Read Source 4. According to this report,how did people view Mahatma Gandhi? Why do you think they felt that he was opposed to Zamindars but not to the government? Why do you think they were in favour of Gandhiji?
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Gandhi had a dream; he laid down his life for its religion but every six decided of this passing away, it has reminded a dream. The world id far more violent than it was in 1909; it is heading towards hara-kiri. The violent that war monger perpetrated against other people has now descended down to the individual level. There is war inside each individual, family, and society. Peace has become more illusive than ever before. The violent man used to subdue nature has now resulted in global warming and climate change, a phenomenon that has the potentials of wiping out all life form planet earth. We need peace; Mahatma Gandhi shown the way.
The purpose of this editorial is to examine how relevant Gandhi is today. The focus is on Hind Swaraj, the first booklet e wrote in 1909 to give vent to his feelings about the things as they were in India and the world then and to lay down some basic principal that can lead humanity to higher level of consciousness and thus to rise above the mundane. It is not only a book that prescribes how India can secure political freedom but also and more importantly, how humans can rise above the animal to become a world of peace Hind Swaraj, thought written in South Africa in the midst of struggle to secure that basic human rights of Indians living there, it is more relevant today than ever before.
Hind Swaraj was written in the midst of passive resistance, as Satyagraha was then to secure the basic human rights of the people of Indian origin living In South Africa. The principal underlying the movement emended from his Indian cultural roots, his exposure to western civilization during his study days, and his growing interest in freeing India from British colonialism. He was convinced that Indians outside their homeland would not be able to lead a dignified life as long as India remained a British colony. He was so hurt by the treatment he received at the hands of the whites of South Africa that he decided to lunch a movement that was uniquely Indian both in concept and method and had no history of being used on mass scale. It was to organize the people to protest against injustice but without use of violence in any form-in thought, words or action. He named it passive resistance i.e. to fight against something evil but never hurting the opponent. The first of this type of campaign was organized in August 1908, to get his countrymen resist the law that required them to carry registration certification. Nearly 2000 protesters participated in it and placed their certificates in a large iron pot and set it fire.
And the campaign of strikes and burning of registration cards went on for about seven years. Gandhi was jailed a number of times. The government tried to quell this resistance using brute force, but the brutality unleashed caused such an outcry both within and outside South Africa that the government was forced to negotiate with Gandhi. He returned to India in January, 1915 after 21 years of self-exile in South Africa.
According to this report, people's perception Mahatma Gandhi was of Messiah, as someone who could help them overcome their misery and poverty.
At that time every class or common man in our country had developed their own interpretation of "Swaraj" from non-cooperation movement and Khilafat agitation. People at that time linked these movements to their local grievances. So for peasants, getting rid of high land taxes of zamindars was "Swaraj" and they thought that Gandhi would help them in their fight against zamindars.
But Gandhiji wished to build class unity , not class conflict. So he wanted every community of our country to understand each other's miseries and unite to fight against everyone's common enemy i.e. British.
They were in favor of Gandhiji because they loved his ideals and thought that he would help them to solve local problems.