Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India encyclopedia

FREEDOM MOVEMENT

of Satyagraha. He wanted to convert her self-sacrifice and suffering into shakti . 1942 : Following the failure of the Cripps Mission, the AICC passed the Quit India resolution in favour of starting a mass struggle. 1947 : India attains Independence. Mass migration of Sikhs and Muslims begins from Pakistan to India and Muslims from India to Pakistan. Communal massacres erupt. Gandhi did not take part in nation's celebrations. Instead he undertakes a visit to riot hit Calcutta where he goes on fast unto death. He breaks the fast 73 hours later only when Hindu, Muslim and Chris- tian representatives pledge to keep the peace. 1948 : Gandhi goes on his last fast, his 20th and his seventh major fast, on January 13. He said he would break the fast only when, “I am satisfied that there is a reun- ion of hearts among all the communities. ” The fast was also intended to compel the Indian Goverment to pay Pakistan its share of Rs. 65 crores in the treasury before In- dependence. He broke the fast on the 6th day after the Indian Government had agreed to pay the amount due to Pakistan and the leaders of all communities pledged to maintain communal peace.

Simplicity to the core... of the masses.... with the masses

He had a paper weight inscribed, “God is Love ’ and the following eternal motto,

“See no evil,” “Speak no evil” and “Hear no evil.” His possessions con- sisted of a dollar pocket watch, two food bowls, a water pitcher, fountain pens, a pair of spectacles and a stick. “I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and non-violence are as old as the hills. ’’ “Complete renunciation of one's pos- sessions is a thing which very few even among ordinary folk are capable of. All that can legitimately be expected of the wealthy class is that they should hold their riches and talents in trust and use them for the service of society. To insist on more would be to kill the goose that laid the golden eggs. ” “Prayer is the first and the last lesson in learning the noble and brave art of sacrific- ing self in the various walks of life... Prayer is not an old woman's idle amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action.”

1922 : Gandhi suspended the Civil Disobe- dience movement, when a violent mob burnt alive 22 policemen at Chauri Chaura in Uttar Pradesh. Gandhi was arrested on 10th March and was sentenced to 6 years’ im- prisonment but was released after two years on health grounds. In March 1930 Gandhi undertook break- ing of the Salt law at Dandi* and was ar- rested. This provoked Churchill to say that Gandhism, will have to be crushed. After a series of eight meetings, with Viceroy Irwin, the Irwin Pact was signed on March 5, 1931. The government agreed to release all non-violent prisoners and to recognise the boycott of foreign cloth as a legitimate right. Gandhi agreed to suspend his Civil Disobedience and to attend the Second Round Table Conference in London. In August, he sailed to London where he turned down invitations from the well-to- do and instead took a small room in the slums. In London, he visited the Lancashire textile mills that had been particularly hard hit by the Indian boycott of English cloth. He was able to give its angry workers a vivid picture of the poverty in India. His sin- cerity, simplicity and gaiety won over the workers to his side. The talks failed and Gandhi returned to India where he was re- arrested. 1935 : He built his model village a few miles from Wardha and called it Sevagram. For the rest of his life this was his home. He lived in a three-by-eight hut made up of mud and bamboo. It had no electricity. * Refer Pg I 34 -- Dandi March

Personal possessions This is all that he left behind ....................

His heart yearned for the "suppressed-half of humanity ......... We forget that the girls of today are the mothers of tomorrow." Woman to Gandhiji was the emblem of Ahimsa — non-violence — “weak in striking...strong in suffering”, she had come to occupy a pivotal position in his plan