Career guide A career guide is an individual or publication that provides guidance to people facing a variety of career challenges. These challenges may include (but are not limited to) dealing with redundancy; seeking a new job; changing careers; returning to work after a career break; building new skills; personal and professional development; going for promotion; and setting up a business. The common aim of the career guide, whatever the particular situation of the individual being guided, is normally to help that individual gain control of their career and, to some extent, their life. Career guide professionals

Individuals who work as career guides usually take the approach of combining coaching, mentoring, advising and consulting in their work, without being limited to any one of these disciplines. A typical career guide will have a mixture of professional qualifications and work experiences from which to draw when guiding clients.[1] They may also have a large network of contacts and, when appropriate will put a particular client in touch with a contact relevant to their case. A career guide may work for themselves independently or for one or more private or public careers advisory services. The term 'Career Guide' has been first established and used by career consulting firm Position Ignition, which was created in 2009 and has been using the term for their career consultants and career advisors. Career guide publications

Career guide publications may take a number of forms, including PDFs, booklets, journals or books. A career guide publication will typically be divided up into a number of chapters or segments, each one addressing a particular career issue. Career guides can also focus on a particular industry or profession. For instance, there is ' The fine artist's career guide: making money in the arts and beyond' and 'Professional Pilot's Career Guide'. Career guidance standards

In Europe, career guidance as a public service is generally expected to meet a number of quality assurance standards. According to these standards, European career guidance should:[2]

 Have regular review periods in which to assess guidance resources and processes  Be transparent and open  Create synergy and co-operation between education, training, employment and community sectors  Ensure consistency between local and regional services so that all citizens are treated equally, regardless of geographical location.  Strive for continuous improvement of tools, services and products.

Mahatma

Mahatma Gandhi

Born Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi 2 October 1869 Porbandar, Kathiawar Agency,British Indian Empire[1]

Died 30 January 1948 (aged 78) New Delhi,

Cause of death Assassination by shooting

Resting place Cremated at Rajghat, Delhi 28.6415°N 77.2483°E

Other names , , Gandhiji

Ethnicity Gujarati

Alma mater Alfred High School, , Samaldas College, Bhavnagar, University College, London(UCL)

Known for Leadership of Indian independence movement, philosophy of , or .

Political Indian National Congress movement

Religion , with Jain influences

Spouse(s)

Children Harilal Manilal Ramdas Devdas

Parents Putlibai Gandhi (Mother) Karamchand Gandhi (Father)

Signature

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (pronounced ( listen); 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the preeminent leader of Indian nationalism in British-ruled India. Employing nonviolent , Gandhi led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. Thehonorific Mahatma (Sanskrit: "high-souled", "venerable"[2])—applied to him first in 1914 in —is now used worldwide. He is also called Bapu (Gujarati: endearment for "father","papa" in India.

Born and raised in a Hindu, merchant caste, family in coastal Gujarat, western India, and trained in law at the Inner Temple, London, Gandhi first employed nonviolent civil disobedience as an expatriate lawyer in South Africa, in the resident Indian community's struggle for civil rights. After his return to India in 1915, he set about organising peasants, farmers, and urban labourers to against excessive land-tax and discrimination. Assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding women's rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability, but above all for achieving or self-rule.

Gandhi famously led Indians in challenging the British-imposed salt tax with the 400 km (250 mi) Dandi in 1930, and later in calling for the British to Quit India in 1942. He was imprisoned for many years, upon many occasions, in both South Africa and India. Gandhi attempted to practise nonviolence and truth in all situations, and advocated that others do the same. He lived modestly in a self-sufficient residential community and wore the traditional Indian dhoti and shawl, woven with yarn hand spun on a charkha. He ate simple vegetarian food, and also undertook long fasts as means of both self-purification and social protest.

Gandhi's vision of a free India based on religious pluralism, however, was challenged in the early 1940s by a new Muslim nationalism which was demanding a separate Muslim homeland carved out of India.[6] Eventually, in August 1947, Britain granted independence, but the British Indian Empire[6] was partitioned into two dominions, a Hindu-majority Indiaand Muslim Pakistan.[7] As many displaced Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs made their way to their new lands, religious violence broke out, especially in the Punjab and Bengal. Eschewing the official celebration of independence in Delhi, Gandhi visited the affected areas, attempting to provide solace. In the months following, he undertook several fasts unto death to promote religious harmony. The last of these, undertaken on 12 January 1948 at age 78,[8] also had the indirect goal of pressuring India to pay out some cash assets owed to Pakistan.] Some Indians thought Gandhi was too accommodating. Among them was , a Hindu nationalist, who assassinated Gandhi on 30 January 1948 by firing three bullets into his chest at point-blank range. Gandhi is commonly, though not officially,[10] considered the Father of the Nation[11] in India. His birthday, 2 October, is commemorated there as , a national holiday, and world-wide as the International Day of Nonviolence. Early life and background

Gandhi was born Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, or "Mohan", on 2 October 1869 to Karamchand Gandhi (called Kaba) and his wife Putlibaiin a many-roomed, three-story house in Porbandar which is the present day Kirti Mandir – a temple of . Gandhi’s birthplace is in Kathiawar Peninsula (also known as Saurashtra), a region today part of Gujarat state in India, but then within the Bombay Presidency of British India Described by Gandhi as "a lover of his clan, truthful, brave and generous",his father was the Diwan (chief minister) of Porbandar at the time of Gandhi’s birth, but later became the Diwan of Rajkot in 1876. Gandhi's grandfather Uttamchand Gandhi was also the Diwan of Porbandar. His mother, Putlibai, who was from a Pranami Vaishnavafamily, was Karamchand's fourth wife, the first three wives having apparently died in childbirth.

The Indian classics, especially the stories of Shravana and , had a great impact on Gandhi in his childhood. In his autobiography, he admits that they left an indelible impression on his mind. He writes: "It haunted me and I must have acted Harishchandra to myself times without number." Gandhi's early self- identification with truth and love as supreme values is traceable to these epic characters.[25][26]

In May 1883, the 13-year-old Mohandas was married to 14-year-old Kasturbai Makhanji (her first name was usually shortened to "Kasturba", and affectionately to "Ba") in an arranged child marriage, according to the custom of the region.[27] In the process, he lost a year at school.[28] Recalling the day of their marriage, he once said, "As we didn't know much about marriage, for us it meant only wearing new clothes, eating sweets and playing with relatives." However, as was prevailing tradition, the adolescent bride was to spend much time at her parents' house, and away from her husband.[29]In 1885, when Gandhi was 15, the couple's first child was born, but survived only a few days. Gandhi's father, Karamchand Gandhi, had also died earlier that year.[30] The religious background was eclectic. Gandhi's father was Hindu[31] Modh Baniya[32] and his mother was from Pranami Vaishnava family. Religious figures were frequent visitors to the home.[33]

Mohandas and Kasturba had four more children, all sons: Harilal, born in 1888; Manilal, born in 1892; Ramdas, born in 1897; andDevdas, born in 1900.[27] At his middle school in Porbandar and high school in Rajkot, Gandhi remained a mediocre student. He shone neither in the classroom nor on the playing field. One of the terminal reports rated him as "good at English, fair in Arithmetic and weak in Geography; conduct very good, bad handwriting." He passed the matriculation exam at Samaldas College in Bhavnagar, Gujarat, with some difficulty. Gandhi's family wanted him to be a barrister, as it would increase the prospects of succeeding to his father's post.[34] English barrister

In 1888, Gandhi travelled to London, England, to study law at University College London, where he studied Indian law and jurisprudence and trained as a barrister at the Inner Temple. His time in London was influenced by a vow he had made to his mother upon leaving India, in the presence of a Jain monk, to observe the precepts of abstinence from meat and alcohol as well as of promiscuity.[35] Gandhi tried to adopt "English" customs, including taking dancing lessons. However, he could not appreciate the bland vegetarian food offered by his landlady and was frequently hungry until he found one of London's few vegetarian restaurants. Influenced by Henry Salt's writing, he joined the Vegetarian Society, was elected to its executive committee,[36] and started a local Bayswater chapter.[23] Some of the vegetarians he met were members of the Theosophical Society, which had been founded in 1875 to further universal brotherhood, and which was devoted to the study of Buddhist and Hinduliterature. They encouraged Gandhi to join them in reading the both in translation as well as in the original.[36] Not having shown interest in religion before, he became interested in religious thought. Gandhi was called to the bar in June 1891 and then left London for India, where he learned that his mother had died while he was in London and that his family had kept the news from him.[36] His attempts at establishing a law practice in Bombay failed because he was too shy to speak up in court. He returned to Rajkot to make a modest living drafting petitions for litigants, but he was forced to close it when he ran foul of a British officer.[23][36] In 1893, he accepted a year-long contract from Dada Abdulla & Co., an Indian firm, to a post in the Colony of Natal, South Africa, then part of the British Empire.[23] Gandhi and the Africans

Gandhi in South Africa (1909)

Gandhi focused his attention on Indians while in South Africa and opposed the idea that Indians should be treated at the same level as native Africans while in South Africa.[47][48][49] He also stated that he believed "that the white race of South Africa should be the predominating race."[50] After several treatments he received from Whites in South Africa, Gandhi began to change his thinking and apparently increased his interest in politics.[51] White rule enforced strict segregation among all races and generated conflict between these communities. Bhana and Vahed argue that Gandhi, at first, shared racial notions prevalent of the times and that his experiences in jail sensitized him to the plight of South Africa's indigenous peoples.[52]

During the Boer war Gandhi volunteered in 1900 to form a group of ambulance drivers. He wanted to disprove the British idea that Hindus were not fit for "manly" activities involving danger and exertion. Gandhi raised eleven hundred Indian volunteers. They were trained and medically certified to serve on the front lines. At Spion Kop Gandhi and his bearers had to carry wounded soldiers for miles to a field hospital because the terrain was too rough for the ambulances. Gandhi was pleased when someone said that European ambulance corpsmen could not make the trip under the heat without food or water. General Redvers Buller mentioned the courage of the Indians in his dispatch. Gandhi and thirty-seven other Indians received the War Medal.[53] In 1906, when the British declared war against the Zulu Kingdom in Natal, Gandhi encouraged the British to recruit Indians.[54] He argued that Indians should support the war efforts to legitimise their claims to full citizenship.[54] The British accepted Gandhi's offer to let a detachment of 20 Indians volunteer as a stretcher- bearer corps to treat wounded British soldiers. This corps was commanded by Gandhi and operated for less than two months.[55] The experience taught him it was hopeless to directly challenge the overwhelming military power of the British army—he decided it could only be resisted in nonviolent fashion by the pure of heart.[56]

After the black majority came to power in South Africa, Gandhi was proclaimed a national hero with numerous monuments.[57] Struggle for Indian Independence (1915–47)

See also: Indian independence movement

In 1915, Gandhi returned to India permanently. He brought an international reputation as a leading Indian nationalist, theorist and organiser. He joined the Indian National Congress and was introduced to Indian issues, politics and the primarily by Gopal Krishna Gokhale. Gokhale was a key leader of the Congress Party best known for his restraint and moderation, and his insistence on working inside the system. Gandhi took Gokhale's liberal approach based on British Whiggish traditions and transformed it to make it look wholly Indian.[58]

Gandhi took leadership of Congress in 1920 and began a steady escalation of demands (with intermittent compromises or pauses) until on 26 January 1930 the Indian National Congress declared the independence of India. The British did not recognise that and more negotiations ensued, with Congress taking a role in provincial government in the late 1930s. Gandhi and Congress withdrew their support of the Raj when the Viceroy declared war on in September 1939 without consulting anyone. Tensions escalated until Gandhi demanded immediate independence in 1942 and the British responded by imprisoning him and tens of thousands of Congress leaders for the duration. Meanwhile the Muslim League did cooperate with Britain and moved, against Gandhi's strong opposition, to demands for a totally separate Muslim state of Pakistan. In August 1947 the British partitioned the land, with India and Pakistan each achieving independence on terms that Gandhi disapproved.[59] Champaran and Kheda

Gandhi's first major achievements came in 1918 with the Champaran and Kheda agitations of Bihar and Gujarat. The Champaran agitation pitted the local peasantry against their largely British landlords who were backed by the local administration. The peasantry was forced to grow Indigo, a cash crop whose demand had been declining over two decades, and were forced to sell their crops to the planters at a fixed price. Unhappy with this, the peasantry appealed to Gandhi at his ashram in Ahmedabad. Pursuing a strategy of nonviolent protest, Gandhi took the administration by surprise and won concessions from the authorities.[65]

Gandhi in 1918, at the time of the Kheda and Champaran

In 1918, Kheda was hit by floods and famine and the peasantry was demanding relief from taxes. Gandhi moved his headquarters to Nadiad,[66] organising scores of supporters and fresh volunteers from the region, the most notable being .[67] Using noncooperation as a technique, Gandhi initiated a signature campaign where peasants pledged non-payment of revenue even under the threat of confiscation of land. A social boycott of mamlatdars and talatdars (revenue officials within the district) accompanied the agitation. Gandhi worked hard to win public support for the agitation across the country. For five months, the administration refused but finally in end-May 1918, the Government gave way on important provisions and relaxed the conditions of payment of revenue tax until the famine ended. In Kheda, Vallabhbhai Patel represented the farmers in negotiations with the British, who suspended revenue collection and released all the prisoners.[68] Khilafat movement

In 1919 Gandhi, with his weak position in Congress, decided to broaden his base by increasing his appeal to Muslims. The opportunity came from the Khilafat movement, a worldwide protest by Muslims against the collapsing status of the Caliph, the leader of their religion. The Ottoman Empire had lost the World War and was dismembered, as Muslims feared for the safety of the holy places and the prestige of their religion.[69] Although Gandhi did not originate the All-India Muslim Conference,[70] which directed the movement in India, he soon became its most prominent spokesman and attracted a strong base of Muslim support with local chapters in all Muslim centres in India.[71] His success made him India's first national leader with a multicultural base and facilitated his rise to power within Congress, which had previously been unable to reach many Muslims. In 1920 Gandhi became a major leader in Congress.[72][73] By the end of 1922 the Khilafat movement had collapsed.[74]

Gandhi always fought against "communalism", which pitted Muslims against Hindus in politics, but he could not reverse the rapid growth of communalism after 1922. Deadly religious riots broke out in numerous cities, including 91 in U.P. (Uttar Pradesh) alone.[75][76]At the leadership level, the proportion of Muslims among delegates to Congress fell sharply, from 11% in 1921 to under 4% in 1923.[77] Noncooperation

Mahatma Gandhi spinning yarn, in the late 1920s

With Congress now behind him in 1920, Gandhi had the base to employ noncooperation, nonviolence and peaceful resistance as his "weapons" in the struggle against the . His wide popularity among both Hindus and Muslims made his leadership possible; he even convinced the extreme faction of Muslims to support peaceful noncooperation.[71] The spark that ignited a national protest was overwhelming anger at the Jallianwala Bagh massacre (or Amritsar massacre) of hundreds of peaceful civilians by British troops in Punjab. Many Britons celebrated the action as needed to prevent another violent uprising similar to theRebellion of 1857, an attitude that caused many Indian leaders to decide the Raj was controlled by their enemies. Gandhi criticised both the actions of the British Raj and the retaliatory violence of Indians. He authored the resolution offering condolences to British civilian victims and condemning the riots which, after initial opposition in the party, was accepted following Gandhi's emotional speech advocating his principle that all violence was evil and could not be justified.[78]

After the massacre and subsequent violence, Gandhi began to focus on winning complete self-government and control of all Indian government institutions, maturing soon into Swaraj or complete individual, spiritual, political independence.[79] During this period, Gandhi claimed to be a "highly orthodox Hindu" and in January 1921 during a speech at a temple in Vadtal, he spoke of the relevance of noncooperation to Hindu Dharma, "At this holy place, I declare, if you want to protect your 'Hindu Dharma', non-cooperation is first as well as the last lesson you must learn up.".[80]

Sabarmati Ashram, Gandhi's home in Gujarat as seen in 2006.

In December 1921, Gandhi was invested with executive authority on behalf of the Indian National Congress. Under his leadership, the Congress was reorganised with a new constitution, with the goal of Swaraj. Membership in the party was opened to anyone prepared to pay a token fee. A hierarchy of committees was set up to improve discipline, transforming the party from an elite organisation to one of mass national appeal. Gandhi expanded his nonviolence platform to include the swadeshi policy—the boycott of foreign-made goods, especially British goods. Linked to this was his advocacy that (homespun cloth) be worn by all Indians instead of British-made textiles. Gandhi exhorted Indian men and women, rich or poor, to spend time each day spinning khadi in support of the independence movement.[81]

Gandhi even invented a small, portable spinning wheel that could be folded into the size of a small typewriter.[82] This was a strategy to inculcate discipline and dedication to weeding out the unwilling and ambitious and to include women in the movement at a time when many thought that such activities were not respectable activities for women. In addition to boycotting British products, Gandhi urged the people to boycott British educational institutions and law courts, to resign from government employment, and to forsake British titles and honours.[83]

"Non-cooperation" enjoyed widespread appeal and success, increasing excitement and participation from all strata of Indian society. Yet, just as the movement reached its apex, it ended abruptly as a result of a violent clash in the town of Chauri Chaura, Uttar Pradesh, in February 1922. Fearing that the movement was about to take a turn towards violence, and convinced that this would be the undoing of all his work, Gandhi called off the campaign of mass civil disobedience.[84] This was the third time that Gandhi had called off a major campaign.[85] Gandhi was arrested on 10 March 1922, tried for sedition, and sentenced to six years' imprisonment. He began his sentence on 18 March 1922. He was released in February 1924 for an appendicitis operation, having served only two years.[86] Without Gandhi's unifying personality, the Indian National Congress began to splinter during his years in prison, splitting into two factions, one led by Chitta Ranjan Das and Motilal Nehru favouring party participation in the legislatures, and the other led byChakravarti Rajagopalachari and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, opposing this move. Furthermore, cooperation among Hindus and Muslims, which had been strong at the height of the nonviolence campaign, was breaking down. Gandhi attempted to bridge these differences through many means, including a three-week fast in the autumn of 1924, but with limited success.[87] In this year, Gandhi was persuaded to preside over the Congress session to be held in Belgaum. Gandhi agreed to become president of the session on one condition: that Congressmen should take to wearing homespun khadi. In his long political career, this was the only time when he presided over a Congress session.[88] Salt Satyagraha (Salt March)

Main article: Salt Satyagraha

Original footage of Gandhi and his followers marching to Dandi in the Salt Satyagraha

Gandhi stayed out of active politics and, as such, the limelight for most of the 1920s. He focused instead on resolving the wedge between the Swaraj Party and the Indian National Congress, and expanding initiatives against untouchability, alcoholism, ignorance and poverty. He returned to the fore in 1928. In the preceding year, the British government had appointed a new constitutional reform commission under Sir John Simon, which did not include any Indian as its member. The result was a boycott of the commission by Indian political parties. Gandhi pushed through a resolution at the Calcutta Congress in December 1928 calling on the British government to grant India dominion status or face a new campaign of noncooperation with complete independence for the country as its goal. Gandhi had not only moderated the views of younger men like Subhas Chandra Bose and Jawaharlal Nehru, who sought a demand for immediate independence, but also reduced his own call to a one year wait, instead of two.[89]

The British did not respond. On 31 December 1929, the was unfurled in Lahore. 26 January 1930 was celebrated as India's Independence Day by the Indian National Congress meeting in Lahore. This day was commemorated by almost every other Indian organisation. Gandhi then launched a new Satyagraha against the tax on salt in March 1930. This was highlighted by the famous Salt March to Dandi from 12 March to 6 April, where he marched 388 kilometres (241 mi) from Ahmedabad to Dandi, Gujarat to make salt himself. Thousands of Indians joined him on this march to the sea. This campaign was one of his most successful at upsetting British hold on India; Britain responded by imprisoning over 60,000 people.[90]

Women

Gandhi strongly favoured the emancipation of women, and he went so far as to say that "the women have come to look upon me as one of themselves." He opposed purdah, child marriage, untouchability, and the extreme oppression of Hindu widows, up to and includingsati. He especially recruited women to participate in the salt tax campaigns and the boycott of foreign products.[91] Sarma concludes that Gandhi's success in enlisting women in his campaigns, including the salt tax campaign, anti-untouchability campaign and the peasant movement, gave many women a new self-confidence and dignity in the mainstream of Indian public life.[92]

Gandhi as folk hero

Congress in the 1920s appealed to peasants by portraying Gandhi as a sort of messiah, a strategy that succeeded in incorporating radical forces within the peasantry into the movement. In thousands of villages plays were performed that presented Gandhi as the reincarnation of earlier Indian nationalist leaders, or even as a demigod. The plays built support among illiterate peasants steeped in traditional Hindu culture. Similar messianic imagery appeared in popular songs and poems, and in Congress- sponsored religious pageants and celebrations. The result was that Gandhi became not only a folk hero but the Congress was widely seen in the villages as his sacred instrument.[93]

Negotiations

The government, represented by Lord Edward Irwin, decided to negotiate with Gandhi. TheGandhi–Irwin Pact was signed in March 1931. The British Government agreed to free all political prisoners, in return for the suspension of the civil disobedience movement. Also as a result of the pact, Gandhi was invited to attend the Round Table Conference in London as the sole representative of the Indian National Congress. The conference was a disappointment to Gandhi and the nationalists, because it focused on the Indian princes and Indian minorities rather than on a transfer of power. Lord Irwin's successor, Lord Willingdon, taking a hard line against nationalism, began a new campaign of controlling and subduing the nationalist movement. Gandhi was again arrested, and the government tried and failed to negate his influence by completely isolating him from his followers.[94]

Mahadev Desai (left) reading out a letter to Gandhi from the viceroy at Birla House, Bombay, 7 April 1939

Untouchables

In 1932, through the campaigning of the Dalit leader B. R. Ambedkar, the government granted untouchables separate electorates under the new constitution, known as theCommunal Award. In protest, Gandhi embarked on a six-day fast on 20 September 1932, while he was imprisoned at the Yerwada Jail, Pune.[95] The resulting public outcry successfully forced the government to adopt an equitable arrangement () through negotiations mediated by Palwankar Baloo.[95] This was the start of a new campaign by Gandhi to improve the lives of the untouchables, whom he named Harijans, the children of God.[96] On 8 September 1931, Mahatma Gandhi who was sailing on SS Rajputana, to the second Round Table Conference in London, Mahatma Gandhi met Meher Baba in his cabin on board the ship, and discussed issues of untouchables, politics, state Independence and spirituality[97]

On 8 May 1933, Gandhi began a 21-day fast of self-purification and launched a one-year campaign to help the Harijan movement.[98]This new campaign was not universally embraced within the Dalit community, as Ambedkar condemned Gandhi's use of the termHarijans as saying that Dalits were socially immature, and that privileged caste Indians played a paternalistic role. Ambedkar and his allies also felt Gandhi was undermining Dalit political rights. Gandhi had also refused to support the untouchables in 1924–25 when they were campaigning for the right to pray in temples. Because of Gandhi's actions, Ambedkar described him as "devious and untrustworthy".[85] Gandhi, although born into the Vaishya caste, insisted that he was able to speak on behalf of Dalits, despite the presence of Dalit activists such as Ambedkar.[99] Gandhi and Ambedkar often clashed because Ambedkar sought to remove the Dalits out of the Hindu community, while Gandhi tried to save Hinduism by exorcising untouchability. Ambedkar complained that Gandhi moved too slowly, while Hindu traditionalists said Gandhi was a dangerous radical who rejected scripture. Guha noted in 2012 that, "Ideologues have carried these old rivalries into the present, with the demonization of Gandhi now common among politicians who presume to speak in Ambedkar's name."[100] Quit India

Main article:

Gandhi and Nehru in 1942

Gandhi initially favoured offering "nonviolent moral support" to the British effort when World War II broke out in 1939, but the Congressional leaders were offended by the unilateral inclusion of India in the war without consultation of the people's representatives. All Congressmen resigned from office.[106] After long deliberations, Gandhi declared that India could not be party to a war ostensibly being fought for democratic freedom while that freedom was denied to India itself. As the war progressed, Gandhi intensified his demand for independence, calling for the British to Quit India in a speech at Gowalia Tank Maidan. This was Gandhi's and the Congress Party's most definitive revolt aimed at securing the British exit from India.[107]

Gandhi and Ali Jinnah, Bombay, 1944

Partition and independence, 1947 Gandhi with Louis Mountbatten, Britain's last Viceroy of India, 1947

As a rule, Gandhi was opposed to the concept of partition as it contradicted his vision of religious unity.[117] Concerning the partition of India to create Pakistan, while the Indian National Congress and Gandhi called for the British to quit India, the Muslim League passed a resolution for them to divide and quit, in 1943.[118] Gandhi suggested an agreement which required the Congress and Muslim League to cooperate and attain independence under a provisional government, thereafter, the question of partition could be resolved by a plebiscite in the districts with a Muslim majority.[119] When Jinnah called for Direct Action, on 16 August 1946, Gandhi was infuriated and personally visited the most riot-prone areas to stop the massacres.[120] He made strong efforts to unite the Indian Hindus, Muslims, and Christians and struggled for the emancipation of the "untouchables" in Hindu society.[121]

On 14 and 15 August 1947 the Indian Independence Act was invoked. In border areas some 10–12 million people moved from one side to another and upwards of a half million were killed in communal riots pitting Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs against each other.[122] But for his teachings, the efforts of his followers, and his own presence, there perhaps could have been much more bloodshed during the partition, according to prominent Norwegian historian, Jens Arup Seip.[123]

Stanley Wolpert has argued, The "plan to carve up British India was never approved of or accepted by Gandhi...who realised too late that his closest comrades and disciples were more interested in power than principle, and that his own vision had long been clouded by the illusion that the struggle he led for India's independence was a nonviolent one."[124] Assassination

Memorial at the former Birla House, New Delhi, where Mohandas Karamchand Gandhiwas assassinated at 5:17 PM on 30 January 1948 on his way to a prayer meeting. Stylized footsteps are shown leading to the memorial.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was assassinated in the garden of the former Birla House(now ) at 5:17 PM on 30 January 1948. Accompanied by his grandnieces, Gandhi was on his way to address a prayer meeting, when his assassin, Nathuram Godse, fired three bullets from a Beretta 9 mm pistol into his chest at point-blank range.[125] Godse was a Hindu nationalist with links to the extremist Hindu Mahasabha, who held Gandhi guilty of favouring Pakistan and strongly opposed the doctrine of nonviolence.[126] Godse and his co- conspirator were tried and executed in 1949. Gandhi's memorial (or Samādhi) at Rāj Ghāt, New Delhi, bears the epigraph "Hē Ram", (Devanagari: ! or, He Rām), which may be translated as "Oh God". These are widely believed to be Gandhi's last words after he was shot, though the veracity of this statement has been disputed.[127] Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru addressed the nation through radio:[128]

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 address to Gandhi[129]

Gandhi's death was mourned nationwide. Over two million people joined the five-mile long funeral procession that took over five hours to reach Raj Ghat from Birla house, where he was assassinated. Gandhi's body was transported on a weapons carrier, whose chassis was dismantled overnight to allow a high-floor to be installed so that people could catch a glimpse of his body. The engine of the vehicle was not used, instead four drag- ropes manned by 50 people each pulled the vehicle.[130] All Indian-owned establishments in London remained closed in mourning as thousands of people from all faiths and denominations and Indians from all over Britain converged atIndia House in London.[131]

While India mourned and communal (inter-religious) violence escalated, there were calls for retaliation, and even an invasion of Pakistan by the . Nehru and Patel, the two strongest figures in the government and in Congress, had been pulling in opposite directions; the assassination pushed them together. They agreed the first objective must be to calm the hysteria.[132] They called on Indians to honour Gandhi's memory and even more his ideals.[133] They used the assassination to consolidate the authority of the new Indian state. The government made sure everyone knew the guilty party was not a Muslim. Congress tightly controlled the epic public displays of grief over a two-week period—the funeral, mortuary rituals and distribution of the martyr's ashes—as millions participated and hundreds of millions watched. The goal was to assert the power of the government and legitimise the Congress Party's control. This move built upon the massive outpouring of Hindu expressions of grief. The government suppressed the RSS, the Muslim National Guards, and the Khaksars, with some 200,000 arrests. Gandhi's death and funeral linked the distant state with the Indian people and made more understood the need to suppress religious parties during the transition to independence for the Indian people.[134] Principles, practices and beliefs

Main article:

Gandhism designates the ideas and principles Gandhi promoted. Of central importance is nonviolent resistance. A Gandhian can mean either an individual who follows, or a specific philosophy which is attributed to, Gandhism.[65] M.M. Sankhdher argues that Gandhism is not a systematic position in metaphysics or in political philosophy. Rather, it is a political creed, an economic doctrine, a religious outlook, a moral precept, and especially, a humanitarian world view. It is an effort not to systematize wisdom but to transform society and is based on an undying faith in the goodness of human nature.[139] However Gandhi himself did not approve of the notion of "Gandhism", as he explained in 1936:

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.[140] Influences

Gandhi with famous poet Rabindranath Tagore, 1940

Historian R.B. Cribb argues that Gandhi's thought evolved over time, with his early ideas becoming the core or scaffolding for his mature philosophy. In London he committed himself to truthfulness, temperance, chastity, and . His return to India to work as a lawyer was a failure, so he went to South Africa for a quarter century, where he absorbed ideas from many sources, most of them non-Indian.[141] Gandhi grew up in an eclectic religious atmosphere and throughout his life searched for insights from many religious traditions.[142] He was exposed to Jain ideas through his mother who was in contact with Jain monks. Themes from Jainism that Gandhi absorbed included asceticism; compassion for all forms of life; the importance of vows for self-discipline; vegetarianism; for self-purification; mutual tolerance among people of different creeds; and "syadvad", the idea that all views of truth are partial, a doctrine that lies at the root of Satyagraha.[143] He received much of his influence from Jainism particularly during his younger years.[144]

Gandhi's London experience provided a solid philosophical base focused on truthfulness, temperance, chastity, and vegetarianism. When he returned to India in 1891, his outlook was parochial and he could not make a living as a lawyer. This challenged his belief that practicality and morality necessarily coincided. By moving in 1893 to South Africa he found a solution to this problem and developed the central concepts of his mature philosophy.[145] N. A. Toothi[146] felt that Gandhi was influenced by the reforms and teachings of Swaminarayan, stating "Close parallels do exist in programs of social reform based on to nonviolence, truth-telling, cleanliness, temperance and upliftment of the masses."[147]Vallabhbhai Patel, who grew up in a Swaminarayan household was attracted to Gandhi due to this aspect of Gandhi's doctrine.[148]

Gandhi's ethical thinking was heavily influenced by a handful of books, which he repeatedly meditated upon. They included especiallyPlato's Apology and 's (1862) (both of which he translated into his native Gujarati); William Salter's Ethical Religion (1889); 's On the Duty of Civil Disobedience (1849); and 's The Kingdom of God Is Within You(1894). Ruskin inspired his decision to live an austere life on a commune, at first on the Phoenix Farm in Natal and then on the just outside Johannesburg, South Africa.[40]

Balkrishna Gokhale argues that Gandhi took his philosophy of history from Hinduism and Jainism, supplemented by selected Christian traditions and ideas of Tolstoy and Ruskin. Hinduism provided central concepts of God's role in history, of man as the battleground of forces of virtue and sin, and of the potential of love as an historical force. From Jainism, Gandhi took the idea of applying nonviolence to human situations and the theory that Absolute Reality can be comprehended only relatively in human affairs.[149]

Historian Howard Spodek argues for the importance of the culture of Gujarat in shaping Gandhi's methods. Spodek finds that some of Gandhi's most effective methods such as fasting, noncooperation and appeals to the justice and compassion of the rulers were learned as a in Gujarat. Later on, the financial, cultural, organizational and geographical support needed to bring his campaigns to a national audience were drawn from Ahmedabad and Gujarat, his Indian residence 1915–1930.[150] Tolstoy

Along with the book mentioned above, in 1908 Leo Tolstoy wrote , which said that only by using love as a weapon through passive resistance could the Indian people overthrow colonial rule. In 1909, Gandhi wrote to Tolstoy seeking advice and permission to republish A Letter to a Hindu in Gujarati. Tolstoy responded and the two continued a correspondence until Tolstoy's death in 1910 (Tolstoy's last letter was to Gandhi).[151]

Mohandas K. Gandhi and other residents of Tolstoy Farm, South Africa, 1910

The letters concern practical and theological applications of nonviolence.[152] Gandhi saw himself a disciple of Tolstoy, for they agreed regarding opposition to state authority and colonialism; both hated violence and preached non-resistance. However, they differed sharply on political strategy. Gandhi called for political involvement; he was a nationalist and was prepared to use nonviolent force. He was also willing to compromise.[153] It was at Tolstoy Farm where Gandhi and systematically trained their disciples in the philosophy of nonviolence.[154] Truth and Satyagraha

"God is truth. The way to truth lies through ahimsa (nonviolence)"—Sabarmati13 March 1927

Gandhi dedicated his life to the wider purpose of discovering truth, or Satya. He tried to achieve this by learning from his own mistakes and conducting experiments on himself. He called his autobiography The Story of My Experiments with Truth.[155]Bruce Watson argues that Gandhi based Satyagraha on the Vedantic ideal of self- realization, and notes it also contains Jain and Buddhist notions of nonviolence, vegetarianism, the avoidance of killing, and 'agape' (universal love). Gandhi also borrowed Christian-Islamic ideas of equality, the brotherhood of man, and the concept of turning the other cheek.[156] Gandhi stated that the most important battle to fight was overcoming his own demons, fears, and insecurities. Gandhi summarised his beliefs first when he said "God is Truth". He would later change this statement to "Truth is God". Thus, satya (truth) in Gandhi's philosophy is "God".[157]

The essence of Satyagraha (a name Gandhi invented meaning "adherence to truth"[158]) is that it seeks to eliminate antagonisms without harming the antagonists themselves and seeks to transform or "purify" it to a higher level. A euphemism sometimes used for Satyagraha is that it is a "silent force" or a "soul force" (a term also used by Martin Luther King Jr. during his famous "I Have a Dream" speech). It arms the individual with moral power rather than physical power. Satyagraha is also termed a "universal force", as it essentially "makes no distinction between kinsmen and strangers, young and old, man and woman, friend and foe."[159]

Gandhi wrote: "There must be no impatience, no barbarity, no insolence, no undue pressure. If we want to cultivate a true spirit of democracy, we cannot afford to be intolerant. Intolerance betrays want of faith in one's cause."[160] Civil disobedience and noncooperation as practised under Satyagraha are based on the "law of suffering",[161] a doctrine that the endurance of suffering is a means to an end. This end usually implies a moral upliftment or progress of an individual or society. Therefore, noncooperation in Satyagraha is in fact a means to secure the cooperation of the opponent consistently with truth and justice.[162] Nonviolence

Gandhi with textile workers at Darwen, Lancashire, 26 September 1931.

Fasting

Fasting, with young Indira Gandhi, mid-1920s

. Literary works

Gandhi was a prolific writer. One of Gandhi's earliest publications, Hind Swaraj, published in Gujarati in 1909, is recognised[by whom?] as the intellectual blueprint of India's independence movement. The book was translated into English the next year, with a copyright legend that read "No Rights Reserved".[209] For decades he edited several newspapers including Harijan in Gujarati, in Hindi and in the English language; while in South Africa and, , in English, and Navajivan, a Gujarati monthly, on his return to India. Later, Navajivan was also published in Hindi. In addition, he wrote letters almost every day to individuals and newspapers.[210]

Young India, a weekly journal published by Gandhi from 1919 to 1932

Gandhi also wrote several books including his autobiography, The Story of My Experiments with Truth(Gujarātī "), of which he bought the entire first edition to make sure it was reprinted.[85] His other autobiographies included: Satyagraha in South Africa about his struggle there, Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule, a political pamphlet, and a paraphrase in Gujarati of John Ruskin's Unto This Last.[211] This last essay can be considered his programme on economics. He also wrote extensively on vegetarianism, diet and health, religion, social reforms, etc. Gandhi usually wrote in Gujarati, though he also revised the Hindi and English translations of his books.[212]

Gandhi's complete works were published by the Indian government under the name The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi in the 1960s. The writings comprise about 50,000 pages published in about a hundred volumes. In 2000, a revised edition of the complete works sparked a controversy, as it contained a large number of errors and omissions.[213] The Indian government later withdrew the revised edition.[214] Legacy and depictions in popular culture

The word Mahatma, while often mistaken for Gandhi's given name in the West, is taken from the Sanskrit words maha (meaning Great) and atma (meaning Soul). Rabindranath Tagore is said to have accorded the title to Gandhi.[215] In his autobiography, Gandhi nevertheless explains that he never valued the title, and was often pained by it.[216][217][218]

A wall graffiti in San Francisco containing a quote and image of Gandhi

Statue of Mahatma Gandhi at York University.

Mahatma Gandhi on a 1969 postage stamp of the Soviet Union

AwardsTime magazine named of the Year in 1930. Gandhi was also the runner-up to Einstein as "Person of the Century"[240] at the end of 1999. The awards the annual to distinguished social workers, world leaders and citizens. , the leader of South Africa's struggle to eradicate racial discrimination and segregation, is a prominent non-Indian recipient. In 2011, Time magazine named Gandhi as one of the top 25 political icons of all time.[241]

Gandhi did not receive the , although he was nominated five times between 1937 and 1948, including the first-ever nomination by the American Friends Service Committee,[242] though he made the short list only twice, in 1937 and 1947.[121] Decades later, the Nobel Committee publicly declared its regret for the omission, and admitted to deeply divided nationalistic opinion denying the award.[121] Gandhi was nominated in 1948 but was assassinated before nominations closed. That year, the committee chose not to award the peace prize stating that "there was no suitable living candidate" and later research shows that the possibility of awarding the prize posthumously to Gandhi was discussed and that the reference to no suitable living candidate was to Gandhi.[121]When the was awarded the Prize in 1989, the chairman of the committee said that this was "in part a tribute to the memory of Mahatma Gandhi."[121]

Monument to M.K. Gandhi inNew Belgrade, Serbia. On the monument is written "Nonviolence is the essence of all religions".

World Farm Animals' Day Gandhi's birthday is chosen as a commemoration for the billions of non- human animals that are slaughtered by the human farming industry each year. The practice started in 1983.[243] Current impact within India

The Gandhi Mandapam, a temple inKanyakumari, Tamil Nadu in India. This temple was erected to honour M.K. Gandhi.[251]

India, with its rapid economic modernisation and urbanisation, has rejected Gandhi's economics[252] but accepted much of his politics and continues to revere his memory. Reporter Jim Yardley notes that, "modern India is hardly a Gandhian nation, if it ever was one. His vision of a village-dominated economy was shunted aside during his lifetime as rural romanticism, and his call for a national ethos of personal austerity and nonviolence has proved antithetical to the goals of an aspiring economic and military power." By contrast Gandhi is "given full credit for India's political identity as a tolerant, secular democracy."[253]

Gandhi's birthday, 2 October, is a national holiday in India, Gandhi Jayanti. Gandhi's image also appears on paper currency of all denominations issued by Reserve Bank of India, except for the one rupee note.[254] Gandhi's date of death, 30 January, is commemorated as a Martyrs' Day in India.[255]

There are two temples in India dedicated to Gandhi.[256] One is located at Sambalpur in Orissa and the other at Nidaghatta village near Kadur in Chikmagalur district of Karnataka.[256] The Gandhi Memorial in Kanyakumariresembles central Indian Hindu temples and the Tamukkam or Summer Palace in Madurai now houses the Mahatma Gandhi Museum.[257]