Gandhi Jayanti 2023: Know Mahatma Gandhi's journey from lawyer to leader of Indian nationalism

We celebrate Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary today which is declared a national holiday. Father of the nation was born on 2nd October 1869 in Porbandar, Gujarat. He was a great leader who united Indians in the freedom struggle and by following the path of non-violence, made an important contribution in achieving independence for the country. 

India's independence was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi, whose Satyagraha and nonviolent resistance to British rule in India served as an example for the general populace. He argued that Indians should have more influence over British policy and administration. He continued with his Satyagraha movement and launched the campaign in Champaran, Bihar, which ultimately expanded over the entire nation.

Gandhi was raised in a deeply religious household and hence took religious tolerance and the ahimsa (non-harming of all living things) doctrine for granted. From 1888 to 1891, he studied law in England, and in 1893, he accepted a position with an Indian company in South Africa. He developed there as a powerful defender of Indian rights.

Gandhi raised his family in South Africa and started using peaceful resistance in a fight for civil rights. He returned to India in 1915 at the age of 45 and immediately started organizing peasants, farmers, and city labourers to protest against discrimination and an excessive land tax.

In 1920–22, 1930–34 (including his historic march to the sea to collect salt to protest a government monopoly), and 1940–42, he launched significant campaigns of nonviolent resistance. He transformed the Indian National Congress into an effective political tool of Indian nationalism. He also worked to reduce prejudice against India's lower caste "untouchables" throughout the 1930s, focusing on rural education and cottage industry promotion.

India attained dominion status in 1947, but Gandhi, who had long advocated for Hindu-Muslim unity, was deeply disappointed by the subcontinent's division into India and Pakistan. He fasted to put an end to rioting in Calcutta (Kolkata) in September 1947. Gandhi, who went by the name Mahatma (which means "Great-Souled"), had gained the love and support of countless people. 

On January 30, 1948, at around 5:17 pm, Gandhi was with his grandnieces in the garden of Birla House on his way to address a prayer meeting, when Nathuram Godse, a Hindu nationalist, fired three bullets into his chest from a pistol at close range.

Gandhi's comments, correspondence, and life have sparked a great deal of political and academic research into his ideas, actions, and ideals, as well as his influences. While some authors portray him as a shining example of morality and nonviolence, others depict him as a more complicated, contradictory, and developing man who was shaped by his environment and culture.