Essay/Term paper: Gandhi

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Humanities

"Nonviolence in its dynamic condition means conscious suffering. It

does not mean a meek submission to the will of the evil-doer, but it

means pitting one"s whole soul against the will of the tyrant"

Mohatma Gandhi

"An eye for an eye makes everybody blind" summarizes Gandhi"s view of

violence. That statement is one of the greatest things ever said, and

was borrowed by other world leaders including Martin Luther King Jr.

Gandhi did not believe in violence as a technique of achieving his goal

of an independent India. He preached non-violent non cooperation.

Gandhi considered non-violent non cooperation as requireing more courage

and dedication then violence. Through the methods he used in his

campaign for the Free India he proved the previous statement to be true.

Many people would find "non-violence in its dynamic condition" ironic.

By the word non-violence Gandhi did not mean mere ignorance of the

injustices that came upon his people, He supported active non

cooperation, organizing non-violent marches and other events to protest

the unfairness of the British occupation of India. In the salt marches

Gandhi protested the British monopoly on salt and the salt tax Indians

had to pay. He tried to a provoke violent a response from the colonial

government. Such a response would show him to the world as a victim and

not a tyrant. This approach would expose the British injustice and

would get the world"s public opinion on hGandhi"s side. As a result,

even the English people supported his independence movement.

Gandhi"s non-violent non cooperation required much more bravery and

devotion then violent techniques used by some other Indian independence

leaders. During a march on a salt plant organized by Gandhi, men stood

in line to approach the guards. When they approached, the men stood

defenseless, while the guards beat them with sticks. As the beaten men

were carried away new ones came forward. In this symbolic event the

Indian people suffered greatly to show the world the cruelty of the

colonial authorities and the persistence of the peple of India to

achieve independence.

Another showing of the British cruelty was the massacre, where

protesters stood peacefully while the British soldiers gunned them

down. After this event the entire world supported Indian independence.

Non-violence was successful.

In non-violent non cooperation Gandhi captured the support of the

entire nation. Under his leadership millions of Indians sacrificed for

the cause of freedom by non-violent methods. People stood defenseless

while being beaten or killed to show the world the inhumane policies of

the British. Non-violent non cooperation is one of the most difficult

and painful policies to be dedicated to.

Information from the following sources was used in this paper: The

Movie Ganhdi, A History of World Societies, The Illustrated World

Encyclopedia, The 20th Century Encyclopedic Dictionary, the movie To Do

the Right Thing.