Tuesday 6 March 2018

Day Two continued -Gandhi’s Memorial

Mahatma Gandhi - a great man
The beautiful garden of the house where Gandhi spent his final months before being shot
The world peace gong in the Memorial grounds

Visiting the house of Gandhi's friend where the great man lived in the months before he was finally assassinated was a moving experience.
This house in New Delhi is now a museum and tells the story of his life.

Born in 1869 Gandhi trained to be a lawyer at the Inner Temple in London. He then went to South Africa where he led the resident Indian community in their struggle for civil rights. 

When he returned to India he organised farmers and village people in peaceful protests against high land taxes and discrimination.

In 1921 he became the leader of the Indian National Congress party and was instrumental in improving peoples' lives, then campaigning for and finally achieving Indian self-rule.

Gandhi is known for leading his countrymen on the 250 mile 'Salt March'.against the unfair British salt tax. He spent many years in prison and frequently fasted until near death to achieve his aims. 

His influence on his countrymen was, and is, profound. When the worst of the religious violence broke out after partition when Britain divided India in two to create Pakistan for the Muslims and India for the Hindus, Gandhi visited the affected areas to try to calm things down.

But some people thought he was too accomodating and eventually a Hindu activist shot him at close range. His birthday October 2nd is celebrated worldwide as the International Day of Non-violence.

No comments:

Post a Comment