مهاتما گاندي

گاندي : «من نمي خواهم به دور خانه ام ديواري بكشم و پنجره هايم را بپوشانم. من دوست دارم تمامي فرهنگ هاي جهان با آزادي كامل به خانه ام بوزند. اما نمي گذارم زير پايم را سست كنند. من نمي خواهم در خانه هاي ديگران مثل يك پرده و گدا زندگي كنم.» اين كلام مردي است كه براي آنكه سرزمين محبوبش را از مرگ برهاند تلاش فراوان كرد.مردي كه خشونت را بدترين راه مبارزه مي دانست او تنها شش ماه بعد از استقلال كشورش كشته شد. مردي كه در نگاه مردم كشورش يك قديس بود.  موهنداس كرم چند گاندي در سال 1869 ميلادي در محلي به نام «پوربندر» در سواحل غربي هند به دنيا آمد. او درست زماني به د نيا آمد كه انگلستان براي نگهداشتن مستعمره گران بهاي خود در شرق آسيا از هيچ كاري روي گردان نبود. گاندي در سال هاي اوج استعمار انگليس ، به پا خاست و بناي مبارزاتش را بر پايه همين تفكر گريز از خشونت گذاشت. او تحصيلاتش را در رشته حقوق در انگلستان به پايان برد. در سال 1907 به آفريقاي جنوبي رفت و در شعبه كمپاني هند شرقي در اين كشور مشغول به كار شد. در آفريقاي جنوبي با مشاهده تبعيض نژادي ، به خصوص در مقابل اقليت هندي تبار اين كشور رهبري نهضت مبارزه با تبعيض نژادي را در اين كشور پايه گذاشت. در سال 1917 به هند بازگشت و رهبري كنگره را بر عهده گرفت و مبارزه عليه انگليس را آغاز كرد. «آهسيما» (عدم خشونت) اصل مهم تفكر گاندي به شمار مي آيد. او با انديشمنداني مانند تولستوي مكاتبه داشت و با آنها در مورد انديشه هاي خود صحبت كرد. آهسيما در مفهوم واقعي خود به معناي سرباز زدن از خشونت و صدمه زدن به مخلوقات از انسان تا گياه است. در دكترين گاندي اين مفهوم به خودداري از خشونت بر اساس عشق است. به نظر او عشق است كه مي تواند مترادف عدم تنفر و كينه توزي مطلق باشد.

گاندي به مبارزات خود جنبه هاي اقتصادي و اجتماعي نيز داد. در جنبه هاي اقتصادي او مدرن سازي را نفي نمي كرد اما به مدرن سازي اعتقاد داشت كه از درون خود جامعه برخاسته باشد. او اعتقاد داشت هر جامعه اي بايد خود احتياجات مردمش را رفع كند. اقدام گاندي در تحريم كالاهاي انگليسي بازار بزرگي را از انگلستان گرفت. حتي خود او لباسي را بر تن كرد كه به دست خودش بافته شده بود.
در حيطه اجتماعي نيز او پيشگام روش جديدي براي اتحاد جامعه هزار پاره هند بود. اگر برنامه اي سازنده براي يافتن يك ملت واحد داشت او همگام با احترام به نسبت هاي گروه هاي هندي بر رفع اختلافات آنها كوشيد. مارتين لوتر كينگ در باره او مي گويد:« اگر بشريت خواهان پيشرفت است ما گاندي شخصيت سازي است، گاندي بر اساس انسانيتي رو به صلح و خاص جهاني زندگي كرد، انديشيد و رفتار كرد. فقط براي ضربه زدن به خودمان مي توانيم گاندي را ناديده بگيريم.
بهره برداري نوين و علقاني از سنت در نيمه اول قرن بيستم ، گاندي را به عنوان يك سياستمدار مذهبي به جهان معرفي كرد، چرا كه او نه تنها به سنت و ارزش هاي مذهبي سخت وفادار بود بلكه اين وفاداري سبب حضور و فعاليت چشمگير او در اين عرصه شد.
اصلي كه گاندي بدان معتقد بود و آنها را پايه و اساس اقدامات سياسي و اجتماعي خود قرار داد و ضديت با غرب هم از همين سرفصل ناشي مي شد عبارت بود از :
1-    در دنيا فقط يك حقيقت وجود دارد و آن شناسايي ذات است.
2-    هر كس خود را شناخت خدا، دنيا و ديگران را شناخته است چرا كه هر كس خود را نشناسد هيچ چيز را نشناخته است.
3-    در دنيا فقط يك نيرو و يك آزادي و يك عدالت وجود دارد و آن نيروي حكومت بر خويشتن است. هر كس بر خود مسلط شود بر دنيا مسلط شده است.
وي توجه ويژه اي به شناخت درون انسان داشت. از نظر او نقطه آغاز هر اصلاحي خود انسان است. از اين رو ، دست يافتن به آزادي سياسي مانند ‌آزادي روحي تنها از راه تزكيه نفس تحقق مي پذيرد و عقيده داشت سلاح روحي تزكيه نفس ، هر چند كه نامحسوس به نظر مي آيد اما نيرومندترين سلاح براي دگرگون ساختن محيط و سنت كردن زنجيرهاي اسارت خارجي است. او به پيروان خود آموخت كه تنها كساني كه بر نفس خود سلطه دارند (خويشتن داري) مي توانند بر مردم حكومت كنند و بر محيط سياسي شان غلبه داشته باشند.
در مجموع مهاتماًگاندي را مي توان يكي از مطرح ترين چهره هاي سياسي قرن بيستم عنوان كرد. آزادي خواهي كه پس از سال ها مبارزه با استعمار بريتانيا سرانجام موفق شد در سال 1947 هند را از سلطه بريتانيا بيرون بكشد و استعلال هند را اعلام كند. با پايان جنگ جهاني دوم روند انتقال قدرت به هنديها آغاز شد و نهايتاً اين كشور در سال 1947 مستقل اعلام شد. مهاتما گاندي در روز 30 ژانويه 1949 توسط يك هندوي افراطي به قتل رسيد.

Gandhi Biography

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Hindi: , Gujarati: , pronounced ( listen); 2 October 1869 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and spiritual leader of India during the Indian independence movement. Gandhi is commonly known around the world as Mahatma Gandhi (; Sanskrit: mahatma or “Great Soul”, an honorific first applied to him by Rabindranath Tagore), and in India also as Bapu (Gujarati: , bapu or “Father”). He is officially honoured in India as the Father of the Nation; his birthday, 2 October, is commemorated there as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and worldwide as the International Day of Non-Violence. Gandhi first employed non-violent civil disobedience while an expatriate lawyer in South Africa, during the resident Indian community’s struggle for civil rights. After assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns to ease poverty, expand women’s rights, build religious and ethnic amity, end untouchability, and increase economic self-reliance. Gandhi spent a number of years in jail in both South Africa and India. Gandhi lived modestly in a self-sufficient residential community and wore the traditional Indian dhoti and shawl, woven with yarn he had hand spun himself. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on 2 October 1869 in Porbandar, a coastal town in present-day Gujarat, India. His father, Karamchand Gandhi (1822 1885), who belonged to the Hindu Modh community, was the diwan (Prime Minister) of Porbander state, a small princely state in the Kathiawar Agency of British India. His grandfather’s name was Uttamchand Gandhi, fondly called Utta Gandhi. The Indian classics, especially the stories of Shravana and Maharaja Harishchandra from the Indian epics, had a great impact on Gandhi in his childhood. The story of Harishchandra, a well known tale of an ancient Indian king and a truthful hero, haunted Gandhi as a boy. In 1885, when Gandhi was 15, the couple’s first child was born, but survived only a few days; Gandhi’s father, Karamchand Gandhi, had died earlier that year. Although Gandhi experimented with adopting “English” customs taking dancing lessons for example he could not stomach the bland vegetarian food offered by his landlady and he was always hungry until he found one of London’s few vegetarian restaurants. Gandhi was called to the bar on June 10, 1891 and left London for India on June 12, 1891, where he learned that his mother had died while he was in London, his family having kept the news from him. Former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela is a follower of Gandhi, despite efforts in 2003 on the part of Gandhi’s critics to prevent the unveiling of a statue of Gandhi in Johannesburg. Bhana and Vahed commented on the events surrounding the unveiling in the conclusion to The Making of a Political Reformer: Gandhi in South Africa, 1893 1914. In the section “Gandhi’s Legacy to South Africa,” they note that “Gandhi inspired succeeding generations of South African activists seeking to end White rule. Gandhi actively encouraged the British to recruit Indians. Nonetheless, they accepted Gandhi’s offer to let a detachment of Indians volunteer as a stretcher bearer corps to treat wounded British soldiers. On 21 July 1906, Gandhi wrote in Indian Opinion: “The corps had been formed at the instance of the Natal Government by way of experiment, in connection with the operations against the Natives consists of twenty three Indians”. Gandhi urged the Indian population in South Africa to join the war through his columns in Indian Opinion: “If the Government only realized what reserve force is being wasted, they would make use of it and give Indians the opportunity of a thorough training for actual warfare.” In Gandhi’s opinion, the Draft Ordinance of 1906 brought the status of Indians below the level of Natives. In 1927 Gandhi wrote of the event: “The Boer War had not brought home to me the horrors of war with anything like the vividness that the ‘rebellion’ did. Struggle for Indian Independence (1915 1945) See also: Indian Independence Movement In 1915, Gandhi returned from South Africa to live in India. He spoke at the conventions of the Indian National Congress, but was primarily introduced to Indian issues, politics and the Indian people by Gopal Krishna Gokhale, a respected leader of the Congress Party at the time. Role in World War I In April 1918, during the latter part of World War I, Gandhi was invited by the Viceroy to a War Conference in Delhi. Perhaps to show his support for the Empire and help his case for India’s independence, Gandhi agreed to actively recruit Indians for the war effort. In contrast to the Zulu War of 1906 and the outbreak of World War I in 1914, when he recruited volunteers for the Ambulance Corps, this time Gandhi attempted to recruit combatants. Gandhi’s war recruitment campaign brought into question his consistency on nonviolence as his friend Charlie Andrews confirms, “Personally I have never been able to reconcile this with his own conduct in other respects, and it is one of the points where I have found myself in painful disagreement.” Gandhi’s private secretary also acknowledges that “The question of the consistency between his creed of ‘Ahimsa’ (non-violence) and his recruiting campaign was raised not only then but has been discussed ever since.” Gandhi led organized protests and strikes against the landlords who, with the guidance of the British government, signed an agreement granting the poor farmers of the region more compensation and control over farming, and cancellation of revenue hikes and its collection until the famine ended. As a result, Gandhi’s fame spread all over the nation. Non-cooperation Main article: Non-cooperation movement Gandhi employed non-cooperation, non-violence and peaceful resistance as his “weapons” in the struggle against British. Gandhi criticized both the actions of the British Raj and the retaliatory violence of Indians. He authored the resolution offering condolences to British civilian victims and condemning the riots which, after initial opposition in the party, was accepted following Gandhi’s emotional speech advocating his principle that all violence was evil and could not be justified. But it was after the massacre and subsequent violence that Gandhi’s mind focused upon obtaining complete self-government and control of all Indian government institutions, maturing soon into Swaraj or complete individual, spiritual, political independence. In December 1921, Gandhi was invested with executive authority on behalf of the Indian National Congress. Gandhi expanded his non-violence platform to include the swadeshi policy the boycott of foreign-made goods, especially British goods. Gandhi exhorted Indian men and women, rich or poor, to spend time each day spinning khadi in support of the independence movement. In addition to boycotting British products, Gandhi urged the people to boycott British educational institutions and law courts, to resign from government employment, and to forsake British titles and honours. Without Gandhi’s uniting personality, the Indian National Congress began to splinter during his years in prison, splitting into two factions, one led by Chitta Ranjan Das and Motilal Nehru favouring party participation in the legislatures, and the other led by Chakravarti Rajagopalachari and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, opposing this move. Gandhi stayed out of active politics and, as such, the limelight for most of the 1920s. Gandhi pushed through a resolution at the Calcutta Congress in December 1928 calling on the British government to grant India dominion status or face a new campaign of non-cooperation with complete independence for the country as its goal. Also as a result of the pact, Gandhi was invited to attend the Round Table Conference in London as the sole representative of the Indian National Congress. The conference was a disappointment to Gandhi and the nationalists, because it focused on the Indian princes and Indian minorities rather than on a transfer of power. Ambedkar condemned Gandhi’s use of the term Harijans as saying that Dalits were socially immature, and that privileged caste Indians played a paternalistic role. Ambedkar and his allies also felt Gandhi was undermining Dalit political rights. In the summer of 1934, three unsuccessful attempts were made on Gandhi’s life. When the Congress Party chose to contest elections and accept power under the Federation scheme, Gandhi resigned from party membership. Gandhi also wanted to avoid being a target for Raj propaganda by leading a party that had temporarily accepted political accommodation with the Raj. Gandhi returned to active politics again in 1936, with the Nehru presidency and the Lucknow session of the Congress. Although Gandhi wanted a total focus on the task of winning independence and not speculation about India’s future, he did not restrain the Congress from adopting socialism as its goal. Bose won his second term despite Gandhi’s criticism, but left the Congress when the All-India leaders resigned en masse in protest of his abandonment of the principles introduced by Gandhi. Initially, Gandhi favoured offering “non-violent moral support” to the British effort, but other Congressional leaders were offended by the unilateral inclusion of India in the war, without consultation of the people’s representatives. After long deliberations, Gandhi declared that India could not be party to a war ostensibly being fought for democratic freedom, while that freedom was denied to India itself. As the war progressed, Gandhi intensified his demand for independence, drafting a resolution calling for the British to Quit India. This was Gandhi’s and the Congress Party’s most definitive revolt aimed at securing the British exit from India. Gandhi was criticized by some Congress party members and other Indian political groups, both pro-British and anti-British. Others felt that Gandhi’s refusal for India to participate in the war was insufficient and more direct opposition should be taken, while Britain fought against Nazism yet continued to contradict itself by refusing to grant India Independence. Gandhi and his supporters made it clear they would not support the war effort unless India were granted immediate independence. Gandhi and the entire Congress Working Committee were arrested in Bombay by the British on 9 August 1942. At this point Gandhi called off the struggle, and around 100,000 political prisoners were released, including the Congress’s leadership. However, as Homer Jack notes of Gandhi’s long correspondence with Jinnah on the topic of Pakistan: “Although Gandhi was personally opposed to the partition of India, he proposed an agreement…which provided that the Congress and the Moslem League would cooperate to attain independence under a provisional government, after which the question of partition would be decided by a plebiscite in the districts having a Moslem majority.” These dual positions on the topic of the partition of India opened Gandhi up to criticism from both Hindus and Muslims. Muhammad Ali Jinnah and contemporary Pakistanis condemned Gandhi for undermining Muslim political rights. This continues to be politically contentious: some, like Pakistani-American historian Ayesha Jalal argue that Gandhi and the Congress’s unwillingness to share power with the Muslim League hastened partition; others, like Hindu nationalist politician Pravin Togadia indicated that excessive weakness on Gandhi’s part led to the division of India. Gandhi advised the Congress to reject the proposals the British Cabinet Mission offered in 1946, as he was deeply suspicious of the grouping proposed for Muslim-majority states Gandhi viewed this as a precursor to partition. However, this became one of the few times the Congress broke from Gandhi’s advice (though not his leadership), as Nehru and Patel knew that if the Congress did not approve the plan, the control of government would pass to the Muslim League. Gandhi was vehemently opposed to any plan that partitioned India into two separate countries. Congress leaders knew that Gandhi would viscerally oppose partition, and it was impossible for the Congress to go ahead without his agreement, for Gandhi’s support in the party and throughout India was strong. Gandhi’s closest colleagues had accepted partition as the best way out, and Sardar Patel endeavoured to convince Gandhi that it was the only way to avoid civil war. Gandhi was also devastated when demands resurged for all Muslims to be deported to Pakistan, and when Muslim and Hindu leaders expressed frustration and an inability to come to terms with one another. Gandhi feared that instability and insecurity in Pakistan would increase their anger against India, and violence would spread across the borders. The assassin, Nathuram Godse, was a Hindu nationalist with links to the extremist Hindu Mahasabha, who held Gandhi responsible for weakening India by insisting upon a payment to Pakistan. Gandhi’s ashes were poured into urns which were sent across India for memorial services. Gandhi’s principles See also: Gandhism Truth Gandhi dedicated his life to the wider purpose of discovering truth, or Satya. Nonviolence Although Mahatama Gandhi was not the originator of the principle of non-violence, he was the first to apply it in the political field on a huge scale. Gandhi explains his philosophy and way of life in his autobiography The Story of My Experiments with Truth. “Gandhi guarded against attracting to his satyagraha movement those who feared to take up arms or felt themselves incapable of resistance. Gandhi also came under some political fire for his criticism of those who attempted to achieve independence through more violent means. Of this criticism, Gandhi stated, “There was a time when people listened to me because I showed them how to give fight to the British without arms when they had no arms…but today I am told that my non-violence can be of no avail against the and, therefore, people should arm themselves for self-defense.” Gandhi was highly criticized for these statements and responded in the article “Questions on the Jews” with “Friends have sent me two newspaper cuttings criticizing my appeal to the Jews. Buber asserted that the comparison between British treatment of Indian subjects and Nazi treatment of Jews was inappropriate; moreover, he noted that when Indians were the victims of persecution, Gandhi had, on occasion, supported the use of force. Vegetarianism As a young child, Gandhi experimented with meat-eating. Gandhi spent much time advocating vegetarianism during and after his time in London. However, one night, Gandhi’s uncle came to relieve Gandhi for a while. Towards the end of his life, it became public knowledge that Gandhi had been sharing his bed for a number of years with young women. Gandhi conducted his experiments with a number of women such as Abha, the sixteen year old wife of his grandnephew Kanu Gandhi. Gandhi had earlier written to her father, Jaisukhlal Gandhi, that Manu had started to share his bed so that he may “correct her sleeping posture”. Nirmal Kumar Bose, another close associate of Gandhi, parted company with him in April, 1947 post Gandhi’s tour of Noakhali, where some sort of altercation had taken place between Gandhi and Sushila Nayar in his bedroom at midnight that caused Gandhi to slap his forehead. Bose, who stayed close to Gandhi during his Noakhali tour, testified that “there was no immorality on part of Gandhi. Dattatreya Balkrishna Kalelkar, a revolutionary turned disciple of Gandhi, used to say that Gandhi’s “relationships with women were, from beginning to end, as pure as mother’s milk”. Simplicity Gandhi earnestly believed that a person involved in public service should lead a simple life. Gandhi dressed to be accepted by the poorest person in India, advocating the use of homespun cloth (khadi). Faith Gandhi was born a Hindu and practised Hinduism all his life, deriving most of his principles from Hinduism. Gandhi maintained this was because of the sin committed by upper caste Hindus by not letting untouchables in their temples (Gandhi was committed to the cause of improving the fate of untouchables, referring to them as Harijans, people of Krishna). Swaraj Main article: Swaraj Gandhi was a self-described philosophical anarchist, and his vision of India meant India without an underlying government. While political systems are largely hierarchical, with each layer of authority from the individual to the central government have increasing levels of authority over the layer below, Gandhi believed that society should be the exact opposite, where nothing is done without the consent of anyone, down to the individual. Gandhi also wrote several books including his autobiography, An Autobiography of My Experiments with Truth ((Gujarati ” “)), Satyagraha in South Africa about his struggle there, Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule, a political pamphlet, and a paraphrase in Gujarati of John Ruskin’s Unto This Last. Gandhi’s complete works were published by the Indian government under the name The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi in the 1960s. Legacy and depictions in popular culture Main article: List of artistic depictions of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi The word Mahatma, while often mistaken for Gandhi’s given name in the West, is taken from the Sanskrit words maha meaning Great and atma meaning Soul. Followers and influence Gandhi influenced important leaders and political movements. Leaders of the civil rights movement in the United States, including Martin Luther King and James Lawson, drew from the writings of Gandhi in the development of their own theories about non-violence. Gandhi’s life and teachings inspired many who specifically referred to Gandhi as their mentor or who dedicated their lives to spreading Gandhi’s ideas. In Europe, Romain Rolland was the first to discuss Gandhi in his 1924 book Mahatma Gandhi, and Brazilian anarchist and feminist Maria Lacerda de Moura wrote about Gandhi in her work on pacifism. Lanza del Vasto went to India in 1936 intending to live with Gandhi; he later returned to Europe to spread Gandhi’s philosophy and founded the Community of the Ark in 1948 (modeled after Gandhi’s ashrams). Madeleine Slade (known as “Mirabehn”) was the daughter of a British admiral who spent much of her adult life in India as a devotee of Gandhi. In addition, the British musician John Lennon referred to Gandhi when discussing his views on non-violence. Throughout my life, I have always looked to Mahatma Gandhi as an inspiration, because he embodies the kind of transformational change that can be made when ordinary people come together to do extraordinary things. National holidays Gandhi’s birthday, 2 October, is a national holiday in India, Gandhi Jayanti. On 30 January every year, on the anniversary of the death of Mahatma Gandhi, in schools of many countries is observed the School Day of Non-violence and Peace (DENIP), founded in Spain in 1964. Martin Luther King, Jr., Cesar Chavez, Aung San Suu Kyi, Benigno Aquino, Jr., Desmond Tutu, and Nelson Mandela as Children of Gandhi and his spiritual heirs to non-violence. The Government of India awards the annual Mahatma Gandhi Peace Prize to distinguished social workers, world leaders and citizens. That year, the committee chose not to award the peace prize stating that “there was no suitable living candidate” and later research shows that the possibility of awarding the prize posthumously to Gandhi was discussed and that the reference to no suitable living candidate was to Gandhi. Ben Kingsley portrayed Gandhi in the 1982 film Gandhi, which was awarded the Academy Award for Best Picture. The 2007 film, Gandhi, My Father explores the relationship between Gandhi and his son Harilal. Several biographers have undertaken the task of describing Gandhi’s life. Life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in eight volumes, and Pyarelal and Sushila Nayar with their Mahatma Gandhi in 10 volumes. ^ Bhattacharya, Sabyasachi (1997), The Mahatma and the Poet, New Delhi: National Book Trust, India, p.1 ^ Gandhi means “grocer” in Gujarati (L. Colonialism, Tradition and Reform: An Analysis of Gandhi’s Political Discourse. Colonialism, Tradition and Reform: An Analysis of Gandhi’s Political Discourse. Gandhi: A Political and Spiritual Life. Gandhi: A Political and Spiritual Life. Gandhi’s Passion: The Life and Legacy of Mahatma Gandhi. Evolution of the political philosophy of Gandhi. Life Positive Plus, October December 2002 ^ Gandhi, M.