Short note on gandhiji contribution to indian freedom struggle
Answers
The role played by Mahatma Gandhi was manifold. Infact he not only fought for the freedom but at the same time he started working on post independent India also. He started giving shape to the nation and the society for post Independence also. In that his role was futuristic also. In one of the writings he had mentioned that with violence as a means to achieve the demands in a political system, the country as large and diverse as India would keep fighting and there would be blood bath too often. With this as a background and restricting to his role to freedom struggle only, the role he played was :-
As an igniter of the will of freedom in the masses.
He was often termed as Paras Mani, a jewel that turns other metals into gold, here he turned millions into freedom fighter.
He made the British Govt bend rules and systems to achieve social justice thus made the people believe by his actions that we could fight with the most powerful and seek justice.
He united the society that was divided in regions, religions and castes, under one issue that was freedom.
Hu had understood the power of Dharm (that means Religion, duties and properties) and clubbed it with his movements. He converted the freedom struggle into a Dharm Yudh.
He adopted a style of a fakir by dress and by heart and mind clubbed with his political acumen and logics of an advocate. This was to make the people identify themselves with him.
He was an ardent follower of Bhagwat Gita that preaches to be truthful by heart, words and by actions. He thus had no hidden agenda unlike political missions and with full force did what he thought.
He was not scared of experiments and for that he applied new ways and means for his political goals. Since these were new ideas British Govt from India till London had no answer to his experiments and failed to restrict him achieving his goal.
He clubbed the matrix of religion, politics, economics, rural development and societal changes in his missions and thus these missions were not one dimensional but multifaceted.
The best known experiments or to say the weapon he devised were Ahinsa and Satyagrah (Non-violence and Just-demand).
He had participated in the wars as an volunteer for medical relief and had seen the WW-I closely as well as WW-II. Thus he was well aware of importance of weapons and tactics and leadership and of the strength an Army needs to win a battle. Here he selects the invisible weapons of Ahinsa and satygraha for which the entire fire power and the man behind such machines were of no use for the British Rulers.
He had become such an icon that even the poorest was ready to invest in. Thus money was never an issue with the Congress and it kept getting adequate funds to fight the freedom struggle.
He by heart and mind was not a political leader but a Guru for the nation who not only guided India to the path of freedom and progress but held her hand like a mother/father and moved her on that path.
As for the struggle for freedom of Nelson Mandela and of Mahatma Gandhi is concern I have not read much about him though I did live in that era of apartheid. Since Nelson Mandela was influenced by Gandhian philosophy and its success he had adopted the basic features of that viz Ahinsa and Satyagraha. Therefor there has to be a lot of similarity between the two. “Satyamev Jayate” the truth prevails.