Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand (Mahatma), 1869-1948, India, leader, assass. More than any other Indian leader, Mohandas Gandhi, called Mahatma by his Devoted friends and followers, was responsible for ridding India of British Rule through a consistent and painful policy of nonviolent rebellion. Gandhi Was India's greatest political, social, and religious leader, a man of simple? Tastes but burning idealism, one who led by saintly example. His political Achievements were enormous, his teachings inspired. Born on Oct. 2, 1869, in Porbandar, India, Gandhi came from a family of well-to-do merchants, members of The Banya, the trading class. His parents practiced Hindu and were members of The Vaishnava sect, advocates of Jainism. They hated the taking of human life and refrained from eating meat, fowl, or fish.

The British rule of India was exercised at the high levels of government, the Courts, the military, and commerce involving only the largest trading firm. Gandhi's caste actually controlled the commerce of the country at large and it grew wealthy. At an early age Gandhi displayed an agile mind and an excellent Memory. He learned English and spoke it fluently, graduating at the top of his Class in India before being sent to London in 1888, at age nineteen, to study Law. He wore Bond Street clothes and tried to adapt to British society. He entered a dancing school but gave this up, as he could not follow rhythm. He tried to learn the violin but abandoned these studies, realizing he had no Musical aptitude. He avoided attending law school dinners since he would be offered roast beef and be expected to drink wine, which his religion forbade. A lonely, little Indian boy ignored by his fellow students, Gandhi at this time Spent much time in prayer and reflection. His lifelong habit of long Meditation was honed in England as an emotional and intellectual refuge.

After receiving his law degree in 1891, Gandhi returned to India to practice Law, opening offices in Bombay. He found that he knew little of Muslim or Hindu law and proved to be inept as a trial lawyer. His first case, defending A client's property rights, was a shambles. The introverted Gandhi could not Bring himself to cross-examine witnesses. He later remembered: "I stood up, but my heart sank into my boots. My head was reeling and I felt that the whole Court was doing likewise. I could think of no questions to ask!" He lost the Case and returned his client's fee. Gandhi accepted no more trial work but Confined his legal work to the drafting of wills and contracts. He failed to earn a living in Bombay as a lawyer and was an equal failure in Rajkot where His family had resettled. He looked about for new opportunities and saw one in South Africa where thousands of Indians had migrated to find work. Gandhi accepted an assignment in South Africa at the time, representing Indian Clients they're in a dispute about trading rights. He worked against oppressive racial laws and still managed to win his suit. During the Boer War, Demonstrating his early nonviolent bent, he organized an Indian stretcher-Bearer service. Gandhi adopted the credo of Satyagraha, the lifestyle of Nonviolence, at an early age and never swayed from this philosophical posture. Gandhi spent twenty years in South Africa battling for the rights of Indians There.

He was jailed on several occasions but he amazed his warders by his prosaic Acceptance of incarceration. He passively resisted all compromise though he was a model prisoner. In the end, Gandhi achieved the near impossible in South Africa. Through his legal efforts and social leadership, he managed to have the unjust taxes against coolies and Indians repealed. Indian marriages in South Africa were made legal and recognized under the law, thanks to his indefatigable efforts. By the time he left South Africa in 1914, Gandhi had Brought about government recognition of Indians and Indian status was raised to A legal peer level in that country. Accompanying Gandhi was his wife, Kasturbai, to whom he had been betrothed at the age of thirteen, as was then the Indian custom. She was an illiterate girl and Gandhi taught her how to read and schooled her in many intellectuals Pursuits then denied Indian women. She bore him four children. Kasturbai Joined him in South Africa in 1896 and she remained loyal to him throughout Her life, despite the suffering and privation Gandhi's nonviolent crusades brought about.

After a brief sojourn to England, where Gandhi again organized an Indian Stretcher corps to serve with British troops during WWI, illness forced him to Return to India. He and his family set up a crude commune known as an ashram At Ahmadabad in Gujarat. They lived in a simple hut roofed by dried ferns Taken from the surrounding jungle. Abstinence became the lifestyle, with Gandhi and his growing followers eating only vegetables and upholding a strict Diet. Walking was a daily exercise practiced as religiously as meditation. Modern machinery was shunned. Homespun dhoti served as the only apparel of the family.

Gandhi had already established his pacifist movement to oust the British, and many of his followers were among the masses who gathered at the square, Jalianwalla Bagh in Amritsa, on Apr. 13, 1919. On that day, British General Reginald Dyer led his troops to the square and ordered the Indians to disperse. When the crowds did not break up, Dyer ruthlessly ordered his men to open fire. More than 400 Indians were slain and hundreds more injured. This genocidal Massacre moved Gandhi to tour India, urging all Indians to boycott the British. He persuaded hundreds of Indian government officials to give up positions and Titles bestowed upon them by the British. He urged Indian parents to keep Their children from British-sponsored schools and, most effective of all, he Campaigned against Indians paying any kind of tax to the British government in India. Followers of Gandhi wore the khaddar or the famous "Gandhi cap." They were Nonviolent and passively resisted cooperation with the British. Through this Policy, Gandhi believed, he would force the British to quit India and allow the Country its long-sought home rule. The result, however, was stiffening of British resolve to hang on in India. When British rule tightened, Indians, on The other hand, resorted to violence, despite Gandhi's insistence of a nonviolent posture. In 1921, when the Prince of Wales visited Bombay, riots Ensued in which fifty persons were killed. In the following year, mobs in the united provinces attacked a police barracks and set fire to the buildings, and the occupants were burned to death. In 1924 the British decided to rid themselves of the pesky Gandhi and he was arrested, along with many of his followers, including Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. While in confinement Gandhi began one of his historic fasts, threatening to Fast himself to death until the British relented and granted home rule. This Situation was to be repeated again and again, with Gandhi imprisoned and going Into prolonged fasting, and the British releasing him before he could seriously Injure himself in a program of self-starvation. At the beginning of WWII, Gandhi gave limited support to the British and condemned the fascist powers, But some time later he urged anti-British demonstrations that were interpreted As obstruction of the British war effort and Gandhi was once again jailed. He Again went on a prolonged fast, which was halted, with his release in 1944. At that time, Gandhi ostensibly retired from active political life, being replaced by his handpicked protege, Nehru. Yet, in the following year, India Was thrown into a nation-wide bloodbath when Lord Louis Mountbatten, the last British viceroy of India, thought to settle the age-old conflict between the Muslim and Indian factions in India by partitioning these two opposing Religious sects in 1947, sending all Muslims into Pakistan and keeping all Hindus in India. This decision caused incredible turmoil in India and forced more than four million refugees to clog the roads of the country for more than A year. Riots, arson, murders, and widespread violence ensued. Though independence came to India in 1946, the Hindu-Muslim conflict continued to rage. Gandhi came out of retirement to quell the nationwide strife. He Toured Bengal on foot, preaching his nonviolent philosophy and attempting to Bring peace between Muslim and Hindu leaders. Hindus dominated India and had for centuries. Among their countless numbers was a Hindu fanatic, Nathuram Godse, 37-year-old editor of a right-wing newspaper and an ardent member of Mahasabha, a violent Hindu organization that opposed everything Muslim. Godse Blamed Gandhi more than anyone else for the partition of India and felt that this act had injured the Hindus. He resolved to assassinate Gandhi, a Hindu, Whom he believed had betrayed his own religion. Godse put together a group to help him in his assassination plans and these included his younger brother Gopal, Narayan Apte, Mandanlal Pahwa, Vishnu Karkare, Pahwa Shankar Kistayya and Digambar Badge. The group located weapons and bombs. On Jan. 20, 1948, the group made its first attempt on the life of Gandhi. Pahwa set off a guncotton explosive that went off in the middle of an open-air Meeting Gandhi was conducting in the gardens of the Birla House in Delhi. No One was killed and only a few persons were slightly injured. The meeting went on undisturbed after Pahwa was seized by police. It was later claimed that Pahwa gave the names of all the conspirators to the police but that these Officers did nothing to stop the continued attempts on Gandhi's life. Ten days later, on Jan. 30, 1948, Gandhi, despite warnings that there would be a second Attempt on his life that day, resolutely called for another meeting in the Gardens of the Birla House. Gandhi, who was weak from recent fasting, walked into the gardens shakily, Supported by two grandnieces. He chatted freely with those around him, smiling and seemingly at peace. Hundreds of followers gathered about him, parting to make a path for him through the crowd. At that moment, Nathuram Godse walked Quickly to Gandhi. He wore a Gandhi cap, which supposedly indicated that he was a supporter of the Mahatma. He bowed in the fashion of a mendicant and then pulled a gun and fired three shots, firing almost point-blank. The bullets felled the great Gandhi. As he fell, Gandhi cried out: "Hai, Rama! Hai, Rama!" ("Oh, God! Oh, God!") The 78-year-old Indian leader died a few moments later. The massive funeral of Gandhi that followed in Delhi was one of the most spectacular to ever occur in India. Hundreds of thousands attended the Services as Gandhi's bier was pulled through flower-strewn streets. The corpse was then burned on a huge funeral pyre. By then, Godse was under arrest andAwaiting trial, as were the other conspirators. The assassin freely admitted Killing Gandhi, proclaiming to the world that he considered his actions that of A patriot who had rid India of a Hindu betrayer who had brought misery and Death to the Hindus. Godse submitted a 92-page statement to the court in which He assumed full responsibility for the assassination, stating that he alone bore the burden of guilt. The court decided otherwise, convicting all seven of the conspirators. Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte were sentenced to death, the others to life imprisonment. After appeals were denied, Godse and Apte were escorted to the gallows on Nov. 15, 1949. Both men stood on the scaffold and chanted: "India united!" They were then sent through the trap doors. Apte died instantly, his neck broken. Godse strangled to death, struggling for almost fifteen minutes before he Succumbed. It was reported that the executioner had purposely prepared the rope Incorrectly so that Godse would meet a slow death. Nathuram Godse believed that he would be remembered as an Indian hero and that his memory would live in the history of his troubled country. Just the opposite occurred. His name is never mentioned in India. The saint-like Gandhi, of course, remains as one of India's immortal humans.

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