AN INTIMATE STUDY OF GANDHI

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 591, 24 July 1933, Page 2

AN INTIMATE STUDY OF GANDHI

Oi idian Leader Comes OfAn Important Family And Had Lucrative Pro/bsstom

FRAILi in body but strong in mind, willing to fast to death for the sake of aa ideal, strong with the strength of his own beliefs and unshakeable convictions, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the Indian Nationalist leader, is a man who has exerted an enormous influence among his people, and one who has for years been a centre of civil disobedience and disturbances. He is 62 years' of age.d) The latter portion of his life has contained several terms of lmprisonment for seditious utteranGes,, and a series of fasts for political pur« poses, designed to force the hand ot, the Goyernment., Gandhi was born at Porbunder, little seaport town on the coast ofc Kathiawar, in 1869. The family was an important . one. His father had been Prime Minister of the State, and this office had been made hereditary

for some generations past. His mother was a devout Hindu, possessing a deep religious faith. _The turning point in the early days of Mohandas Gandhi came when he was able to go to England to finish his education and obtain a full training tn the law. The change was an extreme one. Gandhi suffered greatly from solitude. His life was liyed with an ascetictsm and simplicity that stfengthehed his moral character as the years went by. On his return to India, he began to practise at the Bar in Bombay and Kathiawar. 5^ For several years, in Ipdia, liQ was a comparative failure ih ^bfessional life, largely because of gonscieatfpps scruples. Then was invited to South Africa to underl^W^nR On behalf of a Mohamihe'dah. cllent. Jle was admitted to the

Bar in South Africa, remaining in that country because he felt that his fel-low-countrymen there were . suffering hardships which he should share. While in Johannesburg, he made frequent app'earances in the court' presided over by Mr H. A. Young, S.M., now senior Magistrate in Christchurch. He appeared for Indians mostly. and in deportation cases. At one time he ■had an income of over £3000 a year. For 20 years, Gandhi was the champion of 15,000 of his countrymen in South Africa. He organised a passive reeistance campaign, and suffered Imvprisoninent. in April, 1914, legislation ■appeared which ^removed the chief igrievances of the "Indians. In Decemher cn that year, Gandhi returned to India and opened a "retreat." In the midst o£ his worldly prosperity, he had decided at last to abandon everything, and give himself up to a life iof poverty in which he could practise •ascetic self-control and entire nonviolence in all his actions. Presently he began to come into political prominence. In 1920, he reached the great dividlng llne of his career. After repeated failures to obtain clear signs of repentance for what he considered to be the wropgs done to his country at Amritsar, and for the breaking of promises made to the In'dian Mussalmans In the Great War, he declared that he could not continue, as leader of the Nationalist organisation, to co-operate with the British Government. Becoming the ruling spirit in the campaign for "Swaraj" — home rule — he organised an active non-co-operation movement. This anti-British campaign lncluded refusal of political and economic cooperation with the authorities, refusal to pay taxes, to serve in the 'army, to hold public office, or to buy British goods. In 1922, he prepared to replace non-co-operation with a scheme for mass disobedience. He preached pacifism and non-resistance. But he could not always restrain his adherents from violence. and the upshot of the movement was his arrest. In March, 1922, Gandhi was sentenced to six years* imprisonment. He was released in February, 1924. Early in 1926 he prepared to withdraw from public life for a year, but within six months was forced to break silence to deny the truth of a suggestion that if he were Emperor of India he would exclude Europeans. He then declared his policy, which was made up of disarmament, maintenance of friendly relationships with the fron. tier tribes, the imposition of a tariff on foreign cloth, the introduction of Prohibition, and the better treatment of the "Untoucliables" and other outcasts. In 1926 he attended the National Congress, and in 1928, re-entered poli-

tics. On January 1, 1929, under the spell of his activities and persuasiveness, the Congress adopted his scheme for mass organisation, the prohibition of liquor, and the boyoott of foreign cloth. in March, he ihcited a mob in Caleutta to make a bonfire of, foreign cloth, and riots followed. At the close of the year, the National Congress passed Gandhi's motion demanding complete independence, a boyeott of the legislatures, and the start of a widespread campaign of civil disobedience. Gandhi sent to Lord Irwin, then the Yiceroy, an ultimatum threatening the start of a further civil disobedience, campaign. This was designed to be a measure of prptest against the failure oi the British Government to grant Dominion status to India. Acting on^.an old authority giving power for ar|v person to b'e arrested without judicial trial for State reasons, particulariy for the preservation of the peace of the country, the Government had^ Gandhi arrested and imprisoned' again in May, 1930. He Was released in January of the following year. He attended the Round-Table Conference in London, where comment was aroused by his refusal to wear any other than the scantiest of native clothin'g. Last year, Gandhi undertook another of his political fasts, in an effort to induce the Government to change policy decisions. The latest fast, is according to Gandhi-'s announcempnt, without political significance. He undertook the ordeal solely tp forward the removal of "untouchaMlity," a cause to which he proposes to devote the rest of his life. He was released by the Government from Yeravda Gaol, where he had been for 16 months, so that he may be nursed privately during his fast, in which he is now showing signs of grave weakness. He C'oUld have secured his r.elease'at any time by renouncing the latest of the civfl movements which he has fostered.