The topic for this month’s meeting was Ghandi. The talk was given by one of our members’ Bernard Foot. Bernard was inspired to follow the history of Ghandi’s life when he visited the Ghandi museum in Mumbai.
Ghandi’s father was a politician in the state o f Gujarat. He had a normal childhood and had an arranged marriage at the age of 13 to a 14 year-old. He dropped out of college after 4 months an went on to study law at Inner Temple in London. He was called to the bar in 18921 at the age of 22.
He returned to India to discover his mother had died. He started a legal business which failed. He then moved to South Africa, Where he suffered much racial prejudice. This had a great effect on him. He supported non violent protest and encouraged Indians to resist against issues apartheid. He successfully campaigned fir their rights.
He returned to India after WW1 and joined the Congress Party. He was elected leader in 1920. By non-violent protest he succeeded in winning support for native Indians. The Amritsar Massacres of 1919 was the start of the ending of British Rule and this resulted in him focusing solely on fighting for Independence. He advocated boycotting British Institutions. In 1931 he signed a pact with the Viceroy to release all political prisoners. In WW2 he gave Britain moral support, but Congress party was angry for dragging India into the war. India finally achieved independence in 1947.
Was he naïve or was he bonkers!!
A thought we were left to ponder!