On January 30 many Indians around the world stopped to remember a man who showed the world that peaceful means could resist oppression and violence.Known to many as Ghandi, (or in India as Bupa, or Mahatma), the story of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and his philosophy of non-violence has inspired others. Dr Martin Luther King Jr, Nelson Mandela, Steven Biko and Aung Sun Suu Khi, were inspired or directly influenced by Ghandi.Born into a family of merchants in 1869, Ghandi became a lawyer despite his own disinterest in the idea. Trained to be a barrister in London, his time in the British capital would familiarise him with English customs and develop hisunderstanding of the world.
Such skills, he found would become useful when he took up a position in the South African province of Natal.
The Birth of Non-Violence
During his 20 years in
South Africa, Ghandi encountered severe discrimination; he was thrown
from trains for refusing to remove himself from a first-class cabin to
which he held a valid ticket, beaten by stage coach drivers for not
giving up his seat to white passengers, and he was refused entry to
hotels due to his racial identity. These experiences hardened his
resolve and pushed him to pursue equal rights for South Africa's Indian
population. It was also in South Africa that Ghandi decided he would
forgo material pursuit and instead focus on self-improvement.
Ghandi's subsequent depth
of spirituality would meanhis certain brand of resistance would be
unique and become known as the concept of Satyagraha .
Literally Satyagraha means
Satya (Truth) with Agraha (Firmness) which would be the basis of his
philosophy of peaceful resistance.
The South African
Government found itself unable to cope with Satyagraha . Thousands of
Indians willingly got arrested and beaten and continually refused to
obey racially discriminatory laws. Eventually the applied pressure
forced the South African Government to negotiate with Ghandi and by
1914 had agreed to many of his demands. The British Empire received
notice that Ghandi was a political activist unparalleled.
Shaking the British Empire
Upon his return to India
the following year, Ghandi established an ashram (a spiritual retreat)
that was dedicatedt......
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Unearthing of some objects, believed to be Stone Age tools, during excavation of a tank at a village nearby, has prompted the Visva Bharati University's archaeology department to seek assistance of the Archaeological Survey of India to unravel the mystery. "The scientific excavation is likely to throw new light on the possible existence of stone age people in this part of Bengal," sources in the university's archaeology department said. They said that the tools "b...Isai Tamil inscription in ruins
Hundreds of Hindu villagers in eastern India have been ordered to hand over a rare turtle to officials but have refused to do so on the grounds that theybelieve the turtle to be the incarnation of Hindu deityLord Jagannath."Hundreds of poor Hindu villagers in eastern India have refused to hand over a rare turtle to authorities, saying it is an incarnation of God, officials saidon Tuesday." View: Full Article | Source: STV.. ...Indian state gripped by fear of witches
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Stone Age tools found near Bolpur
Isai Tamil inscription in ruins
Villagers worship rare turtle as God
Indian state gripped by fear of witches
Search for India's ancient city
Hindu gods get summons from court
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi dies
Riddle of the Hindu relics in the Thames
India's Excalibur halts dam progress
Frogs married in India to encourage rainfall
