A Never Ending Courage
Before 1947, India had been enslaved to the taxation of salt (History.com Staff 2010). Under the rule of the British East India Company, the native people of India were forbidden to make or sell their own salt,which forced them to buy British salt, which was unattainable for most. Yet, even in the midst of India's oppression and indignation, a leader, lawyer, and peacemaker, Mohandas Gandhi, would understand what had to be done for India's morality. While the British made no alternative to its threatening greed, the Indian people understood the issue would not end under their terms. Gandhi would fight a relentless battle of nonviolence, that would result, not only in changing the world, but influencing the next generations of leaders to lead with courage.
In many perspectives, courage is a harbinger of reinvention, residing under a strong reflective will and limitless structure. Unlike many influential leaders, Gandhi revolutionized the pursuits in civil disobedience. April Carter, a political lecturer at the universities of Oxford, Lancaster, and Queensland, expresses his nonviolence philosophy, "He had developed his distinctive theory and practice of nonviolent action (satyagraha), and his own social theory, which rejected many aspects of Western Civilization" (1995, 1). In addition, Gandhi's philosophy of satyagraha made him a leader, unlike no other. He writes, "We need perfect discipline and training in voluntary obedience to be able to offer civil obedience"(1996, 55). Through his stance of nonviolence with the British Raj, Gandhi's followers were persuaded to follow his will. In this manner, his courage is illustrated in his "duty to place their principles... above all else"(Kennedy 1956, 15-16). As President John F. Kennedy writes in his Nobel Peace Prize winning Profiles of Courage, "this may not always be easy, but it nevertheless is the essence of democracy, faith in the wisdom of the people and their views"(1956, 15). Gandhi had understood what freedom was worth, therefore, with a strong attitude, and pure intention.
As a courageous leader, Gandhi was willing to do whatever it would take. On March 12, 1930, he planned the Salt March, that would influence history (Andrews 2015). Evan Andrews (2015), writer for History.com, illustrates in his words, "Gandhi would stage his most ambitious satyagraha campaign to date." Even when his colleagues had begged him to reconsider his decision, being "convinced that he would fail", Gandhi understood otherwise, grasping the endeavor of 10 miles a day, at a total of 24 days, was a matter of change (YouTube 2014). Rajmohan Gandhi, the grandson of Mohandas, and biographer/researcher at the Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Illinois, reflects the context in the given moment "joy and sadness, pride and fear, and prayer songs marked the departure of Gandhi and 78 (or by another count, 80) others" (2006, 308). In correlation, Gandhi's restless aptitude conceptually reflects John F. Kennedy's allusion to courage, "He must judge for himself which path to choose, which step will most help or hinder the ideals to which he is committed"(1956, 12). The decision to walk 241 miles (Andrews 2015), without mistake, exhibits the very essence of courage that Kennedy believes in. For the liberation of his people, he states, "The greatness of a man...lies in his determination and fearlessness in the face of death" (Gandhi and Dalton 1996, 55).
Out of his passionate devotion of leading his people from the unfair taxation of salt, Gandhi was revered the name of Mahatma, or the "Great Souled One"(Andrews 2015). In reaching the village of Dandi, Gandhi had, at last, walked to the Arabian Sea, where he manifested the power of nonviolence. For the first time without violence, the Indian people would not find it in their heart to accommodate to the British Raj (1930). After outraging the British Raj, he, with 80,000 others by his side, be placed in prison (Andrews 2015). In spite of this, he writes, "For no power on earth can stop the onward march of a peaceful, determined, and godly people" (Gandhi and Dalton 55). Likewise, Dennis Dalton, the Ann Whitney Olin Professor of Political Science at Barnard College and Columbia University, writes how unlike any other leader, Gandhi was a man that lead for freedom and revolution (2012, 83). In his powerful perspective to lead his people out of the British Raj, his negotiations would succeed under the rule of Clement Atlee. As Vinay Lal, Professor of History and Asian American Studies at UCLA, writes, "Clement Atlee was committed to the independence of India, and negotiations for India's future began in earnest. Sensing that the political leaders were now craving for power, Gandhi largely distanced himself from the negotiations" (2007, 4). In being Britain's Prime Minister, Vinay Lal evidently proves how influential Gandhi is, as he acts courageously without violence. Vinay continues, "When the moment of freedom came, on 15 August 1947, Gandhi was nowhere to be seen in the capital, though Nehru and the entire Constituent Assembly were to salute him as the architect of Indian independence, as the 'father of the nation'" (2007, 4). Even when Gandhi won the freedom, his absence of being in the capital shows the depth in his symbolism of democracy and achievement.
While Gandhi remains one of the most influential leaders in history, it is his courage that begins his odyssey to victory. The courage that saw through the sacrifice in action, President Kennedy writes, "A man does what he must- in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures- and that is the basis of all human morality" (1956, 134). As the temptation of oppression grew, still, Gandhi fathomed differently, under the will of nonviolence. A leader that made his own garments, inflicted truth, instead of suffering, and lead with courage, instead of vengeance. As a courageous leader that he writes, "Civil disobedience presupposes the habit of willing obedience to laws without fear of their sanctions" (Gandhi and Dalton 1996, 51). Mohandas Gandhi is undoubtedly a man that embodied the greatness and the power of courage and morality, influencing every human to lead just as he did.
Reference List
Andrews, Evan. 2015. "Remembering Gandhi's Salt March." History.com. Accessed January 2, 2017. http://www.history.com/news/gandhis-salt-march-85-years-ago.
Carter, April. 1995. Mahatma Gandhi: A Selected Bibliography. Westport: Greenwood Press.
Dalton, Dennis. 2012. Mahatma Gandhi, Nonviolent Power in Action. Columbia University Press.
Gandhi, Mohandas K., and Dennis Dalton. 1996. Selected Political Writings. Hackett Publishing.
Gandhi, Rajmohan. 2006. Gandhi: The Man, His People, and the Empire. University of California Press.
History.com Staff. 2010. "Mohandas Gandhi." History.com. Accessed December 11, 2016. http://www.history.com/topics/mahatma-gandhi.
Kennedy, John F. 1956. Profiles of Courage. New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
Lal, Vinay. 2007. "Mahatma Gandhi." Manas: History and Politics of India 4. Accessed January 2, 2017. https://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/Gandhi/gandhi4.html.
"Police and Gandhi followers clash over salt making." 1930. The Day, April 7. Accessed January 5, 2017. http://www.rarenewspapers.com/view/580411.
YouTube. 2014. "Mahatma Gandhi-Documentary." Last modified July 21. Accessed November 28, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibagACLb-6s.