Mahatma Gandhi in Pictures

Mahatma Gandhi, also known as M.K. Gandhi or Bapu, was the leader of India's freedom movement. He inspired and lead millions of people of India to get freedom from British Rule in a non-violent way. He was not just a freedom fighter, but also a great philosopher. Although Gandhi is best known for his campaign for freedom of India, he worked for solving problems in various fields including social and economical issues like poverty, untouchability and religious conflicts. His thoughts on economy were village based. He was against industrialization. He lived in simplicity. His life was his message to the world. Many world leaders including Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela got inspired by Gandhi's thoughts. Here are some facts about Gandhi and and some rare photos of this great soul.

Gandhi, aka Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on 2nd October 1969 at Porbandar, a city in the present day state of Gujarat in India. He was Son of Karamchand and Putalibai. It was a Hindu family, but Gandhi's mother was a devotee Jain. As a result Gandhi was greatly influenced by Jainism.

Gandhi schooled from Alfred High School at Rajkot, Gujarat. He studied Indian Law from University College, London. and became a Barrister.

His attempted to practice law at Mumbai, but he did not get success. So he returned to Rajkot. He got a year long contract from an Indian firm to work as a legal representative in Natal, South Africa. While working as a legal representative of Indian Muslims and Hindus in South Africa, he faced discrimination which blacks and Indians were facing from the whites. Racism, prejudice and injustice against Indians and blacks in South Africa lead him to think and act on these problems. He extended his period of stay in South Africa and fought against discrimination against colored people for next 20 years.

Gandhi returned to India in 1915. He joined Indian National Congress, and became leader of it in 1920. Under his leadership, Indian National Congress declared the Independence of India which was not recognized by British. He declared Non-Co-Operation movement. AS 2nd World war broke, Gandhi demanded immediate freedom. He was sent to prison for many times for his demands and the agitations he lead.

Gandhi was supported by millions of common Indians as he was the person to give them a chance to take part in freedom movement. Finally, India got freedom under his leadership on 15th August 1947. He retired from politics, but on 30th January 1948, he was assassinated by an extremist.

Many talented persons from all over India joined freedom movement of India under the leadership of Gandhi. I would like to mention some of them here. Jawahar Lal Nehru, who later became first Prime Minister of India, Vallabh Bhai Patel, who later became first Home Minister of India, Subhash Chandra Bose, who fought against British rule by leading Indian National Army, Babu Rajendra Prasad, who later became first President of India, Chakaravarti Rajagopalachari, Sarojini Naidu, Khan Abdul Gafar Khan, Moulana Azad, Jai Prakash Narayan etc.