Why only Gandhi became so popular?why indians say gandhi gave them freedom from british ??

Question

Gandhi was not too smart , not too intelligent (he was an average student at cambridge) not too rich(His father send him to england for studies on loan) and not only the normal people but the big leaders also followed him . all congress revolted against subhash chandra bose on his command , sardar vallabh bhai patel left presidentship of congress and gave to nehru . I MEAN TO ASK THAT WHAT WAS IN THAT PERSONALITY WHICH MADE BRITISHERS TO LEAVE INDIA . WHICH INFLUENCING POWER WAS IN HIM THAT ALL COMMON PEOPLE AS WELL AS LEADRES WERE READY TO DO ANYTHING ON HIS COMMAND . TODAY WE CANT EVEN MAKE 20 PEOPLE TO LISTEN US BUT THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WERE THEIR TO LISTEN HIM TO DIE FOR HIM . IS HERE ANYONE WHO HAVE SOME LOGIC BEHIND IT THAT WHAT WAS THERE IN GANDHI??
I got answers and thanks for that but I need something more powerful reasons to present . It can only be answered by analytical power not from any book . can any? thanks to the people who answered it was nice but plz try again once

Answer 1

The word is charisma. This is the difficult to define quality of attracting large groups of people to follow you. Some musicians have it, some actors, some politicians. It is the ability to hold the attention of the group and to embody their emotions as a symbol for what they need or feel. Ghandi had charisma because he symbolized the hopes of millions and therefore when he spoke others had to listen.

Answer 2

Gandhi was a shrewd diplomatic hypocrite coward.

He got his name, fame and achievements by becoming a tool in the hands of top Congress leaders.

He was a perfect con man. He could con not only all Indians of that day but he is still able to con the people of the world.

He was a good dramatist.
Able to portray oneself as a "very good gentle man" while manipulating everyone.

By the way Gandhi just rode someone else's bus and got credit for getting freedom for India.

If you see the then British prime minister's answers on "reasons for giving freedom to India" then he has stated
: "After world war II it is becoming more and more difficult (and almsot impossible) economically to manage the country as big as India."

He just got a benefit from the situation that time.

He bagged the credit, which was actually not his own.

His skills :
1. A good con man - one of the best known to mankind
2. Hypocrite and liar of the right kind - who was and able to portray his "good image" in spite of anything and everything.
3. Willingness and ability to shrewdly become a front-piece tool in the hands of Senior Congress leaders.
4. An expert manipulator whose true colors would not be revealed to people until a long time.

This is the truth. Can you digest the truth ?

Answer 3

Mahatma Gandhi was once no longer given the legitimate name of Father of the country, seeing that at the same time he was once the Father (of the country) he had no off-spring who obeyed him. Even the oft specified inheritor obvious and crown prince, Pandit Nehru, spurned the Father's want of conceding to Jinnah"s call for to be specified as unfastened India"s first Prime Minister. Instead, Nehru himself being in a rush to be the Prime Minister, agreed to the carving out of Pakistan. And the Nation bled at the same time The Father wept and fasted. In all poetic justice, Mahatma Gandhi was once no longer given the name of the Father of the Nation, for, to be real referred to as "father"you must have offspring/s. .

Answer 4

NOTHING PERSONALLY BUT IDEALLY INSPIRING OTHERS


Gandhi's principles

See also: Gandhism

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." - Mahatma Gandhi

Truth

Gandhi dedicated his life to the wider purpose of discovering truth, or Satya. He tried to achieve this by learning from his own mistakes and conducting experiments on himself. He called his autobiography The Story of My Experiments with Truth.

Gandhi stated that the most important battle to fight was overcoming his own demons, fears, and insecurities. Gandhi summarized his beliefs first when he said "God is Truth." He would later change this statement to "Truth is God." Thus, Satya (Truth) in Gandhi's philosophy is "God".

Nonviolence

The concept of nonviolence (ahimsa) and nonresistance has a long history in Indian religious thought and has had many revivals in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Jewish and Christian contexts. Gandhi explains his philosophy and way of life in his autobiography The Story of My Experiments with Truth. He was quoted as saying:

"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 seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall — think of it, always."

"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy?"

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."

"There are many causes that I am prepared to die for but no causes that I am prepared to kill for."

In applying these principles, Gandhi did not balk from taking them to their most logical extremes. In 1940, when invasion of the British Isles by Nazi Germany looked imminent, Gandhi offered the following advice to the British people (Non-Violence in Peace and War):

"I would like you to lay down the arms you have as being useless for saving you or humanity. You will invite Herr Hitler and Signor Mussolini to take what they want of the countries you call your possessions.... If these gentlemen choose to occupy your homes, you will vacate them. If they do not give you free passage out, you will allow yourselves, man, woman, and child, to be slaughtered, but you will refuse to owe allegiance to them." [citation needed].

However, Gandhi was aware that this level of nonviolence required incredible faith and courage, which he realized not everyone possessed. He therefore advised that everyone need not keep to nonviolence, especially if it was used as a cover for cowardice:

"Gandhi guarded against attracting to his satyagraha movement those who feared to take up arms or felt themselves incapable of resistance. 'I do believe,' he wrote, 'that where there is only a choice between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence.'"[18]

"At every meeting I repeated the warning that unless they felt that in non-violence they had come into possession of a force infinitely superior to the one they had and in the use of which they were adept, they should have nothing to do with non-violence and resume the arms they possessed before. It must never be said of the Khudai Khidmatgars that once so brave, they had become or been made cowards under Badshah Khan's influence. Their bravery consisted not in being good marksmen but in defying death and being ever ready to bare their breasts to the bullets."[19]

Vegetarianism

As a young child, Gandhi experimented in meat-eating. This was due partially to his inherent curiosity as well as his rather persuasive peer and friend Sheikh Mehtab. The idea of vegetarianism is deeply engrained in Hindu and Jain traditions in India, and, in his native land of Gujarat, many Hindus were vegetarian. The Gandhi family was no exception. Before leaving for his studies in London, Gandhi made a promise to his mother, Putlibai and his uncle, Becharji Swami that he would abstain from eating meat, taking alcohol, and engaging in promiscuity. He held fast to his promise and gained more than a diet, he gained a basis for his life-long philosophies. As Gandhi grew into adulthood, he became a strict vegetarian, though he was not against the consumption of eggs.[20] He wrote articles on the subject, some of which were published in the London Vegetarian Society's publication: "The Vegetarian." [2] Gandhi inspired many people around the world to become vegetarian. Gandhi, himself, became inspired by many great minds during this period and befriended a chairman of the London Vegetarian Society, Dr. Josiah Oldfield.

Having also read and admired the work of Henry Stephens Salt, the young Mohandas met and often corresponded with the vegetarian campaigner. Gandhi spent much time advocating vegetarianism during and after his time in London. To Gandhi, a vegetarian diet would not only satisfy the requirements of the body, it would also serve an economic purpose as meat was, and still is, generally more expensive than grains, vegetables, and fruits. Also, many Indians of the time struggled with low income, thus vegetarianism was seen not only as a spiritual practice but also a practical one. He abstained from eating for long periods, using fasting as a form of political protest. He refused to eat until his death or his demands were met. It was noted in his autobiography that vegetarianism was the beginning of his deep commitment to Brahmacharya; without total control of the palate his success in Bramacharya would have been likely to falter.

Brahmacharya

This decision was deeply influenced by the philosophy of Brahmacharya—spiritual and practical purity—largely associated with celibacy and asceticism. Gandhi saw brahmacharya as a means of going close to God and as a primary foundation for self realization. In his autobiography he tells of his battle against lustful urges and fits of jealousy with his childhood bride, Kasturba. He felt it his personal obligation to remain celibate so that he could learn to love, rather than lust. For Gandhi brahmacharya meant control of the senses in thought, word and deed.[21]

Simplicity
Statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Union Square Park, New York City
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Statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Union Square Park, New York City

Gandhi earnestly believed that a person involved in social service should lead a simple life which he thought could lead to Brahmacharya. His simplicity began by renouncing the western lifestyle he was leading in South Africa. He called it "reducing himself to zero", which entailed giving up unnecessary expenditure, embracing a simple lifestyle and washing his own clothes.[22] On one occasion he returned the gifts bestowed to him from the natals for his diligent service to the community.[23]

Gandhi spent one day of each week in silence. He believed that abstaining from speaking brought him inner peace. This influence was drawn from the Hindu principles of mouna (silence) and shanti (peace). On such days he communicated with others by writing on paper. For three and a half years, from the age of 37, Gandhi refused to read newspapers, claiming that the tumultuous state of world affairs caused him more confusion than his own inner unrest. Returning to India from South Africa, where he had enjoyed a successful legal practice, he gave up wearing Western-style clothing, which he associated with wealth and success. He dressed to be accepted by the poorest person in India, advocating the use of homespun cloth (khadi). Gandhi and his followers adopted the practice of weaving their own clothes from thread they themselves spun, and encouraged others to do so. While Indian workers were often idle due to unemployment, they had often bought their clothing from industrial manufacturers owned by British interests. It was Gandhi's view that if Indians made their own clothes, it would deal an economic blow to the British establishment in India. Consequently, the spinning wheel was later incorporated into the flag of the Indian National Congress. He would wear a dhoti all his life to show simplicity.

Faith

Gandhi was born a Hindu and practised Hinduism all his life, deriving most of his principles from Hinduism. As a common Hindu, he believed all religions to be equal, and rejected all efforts to convert him to a different faith. He was an avid theologian and read extensively about all major religions. He had the following to say about Hinduism:

"Hinduism as I know it entirely satisfies my soul, fills my whole being ... When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and when I see not one ray of light on the horizon, I turn to the Bhagavad Gita, and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. My life has been full of tragedies and if they have not left any visible and indelible effect on me, I owe it to the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita."

Gandhi believed that at the core of every religion was Truth and Love (compassion, nonviolence and the Golden Rule). He also questioned hypocrisy, malpractices and dogma in all religions and was a tireless social reformer. Some of his comments on various religions are:

"Thus if I could not accept Christianity either as a perfect, or the greatest religion, neither was I then convinced of Hinduism being such. Hindu defects were pressingly visible to me. If untouchability could be a part of Hinduism, it could but be a rotten part or an excrescence. I could not understand the raison d'etre of a multitude of sects and castes. What was the meaning of saying that the Vedas were the inspired Word of God? If they were inspired, why not also the Bible and the Koran? As Christian friends were endeavouring to convert me, so were Muslim friends. Abdullah Sheth had kept on inducing me to study Islam, and of course he had always something to say regarding its beauty." (source: his autobiography)

"As soon as we lose the moral basis, we cease to be religious. There is no such thing as religion over-riding morality. Man, for instance, cannot be untruthful, cruel or incontinent and claim to have God on his side."

"The sayings of Muhammad are a treasure of wisdom, not only for Muslims but for all of mankind."

Later in his life when he was asked whether he was a Hindu, he replied:

"Yes I am. I am also a Christian, a Muslim, a Buddhist and a Jew."

In spite of their deep reverence to each other, Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore got involved in protracted debates more than once. These debates exemplify the philosophical differences between the two most famous Indians at the time. On January 15, 1934, an earthquake hit Bihar and caused extensive damage and loss of life. Gandhi maintained this was because of the sin committed by upper caste Hindus by not letting untouchables in their temples (Gandhi was committed to the cause of improving the fate of untouchables, referring to them as Harijans, people of Krishna). Tagore vehemently opposed Gandhi's stance, maintaining that an earthquake can only be caused by natural forces, not moral reasons, however repugnant the practice of untouchability may be.

Legacy
Statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Tavistock Square Gardens, London.
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Statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Tavistock Square Gardens, London.

Gandhi's birthday, 2 October is a national holiday, Gandhi Jayanti.

The word Mahatma, while often mistaken for Gandhi's given name in the West, is taken from the Sanskrit words maha meaning Great and atma meaning Soul. Most sources, such as Dutta and Robinson's Rabindranath Tagore: An Anthology, state that Rabindranath Tagore first accorded the title of Mahatma to Gandhi.[24] Other sources state that Nautamlal Bhagavanji Mehta accorded him this title on January 21, 1915.[25] In his autobiography, Gandhi nevertheless explains that he never felt worthy of the honour.[26] According to the manpatra, the name Mahatma was given in response to Gandhi's admirable sacrifice in manifesting justice and truth.[27]

Time Magazine named Gandhi the Man of the Year in 1930, the runner-up to Albert Einstein as "Person of the Century" at the end of 1999, and named The Dalai Lama, Lech Wałęsa, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Cesar Chavez, Aung San Suu Kyi, Benigno Aquino Jr., Desmond Tutu, and Nelson Mandela as Children of Gandhi and his spiritual heirs to non-violence. The Government of India awards the annual Mahatma Gandhi Peace Prize to distinguished social workers, world leaders and citizens. Nelson Mandela, the leader of South Africa's struggle to eradicate racial discrimination and segregation, is a prominent non-Indian recipient. In 1996, the Government of India introduced the Mahatma Gandhi series of currency notes in rupees 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 denomination. Today, all the currency notes in circulation in India contain a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi. In 1969, the United Kingdom issued a series of stamps commemorating the centenary of Mahatma Gandhi.
The centennial commemorative statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the center of downtown Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.
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The centennial commemorative statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the center of downtown Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.

In the United Kingdom, there are several prominent statues of Gandhi, most notably in Tavistock Square, London (near University College London), where he studied law. January 30 is commemorated in the United Kingdom as the "National Gandhi Remembrance Day." In the United States, there are statues of Gandhi outside the Union Square Park in New York City and the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta, and in Waikiki, Hawaii. The city of Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, where Gandhi was ejected in 1893 from a first-class train, now hosts a commemorative statue. There are wax statues of Gandhi at the Madame Tussaud's wax museums in New York and London, and other cities around the world.

Gandhi never received the Nobel Peace Prize, though he was nominated five times between 1937 and 1948. Decades later, the Nobel Committee publicly declared its regret for the omission, and admitted to deeply divided nationalistic opinion denying the award. Mahatma Gandhi was to receive the Prize in 1948, but his assassination prevented the award from coming to him. The war breaking out between the newly created states of India and Pakistan could have been a complicating factor for Mahatma Gandhi not being presented with the Prize in 1948.[28] The Prize was not awarded in 1948, the year of Gandhi's death, on the grounds that "there was no suitable living candidate" that year, and when the Dalai Lama was awarded the Prize in 1989, the chairman of the committee said that this was "in part a tribute to the memory of Mahatma Gandhi".[29] The Committee felt so terrible it had not conferred the prize on Mahatma Gandhi that it kept looking at "other Indians" over the years. Those considered over the years were Jawaharlal Nehru and Vinoba Bhave.

Gandhi in film, literature, plays, and popular culture

Main article: List of artistic depictions of Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi has been portrayed in film, literature, and in the theater. Ben Kingsley portrayed Gandhi in the 1982 award-winning film, Gandhi. Gandhi is also a central figure in the 2006 Bollywood film Lage Raho Munna Bhai. The philosophy of Gandhism is an important thematic component of both the 2005 film, Water and the novel by author Bapsi Sidhwa based on the film, also called Water (Gandhi also appears as a character in both). The Making of the Mahatma documents Gandhi's 21 years in South Africa. The play Mahatma vs. Gandhi explores his troubled relationship with his eldest son Harilal Gandhi. A 2002 play Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (play) gives the life story of Gandhi from the age of twelve until his death. The opera Satyāgraha, composed by Philip Glass (in 1980), with a libretto by himself and Constance De Jong is based on the life of Gandhi.

Criticism

Dalit leader B. R. Ambedkar condemned Gandhi's terming the untouchable community as Harijans. This term meant "God's Children"; it implied that Dalits were socially immature, and that privileged caste Indians played a paternalistic role. Ambedkar and his allies also felt Gandhi was undermining Dalit political rights. Gandhi, although born into the vaishya caste, insisted that he was able to speak on behalf of Dalits, despite the availability of Dalit activists such as Ambedkar.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah and contemporary Pakistanis condemned Gandhi for undermining Muslim political rights. Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and his allies condemned Gandhi, accusing him of politically appeasing Muslims while turning a blind eye to their atrocities against Hindus, and for allowing the creation of Pakistan (despite having publically declared that "before partitioning India, my body will have to be cut into two pieces"[30]). Savarkar himself was tried for conspiracy in the Gandhi Murder case, as he was the mentor of the assassin Nathuram Godse and an important Hindu Mahasabha leader. However, he was acquitted following lack of any evidence of his involvement. In contemporary times, Marxist academicians like Ayesha Jalal blame Gandhi and the Congress for being unwilling to share power with Muslims and thus hastening partition. Hindu political activists like Pravin Togadia and Narendra Modi have been known to criticize Gandhi's leadership and actions. Gandhi also came under some political fire for his intolerance to those who attempted to achieve independence through more violent means. His refusal to protest against the hanging of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Udham Singh and Rajguru were sources of condemnation throughout some parties within India[31][32].

Gandhi also came under attack for his article, "Zionism and Anti-Semitism". He responded with three articles (see, Homer Jack, ed., The Gandhi Reader: A Sourcebook of His Life and Writings.) According to Jack, Gandhi felt a kinship with the Jewish community, but was against the partition of Palestine into two countries (in the same way he was against the division of India into two countries): "Gandhi had some close Jewish friends, especially in South Africa. There three of his closest Western co-workers were of Jewish ancestry...with the rise of Hitler and anti-Semitism in Germany, Gandhi felt compelled to denounce this aspect of racism, which he felt was akin to the kind of religious and racial discrimination he had fought all his life. He did not, however, regard Zionism as the right answer to the Jewish problem.[33] In his article, "Zionism and Anti-Semitism," Gandhi writes: "If I were a Jew and were born in Germany and earned my livelihood there, I would claim Germany as my home even as the tallest Gentile German might, and challenge him to shoot me or cast me in the dungeon; I would refuse to be expelled or to submit to discriminating treatment."[34] Gandhi was criticized for this article and responded in the article "Questions on the Jews, "Friends have sent me two newspaper cuttings criticizing my appeal to the Jews. The two critics suggest that in presenting non-violence to the Jews as a remedy against the wrong done to them, I have suggested nothing new....what I have pleaded for is renunciation of violence of the heart and consequent active exercise of the force generated by the great renunciation."[35] He discusses this issue further in "Reply to Jewish Friends"[36] and "Jews and Palestine."[37]