History UsefulNotes / MahatmaGandhi

During this final phase of Independence struggle, Gandhi was largely marginalized amidst the Congress deliberations and [[ThePeterPrinciple being personally a community organizer and protestor more than a politician]], he didn't really have any say over the shape of India's government. He had no say in the Constitution, the government structure and other important infrastructure building. His economic ideas largely focused on village communities and agrarian societies which was seen as unworkable to the likes of Nehru and others who wanted to industrialize and urbanize India. When the violence of Partition broke out, Gandhi famously marched into Calcutta and managed [[ShamingTheMob to pacify and cajole the crowd]] to halt the violence while he was there. He was absolutely opposed to Partition and the violence that broke out, but ultimately did compromise and decided to work towards building peace. At the time of his death, Gandhi was planning a future visit to Pakistan. In 1948, Gandhi was assassinated by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu extremist who held Gandhi responsible for the Partition and loss of territory and moreover declared [[NoTrueScotsman pacifism as alien to Hinduism]]. His death sparked public mourning, and attendance by millions, and [[WolverinePublicity he remains the only Indian leader on the Indian currency]], [[CultOfPersonality and the only one whose birth is a National Holiday]].

He returned to India after UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, with his activities in South Africa having won much attention in the liberal press. He allied himself with the newly formed Indian National Congress political party and transformed it, or in the eyes of his critics, polarized it, by taking it in a populist direction. In England and South-Africa, Gandhi would wear Western clothing, but upon returning to India he wore his [[IconicOutfit dhoti, cloth and walking stick]] ensemble to better connect to the people. Over time, other Indian politicians [[FollowTheLeader also wore Khaki]] and "traditional" clothing, a code of dressing among politicians and public servants that endured decades after Independence and into the present day. Gandhi organised a series of strikes, civil disobedience campaigns, and boycotts aimed at the British, beginning with the Non-Cooperation Movement formed in the wake of the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre at Amritsar. He described his philosophy as ''ahimsa'' (non-violence) and ''satyagraha'' (Literally: Way of Truth). He insisted to his followers that they should not raise a hand to defend themselves even when being attacked by the police, a tactic which created a spectacle of policemen beating defenseless protestors in the eyes of media and other reporters and then making them put these large contingent of protestors into jails in terrible conditions, only exposing how understaffed and weak in infrastructure the Raj was, for any function of government not tied to economic exploitation. Gandhi's single most famous campaign was the 1930 Salt March, where in protest against an increase in salt taxation he walked 390 kilometers to the coastal town of Dandi to make salt from the sea. Gandhi would travel to Britain several more times to negotiate with leading political figures, and was something of a media celebrity -- even [[GoKartingWithBowser taking tea with King George V]], befriending UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein and even meeting Creator/CharlieChaplin during his 1935 visit to London[[note]]Chaplin being a leftist, was of course a supporter of Indian independence[[/note]]. However, these visits to England during the Round Table Conferences were politically unsuccessful and for the rest of TheThirties, as the Congress tried to organize itself, Gandhi's behavior became a little erratic and controversial, most notably playing a key role in removing Subhash Chandra Bose from leadership of the Congress.

* In every installment of the ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'' series, Gandhi serves as India's leader - indeed, it was only in ''Civ IV'' that Asoka was added as a less contemporary alternative leader choice. In the first game, he was programmed to be a pacifist, except his AI decided to deter conflict by amassing a nuclear arsenal, leading Gandhi to boast "Our words are backed with NUCLEAR WEAPONS!" on the diplomacy screen. This out-of-character obsession with nukes became a fandom in-joke and a series tradition, which recent games have [[AscendedMeme codified]] by giving Gandhi's AI an 11 out of 10 rating in the "willingness to use nukes" category, or a preference for the "nuke lover" agenda. As of ''Civ VI'', Gandhi's "Peacekeeper" agenda renders him incapable of declaring an offensive war... [[BewareTheNiceOnes but by god he will]] ''[[BewareTheNiceOnes finish]]'' [[BewareTheNiceOnes one.]]

-->'''Ghandi:''' Hi, my name's Gandhi and if Britain doesn't get the hell out of India, I'm going to starve myself in public.\\

'''Ghandi:''' [[CrazyEnoughToWork ...Wow, that worked?]]

-->''Hi, my name's Gandhi and if Britain doesn't get the hell out of India, I'm going to starve myself in public... [[CrazyEnoughToWork wow, that worked?]]''

Gandhi's ideas were often framed in moral terms rather than social and political terms, and this was criticized even in his time. The Indian Congress were a representative urban elite group, and Gandhi was more or less part of the same class, but to attain independence, he had to get the majority rural population on board. He did this by appealing to religious traditions, or more precisely, reinterpreting religious traditions and ideas, to better get people on board with modern ideas like women's education and religious tolerance, as well as getting rid of the caste system. This InternalReformist platform did provide basic results but it also made him come off as a MasterOfTheMixedMessage. Alongside his non-violent campaigns and protests, Gandhi organized various moral societies and groups by which he and his entourage would travel across India to many villages to teach the locals by example ideas of moral sanitation, personal hygiene as well as instill them virtues of religious tolerance. These progresses made him perhaps the most widely traveled Indian leader of his generation, but despite living frugally, they were still expensive even with his show of modesty (such as travelling third-class in Indian trains). To pay for his expenses and travel, he got the support of wealthy businessmen such as Birla and Bajaj as well as many textile magnates in Ahmedabad. The Indian poet Sarojini Naidu once joked that [[BourgeoisBohemian it cost a lot of money for Gandhi to be poor]], and left-wing politicians and Marxists criticized Gandhi for pacifying strikes by telling workers to call off strikes against the mills run by his backers. His comments about the caste system, such as getting people to call untouchables "Harijans" (i.e. children of God) was bitterly criticized by B. R. Ambedkar and others who saw it as naive and DramaticallyMissingThePoint. More importantly while he argued in favor of religious tolerance, this did not coincide with religious freedom, for instance he criticized conversion, even willing religious conversion and generally did have a kind of essentializing stick-to-the-faith-you-were-born-with attitude that tended to mark anyone who changed their faith as CategoryTraitor, an attitude that more extreme and nonpacific Hindus would later adopt and emulate.

Gandhi's ideas were often framed in moral terms rather than social and political terms, and this was criticized even in his time. The Indian Congress were a representative urban elite group, and Gandhi was more or less part of the same class, but to attain independence, he had to get the majority rural population on board. He did this by appealing to religious traditions, or more precisely, reinterpreting religious traditions and ideas, to better get people on board with modern ideas like women's education and religious tolerance, as well as getting rid of the caste system. This InternalReformist platform did provide basic results but it also made him come off as a MasterOfTheMixedMessage. Alongside his non-violent campaigns and protests, Gandhi organized various moral societies and groups by which he and his entourage would travel across India to many villages to teach the locals by example ideas of moral sanitation, personal hygiene as well as instill them virtues of religious tolerance. These progresses made him perhaps the most widely traveled Indian leader of his generation, but despite living frugally, they were still expensive even with his show of modesty (such as travelling third-class in Indian trains). To pay for his expenses and travel, he got the support of wealthy businessmen such as Birla and Bajaj as well as many textile magnates in Ahmedabad. The Indian poet Sarojini Naidu once joked that [[BourgeoisBohemian it cost a lot of money for Gandhi to be poor]], and left-wing politicians and Marxists criticized Gandhi for pacifying strikes by telling workers to call off strikes against the mills run by his backers. His comments about the caste system, such as getting people to call untouchables "Harijans" (i.e. children of God) as a PositiveDiscrimination was bitterly criticized by B. R. Ambedkar and others who saw it as naive and DramaticallyMissingThePoint. More importantly while he argued in favor of religious tolerance, this did not coincide with religious freedom, for instance he criticized conversion, even willing religious conversion and generally did have a kind of essentializing stick-to-the-faith-you-were-born-with attitude that tended to mark anyone who changed their faith as CategoryTraitor, an attitude that more extreme and nonpacific Hindus would later adopt and emulate.

* In every installment of the ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'' series, Gandhi serves as India's leader - indeed, it was only in ''Civ IV'' that Asoka was added as a less contemporary alternative leader choice. In the first game, he was programmed to be a pacifist, except his AI decided to deter conflict by amassing a nuclear arsenal, leading Gandhi to boast "Our words are backed with NUCLEAR WEAPONS!" on the diplomacy screen. This out-of-character obsession with nukes became a fandom in-joke and a series tradition, which recent games have [[AscendedMeme codified]] by giving Gandhi's AI an [[UpToEleven 11 out of 10]] rating in the "willingness to use nukes" category, or a preference for the "nuke lover" agenda. As of ''Civ VI'', Gandhi's "Peacekeeper" agenda renders him incapable of declaring an offensive war... [[BewareTheNiceOnes but by god he will]] ''[[BewareTheNiceOnes finish]]'' [[BewareTheNiceOnes one.]]

Point of clarification: Mahatma Gandhi is ''not'' related to Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, or any of the dozens of other Gandhis (of the so called "Nehru-Gandhi Dynasty") that you hear about in Modern Indian politics. Indira is the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, she took the last name from her husband Feroze Gandhy (later anglicized to Gandhi), who is not related to Mahatma. "Gandhi" is in fact a common name in Gujarat, among many communities, and actually means (in differing contexts): "grocer"/"pharmacist"/"perfume seller", symbolizing his origins in the Merchant community and typifying his HumbleHero appeal across India.

->"''Generations to come, it may well be, will scarce believe that such a man as this one ever in flesh and blood walked upon this Earth.''"

* In every installment of the ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'' series Gandhi serves as India's leader - indeed, it was only in ''Civ IV'' that Asoka was added as a less contemporary option. In the first game, a programming oversight caused Gandhi to become the most warlike leader in the late game, and his out-of-character obsession with nuclear weapons became a fandom in-joke and a series tradition.

* "The Last Article" is a short story by Creator/HarryTurtledove depicting the interactions between Gandhi and the new German governor of India in an AlternateHistory in which the Nazis won UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.

His religious and personal attitudes to hygiene also led to controversial experiments. He had a fetishistic zeal for administering enemas to young girls, and much like other Victorian reformers (such as UsefulNotes/WilliamGladstone) became more interested in his "experiments in celibacy"[[note]]He was generally attended by very young women, who were sometimes referred to as his "walking-sticks" because he liked to lean on them for physical support when out in public. At various times he would get them to sleep with him (and by "sleep with him" we mean "sleep in the same bed as him", not as a euphemism for "have sex with him") so that he could test his own commitment to celibacy and make sure that he wouldn't give into temptation. Weirder yet, the young women concerned would sometimes do this naked. One, who recorded the experience in her diaries, was his grandniece Manuben; if Manuben's diaries are to be relied upon (and we have no other source to go on for her own experience of it), she seems to have regarded her great-uncle's celibacy as entirely intact. Having said that, Manuben never married, seems to have become depressive and reclusive in later life, and died at the very young age of 40, so while Gandhi himself may have remained technically celibate, it's very hard not to come to the conclusion that his experiment didn't seriously damage at least one of the young women he enlisted into it.[[/note]]. In his defense, Gandhi was upfront about this and never tried to hide or deny it, which spared him the charge of hypocrisy at the very least. Internationally, Gandhi's racist attitudes to Africans in his time in South Africa became problematic in light of his influence on antiracist movements such as the UsefulNotes/CivilRightsMovement.[[note]]Bayard Rustin, the organizer responsible for the March on Washington did visit India and meet Satyagrahis and did draw a lot of inspiration for the protests from Gandhi's tactics[[/note]] Unlike African-Americans and other minorities in the Western World who followed his inspiration, Gandhi was a member of the (relatively) privileged caste of Indian society and as noted above, his overtures towards India's minorities (Dalits and Muslims) were mixed; [[FairForItsDay well-intentioned and benign but clumsy and paternalistic]]. As an international celebrity, Gandhi would pose as a fanatic advocate of non-violence even in circumstances, such as the persecutions of Jews in UsefulNotes/NaziGermany, that he was not terribly well-informed about. His own path to non-violence was fairly circuitous, and more or less a function of pragmatism as well as the social circumstance that [[TheMoralSubstitute he was seen as a more acceptable alternative]] to Left-Wing and communist anti-colonial movements. Nevertheless, Gandhi was important in asserting a method of resistance that humanized the downtrodden, driven by compassion and providing by his own example, a permanent refutation to colonialist propaganda about the WhiteMansBurden, inspiring several others around the world.

* Gandhi appears as a stand-up comic in a ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' cutaway. He isn't successful.

His religious and personal attitudes to hygiene also led to controversial experiments. He had a peculiar, almost fetishistic zeal for administering enemas to young girls, and much like other Victorian reformers (such as UsefulNotes/WilliamGladstone) became more interested in his "experiments in celibacy"[[note]]He was generally attended by very young women, who were sometimes referred to as his "walking-sticks" because he liked to lean on them for physical support when out in public. At various times he would get them to sleep with him (and by "sleep with him" we mean "sleep in the same bed as him", not as a euphemism for "have sex with him") so that he could test his own commitment to celibacy and make sure that he wouldn't give into temptation. Weirder yet, the young women concerned would sometimes do this naked. One, who recorded the experience in her diaries, was his grandniece Manuben; if Manuben's diaries are to be relied upon (and we have no other source to go on for her own experience of it), she seems to have regarded her great-uncle's celibacy as entirely intact. Having said that, Manuben never married, seems to have become depressive and reclusive in later life, and died at the very young age of 40, so while Gandhi himself may have remained technically celibate, it's very hard not to come to the conclusion that his experiment didn't seriously damage at least one of the young women he enlisted into it.[[/note]]. In his defense, Gandhi was upfront about this and never tried to hide or deny it, which spared him the charge of hypocrisy at the very least. Internationally, Gandhi's racist attitudes to Africans in his time in South Africa became problematic in light of his influence on antiracist movements such as the UsefulNotes/CivilRightsMovement.[[note]]Bayard Rustin, the organizer responsible for the March on Washington did visit India and meet Satyagrahis and did draw a lot of inspiration for the protests from Gandhi's tactics[[/note]] Unlike African-Americans and other minorities in the Western World who followed his inspiration, Gandhi was a member of the (relatively) privileged caste of Indian society and as noted above, his overtures towards India's minorities (Dalits and Muslims) were mixed; [[FairForItsDay well-intentioned and benign but clumsy and paternalistic]]. As an international celebrity, Gandhi would pose as a fanatic advocate of non-violence even in circumstances, such as the persecutions of Jews in UsefulNotes/NaziGermany, that he was not terribly well-informed about. His own path to non-violence was fairly circuitous, and more or less a function of pragmatism as well as the social circumstance that [[TheMoralSubstitute he was seen as a more acceptable alternative]] to Left-Wing and communist anti-colonial movements. Nevertheless, Gandhi was important in asserting a method of resistance that humanized the downtrodden, driven by compassion and providing by his own example, a permanent refutation to colonialist propaganda about the WhiteMansBurden, inspiring several others around the world.

Gandhi's ideas were often framed in moral terms rather than social and political terms, and this was criticized even in his time. The Indian Congress were a representative urban elite group, and Gandhi was more or less part of the same class, but to attain independence, he had to get the majority rural population on board. He did this by appealing to religious traditions, or more precisely, reinterpreting religious traditions and ideas, to better get people on board with modern ideas like women's education and religious tolerance, as well as getting rid of the caste system. This InternalReformist platform did provide basic results but it also made him come off as a MasterOfTheMixedMessage. Alongside his non-violent campaigns and protests, Gandhi organized various moral societies and groups by which he and his entourage would travel across India to many villages to teach the locals by example ideas of moral sanitation, personal hygiene as well as instill them virtues of religious tolerance. These progresses made him perhaps the most widely traveled Indian leader of his generation, but despite living frugally, they were still expensive even with his show of modesty (such as travelling third-class in Indian trains). To pay for his expenses and travel, he got the support of wealthy businessmen such as Birla and Bajaj as well as many textile magnates in Ahmedabad. The Indian poet Sarojini Naidu once joked that [[BourgeoisBohemian it cost a lot of money for Gandhi to be poor]], and left-wing politicians and Marxists criticized Gandhi for pacifying strikes by telling workers to [[TheManIsStickingItToTheMan call off strikes against the mills run by his backers]].His comments about the caste system, such as getting people to call untouchables "Harijans" (i.e. children of God) as a PositiveDiscrimination was bitterly criticized by B. R. Ambedkar and others who saw it as naive and DramaticallyMissingThePoint. More importantly while he argued in favor of religious tolerance, this did not coincide with religious freedom, for instance he criticized conversion, even willing religious conversion and generally did have a kind of essentializing stick-to-the-faith-you-were-born-with attitude that tended to mark anyone who changed their faith as CategoryTraitor, an attitude that more extreme and nonpacific Hindus would later adopt and emulate.

''Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi'' (October 2, 1869 -- January 30, 1948; ''Mahatma'' is a Sanskrit title meaning "Great Soul", and was given to him by the famous Bengali writer and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore) has come to be synonymous with non-violent resistance and the Indian struggle for independence from [[UsefulNotes/TheRaj the British Empire.]] Gandhi [[TropeCodifier codified]] the idea of civil disobedience and non-cooperation with authorities without resorting to violence. The enduring image of Gandhi is of a little bald elderly Indian man with glasses, wrapped in a peasant's dhoti and leaning on a stick. His actual history and intellectual development however belies that image a great deal, proving to be one of the most intelligent and mysterious figures of his time.

* Philip Glass's opera ''Satyagraha'' is based on the life of Gandhi (with lyrics taken from the Literature/BhagavadGita).

* ''Film/{{Gandhi}}'': The sprawling 1982 biopic that earned Sir BenKingsley an Oscar.

Point of clarification: Mahatma Gandhi is ''not'' related to Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, or any of the other Gandhis (of the so called "Nehru-Gandhi Dynasty") that you hear about in Modern Indian politics. Indira is the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, she took the last name from her husband Feroze Gandhy (later anglicized to Gandhi), who is not related to Mahatma. "Gandhi" is in fact a common name in Gujarat, among many communities, and actually means (in differing contexts): "grocer"/"pharmacist"/"perfume seller", symbolizing his origins in the Merchant community and typifying his HumbleHero appeal across India.