THE ACHIEVEMENTS AND GREATNESS OF HALF NAKED FAKIR: 150TH BIRTH ANNIVERSARY OF GANDHI JI Abhishek Tripathi LEGAL PROFILE Wed, Oct 02, 2019, at ,02:05 PM Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi aka Mahatma Gandhi held no office, pursued no career, accumulated no wealth and desired no fame. Yet, millions of people in India and around the world are captivated by his life and his achievements. M.K. Gandhi was born on 2nd October 1969 at Porbandar, Gujrat. Born and raised in a Hindu family in coastal Gujarat, western India, Gandhi was trained in law at the Inner Temple, London, and called to the bar at age 22 in June 1891. He moved to South Africa in 1893 to represent an Indian merchant in a lawsuit. He went on to stay for 21 years. It was in South Africa that Gandhi raised a family, and first employed nonviolent resistance in a campaign for civil rights. In 1915, at age 45, he returned to India. He employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British Rule, and in turn inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. On 30 January 1948 by firing three bullets into his chest Nathuram Godse, a Hindu Nationalist, assassinated Gandhi. Gandhi's birthday, 2 October, is commemorated in India as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and worldwide as the International Day of Nonviolence. Gandhi is also called Bapu, in Gujarati: endearment for father. It was one of the greatest disappointments of Gandhi’s life that Indian freedom was realized without Indian unity. Muslim separatism had received a great boost while Gandhi and his colleagues were in jail, and in 1946–47, as the final constitutional arrangements were being negotiated, the outbreak of communal riots between Hindus and Muslims unhappily created a climate in which Gandhi’s appeals to reason and justice, tolerance and trust had little chance. Click Here to Get Magazine for Preparation of PCS J and Other Competitive Exams ACHIEVEMENTS OF GANDHI JI Fought against racial discrimination in South Africa He arrived in South Africa in 1893 to represent an Indian Trader in Durban. He faced the prevalent discrimination against people of brown and black colour in South Africa and then decided to take up the fight against racial oppression in South Africa. Indian Relief Act In 1906, a law was enacted in SA which required all male Asians in the Transvaal Province to be fingerprinted and carry a form of pass. Against which Gandhi started a Satyagraha (‘truth-force’) campaign of non-violent resistance. He urged Indians to defy the new law and to suffer punishments for doing so. Satyagraha was a 7-year struggle during which thousands of Indians were jailed, flogged and even shot. In 1914, due to public outcry over harsh treatment of peaceful protestors, the Indian Relief Act was passed which withdrew the £3 tax, customary marriages were recognized, and Indians were allowed to move freely into the Transvaal. First battle of Civil Disobedience in India at Champaran Gandhi returned to India in 1915 at the request of GK Gokhle. His fight against British rule in India started with Civil Disobedience Movement in Champaran, Bihar. British forced farmers in the region to grow Indigo and other cash crops instead of food crops. Farmers sold these to mostly British landlords at extremely low fixed prices. Adopting strategy of non-violent civil disobedience, Gandhi led organized protests and strikes against the landlords. Finally, the British landlords signed an agreement granting more compensation and control to the farmers. During this agitation, people began referring to Gandhi as Mahatma which mean Great Soul. Non-violent tax revolt in Kheda India was hit by floods and famine, leading to crop yields being less than a fourth in 1918. British government refused requests by the peasants for relief from taxes. With Vallabhbhai Patel, Mahatma Gandhi initiated a campaign where peasants pledged non-payment of revenue. After five months, in May 1918, the government suspended the tax for that year and the next, the increase in rate was reduced and all confiscated property was returned. Non-Cooperation movement in early 1920s In response to Jallianwala Bagh Massacre Gandhi started the Non-cooperation movement, in which, among other things, he urged Indians to refuse to buy British made goods; boycott their educational institutions and law courts; resign from government employment; and to forsake British titles and honors. Non-Cooperation movement was highly popular and successful. Click Here to Get All Important Judgment of the Month Dandi March British Salt Act of 1882 prohibited Indians from collecting or selling salt and also imposed a heavy tax on it. In 1930, for 24 days from 12th March to 6th April, Mahatma Gandhi marched 388 kilometers from Ahmedabad to Dandi, in Gujarat, to produce salt from seawater, as was the practice of local populace until the British Salt Act. Thousands of Indians joined him in this famous Dandi March. The March to Dandi later influenced several activists including Martin Luther King, Jr. Quit India Movement in 1942 After World War II started, Gandhi declared that India could not be a party to a war being supposedly fought for democratic freedom while that freedom was denied to India itself. Gandhi launched the Quit India Movement on 8th August 1942 demanding an end to British Rule in India. Though Quit India Movement was successfully suppressed by the British, they realized it was now impossible to rule India. Fight against Social Evils in society like untouchability, child marriage etc. Mahatma Gandhi worked on a number of social issues in India. He launched campaigns to improve the lives of untouchables or lower caste people, child marriage, oppression of widows, and forced purdah/burqa. Gandhi was Runner Up to Einstein in Time’s ‘Person of the Century’ TIME magazine named Mahatma Gandhi the Man of the Year in 1930. He was also chosen by TIME as runner-up to Albert Einstein as the Person of the Century. Gandhi did not receive the Nobel Peace Prize, although he was nominated five times between 1937 and 1948. Later, the Nobel Committee publicly declared its regret for the omission. Mahatma Gandhi is considered one of the greatest leaders that the world has ever seen. His successful application of non-violent methods of protest has proved to be highly influential for numerous movements since then. He proved to be an inspirational figure for several important world leaders including Martin Luther King Jr., leader of African-American Civil Rights Movement; and Nelson Mandela, anti-apartheid activist and first President of South Africa.