Gandhi, Mahatma
1869-l948, Indian political and spiritual
leader, called the Mahatma [great-souled] and regarded as the father of
independent INDIA. After practicing
law in South Africa, where he fought for the rights of the Indian population
there, he returned (1915) to India. Already regarded as a leader in the
nationalist movement, he began working for Indian independence from Great
Britain. He gave up Western ways to lead a life of abstinence and spirituality.
He asserted the unity of all people under one God and preached Christian and
Muslim ethics along with the Hindu. He became a proponent of satyagraha
[passive resistance] as a way to end British rule. His efforts led the British
to jail him several times, but so great was his following that his threats to
fast until death usually forced his release. In the INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS, India's chief
political party, he led the ht to rid the country of the CASTE system; he especially defended the rights
of the untouchables. In 1942 the British jailed him after he refused to
cooperate during World War II. In 1944 he was released and became a major
ure in the postwar negotiations that resulted in Indian independence in
1947. He was deeply distressed by the religious partition of the country into
India and Pakistan. When violence broke out between Hindus and Muslims, he
resorted to fasts and visits to the troubled areas in efforts to end the violence.
He was on one such prayer vigil in New Delhi when he was fatally shot by a
Hindu extremist who objected to Gandhi's tolerance for the Muslims
