Mahatama Gandhi’s struggle against the colonial power during the national freedom struggle in the country have inspired millions of people over the years. Born on 2 October 1869, his birthday- Gandhi Jayanti is also celebrated as the International Day of Non-Violence.
During his life, Gandhi fought against the Britishers using Ahimsa (non-violence), satyagraha (struggle for truth) and mass movement continues to be the ideals of protests in India and abroad. The Post-independence Indian history and several leaders have continued to draw inspiration from Gandhi and used Ahimsa and Satyagraha as political tools for the public cause.
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Here are some of the political movements and leaders who have famously adopted Gandhi’s ideals during their movement:
Anna Hazare
Anna Hazare in 2011 emerged as the unlikely face of an impassioned people’s movement in India against the UPA-II government accusing it of corruption. The idea of Gandhi’s satyagraha and mass movement was used by Anna Hazare, who considers himself a follower of Gandhi. The anti-corruption movement was widely popular in the country and also led to poor performance of the Congress government in 2014 General Elections.
Arvind Kejriwal
After the India Against Corruption Movement, which was led by Anna Hazare, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal emerged as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the movement. Kejriwal’ Aam Aadmi Party, came into existence after the IAC movement was disbanded and contested assembly elections in New Delhi. Since then the party has came into power thrice and it is seeing to widen its footprints in the neighbouring states of Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa.
JP Movement
Jayaprakash Narayan, popularly known as JP, launched a mass movement against Indira Gandhi’s government in 1974. JP, a follower of Mahatma Gandhi and a stern believer in his beliefs of mass movement and non-violence, inspired an entire generation of youth to participate en masse in the satyagraha against corrupt governments in Gujarat and Bihar. Jailed during the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi, he later defeated the Congress party in 1977 for the first time.
Martin Luther King Jr
Gandhi’s ideas and satyagraha wasn’t just restrained within the borders of the country. His ideas greatly inspired the American Civil Rights Movement. Martin Luther King and his wife Coretta Scott King travelled to India in 1959 to study Mahatma Gandhi’s principles of non-violent persuasion, so they could apply it to the civil rights struggle back home.
Martin Luther not only used non-violent means in his actions, but he also led a mass movement inspired by the ideals of Gandhi.
Gangster Serving Life For Murder Tops Exam on Gandhi
Not just leaders and nationwide movemenets, Gandhi has also inspired many other citizens and sometimes even gangsters. Gangster Arun Gawli, serving life sentence for murder, has topped an exam based on Gandhian thoughts. An inmate of the Nagpur central prison, Arun Gawli scored 74 out of 80 marks in the examination, based on the concept of the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi.
Around 160 prisoners appeared for the examination, conducted by NGOs Sahyog Trust, Sarvoday Ashram and Mumbai Sarvoday Mandal in October last year. The result was declared last week, Sahyog Trust trustee Ravindra Bhusari said.
Arun Gawli, currently lodged in the Nagpur central jail, is serving a life sentence for the 2007 murder of Shiv Sena corporator Kamalakar Jamsandekar.
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