January 30, 1948
New Delhi
"Friends and comrades, the light has gone out of our lives, and there is darkness everywhere, and I do not quite know what to tell you or how to say it. Our beloved leader, Bapu as we called him, the father of the nation, is no more. Perhaps I am wrong to say that; nevertheless, we will not see him again, as we have seen him for these many years, we will not run to him for advice or seek solace from him, and that is a terrible blow, not only for me, but for millions and millions in this country."
- Jawaharlal Nehru's adress to Gandhi
|
DeathMohandas Karamchand Gandhi was a major political and spiritual leader of India and the Indian Independence Movement. In India, Gandhi is recognized as the Father of the Nation. "His birthday, October 2nd, is commemorated each year as Gandhi Jayanthi, which is considered a national holiday." Gandhi was on his way to a prayer meeting when his assassin, Nathuram Godse, fired three bullets from a 9mm pistol into Gandhi’s chest at point blank. “Oh God.” These are believed to be Gandhi’s last words after he was shot. These words show Gandhi’s devotion to non-violence and a higher being.
|
Man : "I had gone to attend his meeting. Prayer meeting at 6 PM at Birla house. The person who killed him was standing by my side."
Kid : "Godse?" Man : "Godse, Nathuram Godse. When he came up to do the meeting, to do the pledge, these men bowed down their for him to pay him homage. And then he immediately killed him." |
"All compromise is based on give and take, but there can be no give and take on fundamentals. Any compromise on mere fundamentals is a surrender. For it is all give and no take."
- Mahatma Gandhi
Gandhism
Gandhism is a body of ideas and principles that describe the inspiration, vision, and the life work of Mahatma Gandhi. It is particularly associated with his contributions to the idea of nonviolent resistance, sometimes also called civil resistance. What many people don’t see is that Gandhi saw that morality is much greater that religion. He thought "as soon as we lose the moral basis, we cease to be religious. There is no such thing as religion over-riding morality. Man, for instance, cannot be untruthful, cruel or incontinent and claim to have God on his side" Even though Gandhi himself looked down on any religion or belief after him, he thinks of his ideas as a philosophy. In his autobiography, he had admitted to "hitting [his] wife, eating meat, smoking cigarettes, and almost visiting a prostitute" (Mahatma Gandhi). However, it was only much after much turmoil and repeated failures that Gandhi developed his philosophy of morality, religion, and peace.
"There is no such thing as 'Gandhism', and I do not want to leave any sect after me. I do not claim to have originated any new principle or doctrine. I have simply tried in my own way to apply the eternal truths to our daily life and problems...The opinions I have formed and the conclusions I have arrived at are not final. I may change them tomorrow. I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and nonviolence are as old as the hills."
- Mahatma Gandhi in 1936
- Mahatma Gandhi in 1936