Notes: "Gandhi"
— based on the book "Gandhi" by Louis Fischer
New Delhi, India - 1948
Gandhi is assassinated in a New Delhi garden, while saying prayers, by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu fanatic who is outraged by Gandhi's equal tolerance of Muslims -- (as Gandhi is Hindu). He is granted a massive tribute, regardless of the fact that he died without wealth or property and could not boast a single scientific achievement. Dignitaries from all over the world came to pay tribute to "the little brown man from India." Albert Einstein said:
Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth.
Flashback: South Africa, 1893
Gandhi is a young lawyer on a train in South Africa, in a first class compartment that he rightfully bought. However, because he is not white, he is designated as "colored ("there are no colored attorneys in South Africa." - the conductor) and the strict apartheid rules of that era would not allow him to maintain his compartment. His choices were to either move to the 3rd class compartment (as a 3rd class citizen, no less), or be thrown off the train. He chose the latter and was abandoned in the next station because he was in violation of the law.
On a whole, Gandhi believes the English want Indians doing nothing more than harvesting crops. Gandhi can practice as an attorney, but that is the extent of his social rights. He must walk in the streets instead of sidewalks, and British citizens cannot be seen walking down the streets with him -- they would then put at risk their reputations. Gandhi begins to write to the press in South Africa and in England about this injustice.
The second act of resistance
Gandhi feels the papers that non-white citizens must carry are unjust.
"We do not want to ignite fear or hatred of anyone but ask you to help us to light up the sky and minds regarding British injustice."
He proceeds to request a small gathering of people to burn their papers -- in front of British soldiers. The soldiers claim that the papers are government property and that they will arrest the first man who tries to burn one. Gandhi then begins burning the papers he has already collected. He is beaten and arrested. Subsequent articles in newspapers announce that Gandhi is within his rights to prosecute British soldiers for the assault.
A gathering throng
Charlie Andrews, a British clergyman, arrives from India to volunteer his help. "When you are fighting for a just cause," says Gandhi, elated, "people seem to pop up.". A reporter from the New York Times arrives (Vince Walker)
"There are unjust laws as there are unjust men."
Humility and the ashram
Gandhi operates a small ashram - a settlement for spiritual or intellectual insight. There, everyone does work, and everyone is equal. This issue arises once when Gandhi's wife complains that she should not have to clean the toilets. Gandhi, infuriated, argues that this is not just the work of the untouchable caste (dalits); even his wife must do this.
The Gujurat Address
A law is passed that all Indians must be fingerprinted; no Hindu marriages are recognized because they do not follow Christian traditions (obviously). Gandhi first displays his non-violent attitude here.
"There is no cause for which I am prepared to kill."
He argues that he will not fight anyone, as many in his audience would like to do given the fact that the British have just demeaned their country further, but he will still not submit to an unjust law. The British cannot take their dignity if the people do not give it to them. Gandhi then reveals his stance on this, and many other, unfair British proposals which he stands by throughout his life:
"We [Indians] will not strike a blow, but we will receive them. And through our pain, we will make them see their injustice. And it will hurt, as all fighting hurts. We can't lose. They [the British] may torture my body, break my bones, even kill me. Then they will have my dead body, not my obedience. Let us take a solemn oath in His name that, come what may, we will not submit to this law.
All at the meeting then stand in affirmation of their willingness to die for their cause. Three British policemen in attendance are forced to stand when Gandhi begins singing the British national anthem -— an incident of forced compliance by the British to the Indian cause.
March on the mines
British officials arrive and face Gandhi and his enormous following, who marched on the mines because their fellow workers were in prison. Gandhi and company refuse to leave until the prisoners are released. In retaliation, the British bring out a cavalry unit; the horses charge the Indians, but they lie down so that the horses will not trample them (for some strange reason, the soft and squishy human body isn't very comfortable for a horse to step on...).
Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
Charlie Andrews, preaching to his congregation, mentions that Gandhi has been put in jail (again), but he also asks the [white] congregation to recognize that this act by Gandhi is new and revolutionary. He asks people to examine how they treat men that violate an unjust law. Many members of the congregation indicate opposition to his support of Gandhi by leaving the building, but the scene closes on one woman nodding her head in response, showing there is still viable room for support from even British citizens.
Gandhi, realizing that he needs to return to India, buys a 3rd class berth on a ship headed there soon after being released from prison.
Bombay, India, 1915
Gandhi arrives wearing Indian attire rather than European clothes as a statement of his allegiance to his people; the military governor of India arrives at the same time on the same ship -- his procession is rather small, with forced pomp and circumstance and necessity. Gandhi's is out of pure curiosity. Many people gather around him as he leaves the ship. While he is being driven [in a carriage] somewhere, he finds himself face to face with India's poverty and realizes that for India to be independent, everyone has to be independent. Gandhi is therefore advised by a statesman to find the real India. He then begins a locomotive tour of the country to observe the manner in which his people truly live -- an extreme agrarian poverty -- he keeps a journal of his voyage.
Gandhi's plan
The Indian aristocracy meets to discuss plans to demand India's independence. In one of many conflicts, Indian civilians had killed an English soldier. To prevent future calamities from occurring (on either side, but chiefly among Indians), the Muslim portion of the aristocracy demands home rule. The people present are all becoming familiar with Gandhi's writings at this time.
Gandhi delivers a speech that targets the rural majority of India's population as the ones who they must represent in this struggle for independence. These common folks are untouched - they're illiterate, but they are not blind. India must be one - all 700,000 villages must stand together.
"Until we stand in the fields with the millions that toil each day under the hot sun, we will not represent India nor will we ever be able to challenge the British as one nation...."
Magical mystery tour
Gandhi begins to travel around India to become acquainted with the people that he is fighting for.
"Where there is injustice, I always believe in fighting. If we really want to change things, there are better ways of doing it than derailing trains, or slashing someone with a sword."
Gandhi's growing popularity is evident as he is met at the station by thousands of villagers; a British guard makes an attempt to arrest him, but Gandhi, ever the shrewd lawyer, asks him the charge for an arrest - obviously there is none, and Gandhi is allowed to go on his way.
The economic plight of rural Imperial India is made clear in one village. The landlords initially restricted Indian villages to growing indigo; but now that all cloth came from Britain (similar to mercantilism, si?), no one will buy indigo from the villages. The villagers are poor and dying. An ill old farmer begs Gandhi to help them.
Still on his tour, Gandhi is arrested yet again. Charlie Andrews is admitted to the prison to see Gandhi and they speak within his cell. Gandhi asks Charlie to take an assignment he's been offered in Fiji because the work for Indian independence must be done by Indians alone - else they are dependent on another people yet again. Charlie must leave Calcutta, and he is clearly upset about this. As a consolation and final favor to Gandhi, he drops telegrams off to the press and to the Viceroy to secure Gandhi his publicity.
The Champpara hearing
The magistrate is shocked to find the courtroom full of press crews, and contemplates clearing the courtroom, but he reconsiders because Gandh is an attorney and the hearing cannot be closed legally. Gandhi is ordered out of the province on the grounds of disturbing the peace. With respect, Gandhi says that he refuses to go. He is ordered to prison, but will be released on bail with the payment of 100 rs. (rupees, abbreviated Indian style!) - the magistrate, sighing, released Gandhi with no bail, but is still pending a decision. The British have a problem on their hands. Jailing Gandhi will only increase his popularity; leaving him free allows him to publicize his cause across all of India, as the news crews make very evident.
Lieutenant Governor's residence (some months later)
Incidents of brutal oppression - such as the refusal of water - among Indian peasants by British soldiers surface. Gandhi proposes a plan to have a commission formed (partially Indian) to hear grievances and resolve the indigo problem, as well as granting rebates on rents paid and giving freedom to farmers to grow their own crops. Although Britain is incensed with the events ("You've made a half-naked whatever he is into an international hero."), many concessions are made primarily to keep Gandhi from inciting more strife against British rule...which, evidently, didn't work. Better luck next time, guys.
Complete defiance
Hindus and Muslims review the recently passed legislations in a meeting. Jinnah advocates violence, and believes that passive resistance will never work. Gandhi, to his surprise, agrees that passive resistance is not possible - he instead believes that they simply should not submit to unjust laws - which is active and provocative resistance rather than passive.
"I want to change their minds, not kill them for weaknesses we all possess."
Gandhi then proposes a "Day of Prayer and Fasting (April 6th)" - a general strike; a full and complete shutdown of India. No one will work - the country will stop - 350,000,000 people will be at prayer, and the 100,000 British soldiers can do nothing about it. On April 6th, British officials were shocked that this was even possible in India - they had to take over the telegraphs with teh Army, or they would be cut off from the world. They order Gandhi arrested again, and are finally coming to realize how powerful a man he is and the extraordinary influence he has.
Fractures and fissures in Satyagraha
In prison, Gandhi is visited by Nehru, who tells him that riots have begun since the arrest. Some English civilians were killed. The army began to attack crowds with clubs...or worse. Gandhi begins to doubt if India is ready for self-rule. Gandhi is released from prison on the condition (the Viceroy's) that he will speak for nonviolence; Gandhi insists that he has never spoken for anything else.
Jallianwalla Bagh massacre (1919)
A man addresses a large assembly in the Jallianwalla Bagh temple in Amritsar, India (incidently, the site of the crisis that ended in Indira Gandhi's assassination (Nehru's daughter) and eventually her son Rajiv Gandhi's as well - or maybe this one was just bottled up tension). Several thousand people are enclosed in an area with high walls and only one entrance. General Dyer, using the law against public assembly to his advantage, orders his men to enter the grounds. The tank following him cannot fit through the narrow entrance. The civilians did not believe that the British would fire on them, so the man kept speaking. It was only after the soldiers were ready to fire that the most movement occurred. In total, 1650 shots were fired - there were 1516 casualties, of which 379 died. These numbers included women and children.
Dyer's "hearing"
Dyer readily admitted to the British military commission later that at all times, he had instructed soldiers to fire into the thickest part of the crowd. In response to a question regarding his plans for caring for wounded, Dyer said he was "ready to help any who applied for help." Cautiously, the commission inquired how a child, wounded by a 303 Lee-Enfield (weapon) could "apply for help." Dyer concluded by saying that he thought he would be doing "a jolly lot of good." The commission repudiated Dyer and the massacre and the philosophy that prompted it.
Strides against injustice
"We think it is time you recognize that you are masters in someone else's home. It is time you left."
In response to the above argument by Gandhi, the British claimed that they had a duty to the Muslim minority in India to remain and protect order.
"With respect, Mr. Gandhi, without British administration, this country would be reduced to chaos."
The argument is refused by Gandhi who believes that it should be an Indian concern, not a British one, and that the matter should very simply fall from their hands. British officials look upon each other, a bit disarmed:
"You don't think that we are just going to walk out of India?"
To which Gandhi replies:
"Yes. In the end, you will walk out because 100,000 British can't control 350,000,000 Indians if they refuse to cooperate."
Until the British walk out of India, Gandhi promises "peaceful, nonviolent non-cooperation til you [the British] yourselves see the wisdom of leaving." An order is sent out to NOT (for once!) arrest Gandhi. They did not see the benefit in making a martyr out of the man. Gandhi then begins a campaign to promote an Indian industry and Hindu-Muslim unity. He also begins a campaign against the caste system, which repressed the "untouchables" (Dalits). Gandhi declares again and again that he does not believe in violence, but in firmness. Gandhi sets about crippling the British control over Indian cloth (England makes the cloth that impoverishes India) by urging people to make their own cloth - homespun - and burn European clothes on a bonfire.
"...they always fall...think of it. Always"
The daughter of an English admiral arrives in India - Margaret Slade; she joins Gandhi and his family at the ashram to help the cause. She mentions that people in England respect what Gandhi is doing for his country.
On another front, however, protesters are marching the streets chanting "We burn British cloth", "Long live Gandhiji" and "British rule must go" - rioting begins between police officers and the protesters, which results in chaos and violence at the police station. Gandhi chooses to end the campaign - he has seen too much bloodshed.
"An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind."
Nothing could be gained through violence - Gandhi realizes - and the rioting is putting a fragile unity at stake.
"If we obtain our freedom by murder and bloodshed, I want no part of it."
In order to make it stop, he puts himself at risk by fasting for days on end. The faction leaders arrive to announce the rioting has stopped. Gandhi then ends his fast but is very weak at the conclusion, having not eaten for 21 days.
A martyr regardless
Gandhi, barely able to walk after breaking his fast, is arrested by a British officer for sedition. As he is led away, he threatens to fast again in prison if there is any violence. When he is brought before the bar in Ahmedabad (pp. 72-73), they read the following quote from one of Gandhi's writings:
"Noncooperation has one aim—the overthrow of the government. Sedition must become our creed."
G. says he has no defense and is guilty as charged.
"If you truly believe in the system of law which you administer in my country, you must inflict on me the severest penalty possible."
Br. very uncomfortable prosecuting him. Great respect for him from the time he enters the courtroom and they all stand. G. sentenced to six years in prison. Magistrate says,
"It is impossible for me to ignore that you are in a different category from any person I have ever tried, or am likely to try. . . . If, however, His Majesty's government should, at some later date, see fit to reduce the term, no one will be better pleased than I."
(Note: Gandhi served only 22 months of his six-year-sentence due to appendicitis
Porbandar State - 1930
-G. and wife renew their wedding vows. G. says, "Take the 7th step, that we may always live as friends." Mrs. G. says, "You are my best friend, my highest good, and my sovereign lord." -G. begins Salt March - March, 1930 (At this time, he is 62 years old.) -It was against the law to make or obtain salt without government license. Control of salt by Br. is control of India. (Indians, who worked in fields and mines, used more salt than Br. in order to retain fluids in body.) -Br. choose NOT to make G's opposition to Salt Law a big deal. They later realize G. will arrive at the sea on the anniversary of the massacre!!! -G. says the function of a civil resistor is to provoke a response. Says Indians are in control, not the Br.
The Salt March
Gandhi leaves with followers from his village. They are joined by passerby as they pass through each village, eventually forming an enormous crowd upon arrival at the seashore. The group walked for 24 days for a total of 241 miles - 12-15 miles per day. Here, Gandhi intends to -G. arrives at sea and, with symbolic gesture, makes salt in defiance of Br. law: "Man needs salt as he needs air and water. This salt comes from the Indian Ocean. Let every Indian claim it as his right." Viceroy reacts to Salt March: "We have been made fools of, Sir—around the world. Stop it. Stop it. Arrest anyone, any rank, everyone except Gandhi. We'll cut the strength from under him and then we'll deal with the mahatma!" -attempts to clear beach of Indians making salt -Br. on horseback come through city, beating Indians selling salt -Nehru cautions another: "Don't hit back. No violence." -100,000 under arrest along with wives and children. They even arrested Nehru's mother -Br. confirm: absolutely NO violence on the part of the Indians, even though Br. deputy police commissioner "lost his head" and opened fire on unarmed people -G.—in a letter to the Viceroy—said he was going to lead a raid on the Dharsana Salt Works the next day. Viceroy direct officers to put him in jail. The salt works, viceroy says, will remain open. Order to arrest Gandhi At the Dharsana Salt Works: (pp. 100-101); march led by son Manilal (black hat) -G's wife speaks to crowd of Indian peasants gathered at entrance to salt works: "Don't raise a hand against them." -guards at gate: "I want firmness and discipline." Guards take up positions and Indians march forward. -Manilal: "They expect us to lose heart or to fight back. We will do neither." -Br. begin clubbing Indians as latter walk toward guards. Indians are systematically clubbed but continue to advance. -"They walked, both Hindu and Muslim alike, with heads held high, without any hope of escape from injury or death. It went on and on into the night. Women carried the wounded and broken bodies from the road until they dropped from exhaustion. But still it went on and on. Whatever moral ascendancy the West held was lost here today. India is free. She has taken all that steel and cruelty can give and she has neither cringed nor retreated." (Dispatch via cable from New York Times reporter on the scene—Walker) -G. arrives at Governor's palace in Bombay -Viceroy requests G's attendance at an all-government conference in London to discuss the possible independence of India -Br. – "Our first duty is to recognize several Indias: a Hindu India, a Muslim India, and an India of princely states. All these must be respected and cared for, not just one." -G. visits mill works in England. Receives warm welcome from those at mill -After conference, G. is sent back empty-handed. He says, "Independence will fall like a ripe apple. The only question is when and how." -England is preparing for war. G. will not take advantage of their weakness (Hitler). He says, "We've come a long way with the British. We want to see them off as friends." -Br. soldiers inquire about subject of his speech that night. G. replies it will be the value of goat's milk, but also against war. G. and wife are taken away. She had said she intended to speak in his place. -former palace turned into a prison where G. and others are held. Woman from Life magazine, Margaret Booke-White, comes to interview him (August, 1947) -G. says, "Happiness does not come from things even 20th century things. It can come from work and from pride in what you do. . . . Poverty is the worst form of violence." -Question about nonviolence against Hitler: accept defeats and pain but can't accept injustice from him. "What you cannot do is accept injustice from Hitler or anyone. You must make the injustice visible—be prepared to die like a soldier to make the injustice visible." -Mrs. G. interviewed by Life magazine reporter -Mrs. G. said that G. believed there were "two kinds of slavery in India: one for women and one for the Untouchables." -G. renounced the married life; "Four times he tried and failed, and then he took a solemn vow" to remain chaste and has never broken it -Mrs. G. about to die. They decide not to move her. G. about to go for walk. Her death seems imminent. He remains by her side as she dies. New Viceroy from England (Lord Mountbatten) arrives to announce birth of independent India and says this is the last time a Br. Viceroy is to have the honor of such a reception (Mar. 22, 1947) -rankling over Muslim/Hindu majority Pakistan = Muslim Proposal which G. opposes but which India = Hindu finally occurs -black flags - Hindu; others ask G. not to meet with Jinnah, leader of Muslims -G. announces that Jinnah (bit of trivia: Jinnah was over 6 feet tall and weighed only 120 pounds) will be the prime minister and that he will appoint Muslim cabinet, all in an attempt to stop the division of India along religious lines. According to Jinnah, who regarded Gandhi as his greatest enemy, there were only two possibilities: an independent India and an independent Pakistan OR civil war -If country is not divided, there will be civil war -1947 - flags of independent India (with spinning wheel) and independent Pakistan are raised; Indian "question," though, still not resolved -mass migration of people: Muslims from India to Pakistan, and Hindus from Pakistan to India -violence along the line of people moving -G. disturbed by all the violence. Millions on the move. No one can count the dead. Blood bath. If it is not stopped, there will be no hope left for Hindus in Pakistan. -army asks G. to leave Calcutta—not enough militia to protect him. He's staying at the home of a Muslim (symbolic) -riot troops arrive. Intense fighting: "An eye for an eye, making the whole world blind." -G. fasts again; this was his Epic Fast (6 days, but he was 78 years old); weight dropped to 99 3/4 lbs. -appeal to G. to stop his fast -5000 Muslim students and 5000 Hindu students marching with each other the next day for peace -G. says that is not enough; he cannot watch the destruction of all he has worked for -G. near death. Kidneys have failed. Pulse is irregular. Nehru says to crowd: "Have the courage to do what you know is right." -Nehru: "Think what you can do by living that you cannot do by dying." G. still insists that the fighting must stop and that it will never start again. -revolutionaries arrive at G's bedside and drop weapons. They promise it's over. Hindu arrives and gives bread to G. Says he does not want G's death on his conscience. He does not want to go to Hell. He had killed a Muslim child. G. says, "God decides who goes to Hell." G. suggests that this man raise a child whose parents were killed. He must raise the child as a Muslim.
-quiet in city: "There's been no fighting anywhere. It's stopped. The madness has stopped. . . . In every temple and mosque they have pledged to die before they lift a hand against each other." (Slade to G.) Others confirm. G. asks for orange juice and bread to break the fast. -G. decides to go to Pakistan to prove that "the only devils running around are in our own hearts and that is where all our battles ought to be fought.""I know a way out of Hell. Find a child whose mother and father have been killed, a little boy about this high, and take him and raise him as your own. Only be sure that he is a Muslim and that you raise him as one."
End of Flashback
-G. goes into garden for prayers -Maurana:
"I may be blinded by my love for him, but I believe when we most needed it, he offered a way out of madness."
In accordance with Hindu custom, Gandhi was cremated and his ashes were scattered in India's rivers (Jan., 1948)— he was seventy-nine years old.
"When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but they always fall. Think of it. Always."
