreement that Gandhi could represent his Congress Party at the 1931 Round Table Conference in London. The Conference led nowhere but the salt march gave Indians self-respect and confidence that they could gain independence.

India finally became independent in 1947 but Gandhi was unhappy with the settlement because it divided India into two states - India and Pakistan - the first largely for Hindus, the second largely for Muslims. Gandhi did his best to pacify the violence between Hindus and Muslims and his work achieved some success. But in 1948 he was shot and killed by a fellow Hindu who believed Gandhi was betraying the Hindus by working for reconciliation.

In the years following independence, the Government led by Nehru (Gandhi's former disciple) ignored Gandhi's schemes for revitalising the villages. Instead they concentrated on industrialisation, which Gandhi saw was not the answer to India's problems. India has a huge population and therefore no shortage of workers; industrialisation only makes unemployment worse by replacing humans with machines. Gandhi's answer lay in India's 500,000 villages, which could be small, self-sufficient, democratic units.grassroots democracyIn advocating self-sufficiency, grassroots democracy, smallness and simple living, Gandhi anticipated by several decades the 'small is beautiful' ideas which are now increasingly respected. Similarly, he was a pioneer in pressing for the equality of women, in stressing the value of mixing manual work with intellectual work, and in his progressive ideas about education.

Gandhi 's political and social philosophy has been unjustly neglected. He is better known for his nonviolence or satyagraha, which has been very influential even though it has sometimes been misunderstood. Satyagraha is not simply a strategy for opposing evil without using violence - it is a whole way of reconstructing society, using love and striving for truth.

Gandhi said: "To me, Truth is God and there is no way to find Truth except the way of nonviolence". Violence separates people, but the search for truth is a communal enterprise in which we have to work together.

Satyagraha uses nonviolent resistance to make one's opponent face up to the fact of injustice or exploitation. However, while satyagrahis use various nonviolent methods to confront or persuade an opponent - methods like sit-downs and sit-ins, strikes, fasts, demonstrations, boycotts, picketing and non-cooperation (all of which Gandhi used) - they should also be doing constructive work to improve the situation. Every time Gandhi started a campaign against some injustice, he also started constructive schemes to improve conditions.

Albert Einstein said that Gandhi 's great contribution to our time was his determination to moralise politics. Gandhi insisted that you can apply the same moral values to politics, business or industry as you do in private life. Love, truth, nonviolence - all these ideals can be applied here and now to every aspect of life. "It is perfectly possible," as Gandhi said, "for an individual to adopt this way of life without having to wait for others to do so."

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi lahir pada tahun 1869 di Porbandar, sebuah pantai-kota India utara dari Bombay. Pada 1888 ia datang ke Inggris untuk belajar hukum. Di sini ia membaca beberapa Alkitab untuk pertama kalinya dan sangat terkesan dengan Khotbah di Bukit dengan saran untuk "melawan tidak jahat".

Ia kembali ke India pada tahun 1891 untuk bekerja sebagai pengacara tapi dia tidak berhasil karena dia pemalu, namun tidak mau didorong sekitar. Jadi pada tahun 1893 ia mengambil pekerjaan di Afrika Selatan, yang mewakili kepentingan pedagang India. Tak lama setelah mencapai Afrika Selatan, ia mengalami prasangka rasial ketika ia dikeluarkan dari kompartemen kereta api kelas karena seorang pria kulit putih keberatan dia berada di sana, meskipun Gandhi memiliki tiket kelas.

Gandhi bergabung dengan rekan-India dalam bekerja untuk hak-hak mereka, dan itu dalam perjuangan ini bahwa ia mengembangkan teknik tanpa kekerasan ia akan digunakan kemudian di India. Ia menentang pajak tidak adil dikenakan pada pekerja India dan ia gelisah untuk

mendapatkan India mereka hak suara. Pada 1904 ia mendirikan pertanian Phoenix luar Johannesburg, sebuah komunitas di mana ia mulai berlatih hidup masyarakat sederhana, yang ia melanjutkan di sebuah komunitas baru, Tolstoy Farm, lima tahun kemudian.

Pada 1907 ia memulai sebuah kampanye melawan hukum yang dilakukan India mendaftar jika mereka ingin tinggal di Afrika Selatan. 3.000 India publik dibakar kartu pendaftaran mereka. Demonstrasi besar menentang diskriminasi ras terjadi pada tahun 1913, ketika Gandhi mendapat kontingen perempuan India untuk berbaris secara ilegal melintasi perbatasan dari Transvaal ke ladang batubara Natal, di mana mereka membujuk para penambang untuk mogok. Ketika Gandhi dan penambang kejam dihukum, protes membuat Perdana Menteri Smuts bernegosiasi dengan Gandhi, dan ini mengakibatkan Relief Act India 1914 yang dihapus beberapa beban dari India. Gandhi sekarang yakin akan kekuatan ketidaktaatan tanpa kekerasan untuk membuat orang sadar akan ketidakadilan.

Gandhi kembali ke India, sebuah kampanye politik yang berpengalaman. Dia mendirikan sebuah komunitas baru, sebuah 'ashram' di Ahmedabad. Orang yang tinggal di ashram harus tanpa kekerasan dan jujur, harus melakukan pertanian dan berputar untuk hidup mereka, dan tidak memiliki pembantu atau milik pribadi. Pada ashram, wanita menikmati kebebasan penuh dan hak yang sama, ada toleransi beragama lengkap, dan kasta perbedaan diabaikan.

GARAM MARETGandhi terlibat dalam kampanye membantu orang-orang India. The march garam tahun 1930 adalah contoh yang baik dari Gandhi 's tanpa kekerasan, atau satyagraha ia menyebutnya (dari kebenaran satya dan kekuatan graha). Untuk memprotes pajak garam pemerintah, Gandhi mengusulkan 240 mil march dari Ahmedabad ke kota pesisir Dandi. Pajak garam menyuruh rakyat India untuk kebutuhan dasar manusia dan mencegah mereka membuat garam sendiri. Gandhi menulis kepada Viceroy, Lord Irwin, menjelaskan niatnya: "Ambisi saya adalah tidak kurang dari untuk mengkonversi orang-orang Inggris melalui tanpa kekerasan, dan dengan demikian membuat mereka melihat salah yang telah mereka lakukan ke India".

Ketika para demonstran mencapai laut, mereka mulai membuat garam dari air laut, sehingga melanggar hukum. Gerakan ini menyebabkan pembangkangan sipil pecah di banyak bagian India. 60.000 orang ditangkap.

Tahap kedua dari kampanye ini adalah untuk mencoba dan mengambil alih pekerjaan garam di Dharasana. Relawan berbaris menuju karya garam dan, sebagai polisi memukul mereka dengan tongkat berat, relawan lebih maju untuk mengambil tempat mereka. Meskipun penangkapan ribuan lainnya dibuat, Raja Muda memutuskan itu adalah jalan buntu dan ia mengadakan pembicaraan dengan Gandhi, yang mengakibatkan Salt Kisah yang ditafsirkan lebih manusiawi dan dalam kesepakatan bahwa Gandhi bisa mewakili nya Partai Kongres pada Konferensi Meja Bundar 1.931 di London . Konferensi dipimpin tempat tapi march garam memberi India diri dan keyakinan bahwa mereka bisa mendapatkan kemerdekaan.

India akhirnya merdeka pada tahun 1947, tetapi Gandhi tidak senang dengan pemukiman karena dibagi India menjadi dua negara - India dan Pakistan - yang pertama terutama bagi umat Hindu, yang kedua sebagian besar untuk umat Islam. Gandhi melakukan yang terbaik untuk

menenangkan kekerasan antara umat Hindu dan Muslim dan karyanya mencapai beberapa keberhasilan. Namun pada 1948 ia ditembak dan dibunuh oleh seorang Hindu rekan yang percaya Gandhi mengkhianati Hindu dengan bekerja untuk rekonsiliasi.

Dalam tahun-tahun setelah kemerdekaan, pemerintah yang dipimpin oleh Nehru (murid mantan Gandhi) mengabaikan skema Gandhi untuk merevitalisasi desa-desa. Sebaliknya mereka berkonsentrasi pada industrialisasi, yang Gandhi lihat bukanlah jawaban untuk masalah India. India memiliki populasi besar dan karena itu tidak ada kekurangan pekerja, industrialisasi hanya membuat pengangguran lebih buruk dengan mengganti manusia dengan mesin. Jawaban Gandhi terletak pada 500.000 India desa, yang bisa menjadi kecil, mandiri, demokratis unit.demokrasi akar rumputDalam advokasi hidup swasembada, demokrasi akar rumput, kekecilan dan sederhana, Gandhi diantisipasi oleh beberapa dekade 'kecil indah' ide-ide yang kini semakin dihormati. Demikian pula, dia adalah seorang pelopor dalam menekan untuk kesetaraan perempuan, menekankan nilai pekerjaan manual pencampuran dengan pekerjaan intelektual, dan ide-ide progresif tentang pendidikan.

Gandhi filsafat politik dan sosial telah secara tidak adil diabaikan. Dia lebih dikenal untuk nya tanpa kekerasan atau satyagraha, yang telah sangat berpengaruh meskipun kadang-kadang telah disalahpahami. Satyagraha bukan hanya strategi untuk menentang kejahatan tanpa menggunakan kekerasan - itu adalah cara merekonstruksi seluruh masyarakat, dengan menggunakan cinta dan berjuang untuk kebenaran.

Gandhi berkata: "Bagi saya, Kebenaran adalah Allah dan tidak ada cara untuk menemukan Kebenaran kecuali jalan tanpa kekerasan". Kekerasan memisahkan orang, tetapi mencari kebenaran adalah perusahaan komunal di mana kita harus bekerja bersama-sama.

Satyagraha menggunakan perlawanan tanpa kekerasan untuk membuat lawan seseorang menghadapi kenyataan ketidakadilan atau eksploitasi. Namun, sementara Satyagrahi menggunakan metode tanpa kekerasan untuk menghadapi berbagai atau membujuk lawan - metode seperti sit-down dan aksi duduk, pemogokan, puasa, demonstrasi, boikot, picketing dan non-kerjasama (semua yang digunakan Gandhi) - mereka juga harus melakukan pekerjaan konstruktif untuk memperbaiki situasi. Setiap kali Gandhi memulai kampanye melawan ketidakadilan, dia juga mulai skema konstruktif untuk memperbaiki kondisi.

Albert Einstein mengatakan bahwa Gandhi 's kontribusi yang besar bagi waktu kita adalah tekadnya untuk moralise politik. Gandhi menegaskan bahwa Anda dapat menerapkan nilai-nilai moral yang sama dengan politik, bisnis atau industri seperti yang Anda lakukan dalam kehidupan pribadi. Cinta, kebenaran, tanpa kekerasan - semua cita-cita dapat diterapkan di sini dan sekarang untuk setiap aspek kehidupan. "Sangat mungkin," kata Gandhi sebagai, "bagi seorang individu untuk mengadopsi cara hidup tanpa harus menunggu orang lain untuk melakukannya."