Freedom and Partition in India

Chapter 9

Gandhi saw his life as the search for ultimate truths and self- transformation (#2)

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Gandhi (#3)

Born: Oct. 2, 1869

Porbandar,Gujarat

Died: Jan. 30, 1948Assassinated

Gandhi and His Wife

Kasturba Gandhi married Gandhi at age 13 years old (1883) (#4)

Mohandas Gandhi

• Born into a middle class family

• Leader of India’s freedom movement (INC)

• Left for Britain at age 17 to study law (#5)

• Lawyer – trained in Britain, practiced in South Africa

• Helped unite the various groups within India to fight for a common cause

First Action for Indian Civil Rights

• In South Africa, fighting for Indian rights (#6 & 7)– Train ride and effects: thrown off the train for refusing to move to

3rd class where non-whites were expected to sit– Effects: humiliation lead to his desire for change and how to get

justice

• Civil Disobedience – The active refusal to obey unjust laws or the demands of an oppressive government (#7)– Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation

with good.• Satyagraha = truth force – convert the wrongdoer (#7)

and reconciliation

• Non-violence – ex. Rosa Parks, MLK Jr.

Lawyer in South Africa

Appealing to all Indians – Returned to India 1915 at age 45 (#8)

Clip 56:21 – 59:00 Gandhi Movie

Gandhi’s Principles

• His beliefs were a blend of Hindu and Christian beliefs

• Non-violent resistance to end injustice• Satyagraha = truth force – convert the

wrongdoer• Inspiration

– Hindu – nonviolence, respect for all life– Christianity – love one’s enemies

• Mahatma: Great Soul

Himalayan Blunder• Although this nation-wide strike hit the British

hard, and led to thousands of Indians being jailed, in 1922 it erupted into violence.

• A mob of “Satyagrahis” lit fire to a police station, killing two dozen police officers trapped inside.

• Gandhi called off the entire Satyagraha

• mistakenly believed that his followers truly understood non-violence

• Gandhi Movie Clip – 1:17: 22 -1:24

Gandhi’s Principles

• He wanted the world to see the injustice in India without using violence

• Gandhi wanted the British to see the err in their wrong doings

• The same principles were used with apartheid in South Africa

• Satyagraha = truth force – convert the wrongdoer

GANDHI RAPS

#1

Gandhi’s Principles

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Amritsar Massacre 1919

• Causes #10– Oppressive new laws limited freedoms

–Rowlatt Acts – trials without juries –permitted internment of suspects without trial–Ban on mass meetings–Limited freedom of press–protest against the arrest of two leaders of the

Indian National Congress in 1919

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jallianwala_Bagh_Massacre

• “The Indians were ‘packed together so that one bullet would drive through three or four bodies’; the people ‘ran madly this way and the other. When fire was directed upon the centre, they ran to the sides. The fire was then directed to the sides. Many threw themselves onto the ground, and fire was then directed on the ground. This continued for eight or ten minutes, and it stopped only when the ammunition had reached the point of exhaustion…” Winston Churchill

Amritsar Massacre• British Brig. Gen. who led the massacre

was removed from duty but some honored him at home for crushing the Indians

Rattan Devi stated, ''I saw three men writhing in great pain and a boy of about 12. I could not leave the place. The boy asked me for water but there was no water in that place. At 2 am, a Jat who was lying entangled on the wall asked me to raise his leg. I went up to him and took hold of his clothes drenched in blood and raised him up. Heaps of bodies lay there, a number of them innocent children. I shall never forget the sight. I spent the night crying and watching..." clip from 1:24 – 1:31 show clip

Amritsar Massacre

• 'The Martyr's' well at Jallianwala Bagh

• Other than those got shot, many died by jumping into the solitary well on the compound to escape the shooting

Amritsar Massacre

Results of Amritsar Massacre (#10)• Effects:

– 379 Indians dead - 1,100 Indians injured– Ridiculous Rules forced against the Indians

– All Indians must crawl on their hands and knees on a city street

– Indiscriminate whippings– British General Dyer, removed from duty but some

honored him at home• “Teach Indians a lesson”

– Turning Point for India’s struggle for complete independence

– Nationalist movement took off– All Indians united against British

• Gandhi became one of the masses

GANDHI RAPS

#2

Amritsar Massacre

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Indian Self-Reliance (#11)• Gandhi won the support of

all groups by stressing India’s heritage and Self-reliance Gandhi Clip 1:38 – 1:41– Examples

• Gave up Western ways• Spun his own cotton, wore

simple white clothing• Western clothes

symbolized cultural dependence

• Vegetarianism• Wanted to reform caste

system (untouchables)• Included Muslims

(#12) To be seen as the leader of all Indians; connected with the masses;Bapu: Father

Non Violent Protests

• Gandhi supported nonviolent acts of civil disobedience– Boycotted British made goods– Supported workers strikes– Did not want lose the moral high ground and

threatened by acts of violence(#13)– The Salt March – Quit India Movement

The Salt March – 1930 (#14)• Indians were not allowed to make their own salt• They had to purchase heavily taxed British salt• Gandhi led Indians on a march over 200 miles

to the Arabian Sea• Starts with 80 people ends with hundreds of

thousands• On his march to the sea, Gandhi says “They

are not in control; we are”. “Explain.• They made their own once they reached the

ocean• Gandhi movie clip 2:04:20 – 2:20:58

The Salt March – 1930 (#14)• Effects: (#14)

– Gandhi and 50,000 protester were arrested– British violence against protesters– Britain responded with violence to the

satyagraha protests– Worldwide interest and debate especially in

Great Britain whether to hold on to India

Amritsar MassacreAmritsar Massacre

GANDHI RAPS

#3

Salt March

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August 1942 Gandhi demands independence for India (#15)

Gandhi Jailed (#16)

• Jailed for his announcement of the Quit India Movement and the “Do or Die” mantra (#16)

• At age 73

• Issues b/c of leadership arrests

‘Do or Die’ Speech

• Starts the Quit India Movement – August 8, 1942• I am not going to be satisfied with anything short of

complete freedom. May be, he will propose the abolition of salt tax, the drink evil, etc. But I will say, “Nothing less than freedom.”

Here is a mantra, a short one, that I give you. You may imprint it on your hearts and let every breath of yours give expression to it. The mantra is : ‘Do or Die’. We shall either free India or die in the attempt; we shall not live to see the perpetuation of our slavery. Every true Congressman or woman will join the struggle with an inflexible determination not to remain alive to see the country in bondage and slavery.

WWII – Quit India (#17)

• Gandhi leads non-support efforts in India during World War II– Massive civil disobedience campaign and riots– India would support Britain if they were granted

immediate independence, Britain refused– Mass arrests on Indians

• The Quit India campaign was effectively crushed with thousands of arrests & suppression of civil rights

WWII – Quit India (#17)

• Importance of the Quit India Movement :– British government astonished by observing the

powerful nationalistic feelings of the Indians added with anti-British feeling

– convinced the British Government that their days were numbered in India and they had to free the country – anti-British feeling too much

– The Quit India Movement quickened the process of freedom. (#17)

• India gains independence August 15, 1947 (#18)

GANDHI RAPS

#4

Quit India Movement

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Gandhi & Hindu/Muslim Conflict• Brought by the prospect of independence (#18)• Deep differences led to conflict - historical

conflict• some cooperation at first• division between INC and Muslim League • Gandhi hoped the two could live peacefully

together, with independence• Muslims fears

– the Hindu Nationalists would not grant them rights– Muslim feared being a minority in a Hindu nation

=own nation

• the Muslim League, led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, demands for a separate Muslim nation (#18)

Two Nations; disappointed Gandhi• August 15, 1947: Indian Independence

(#17) – Britain no longer had resources to rule– Indian Independence Act (1947)– Pakistan: August 14, 1947 – India: August 15, 1947

• (#21) Non-violent Revolution

• Lord Mountbatten was the last Viceroy of India.• Mountbatten was appointed Viceroy of India in

1947 and he oversaw the creation of the independent states of India and Pakistan.

• Gandhi Clip 2:34:57- 2:36:54 and 2:39:24

GANDHI RAPS

#5

Independence of India

Yo Yo Yo

(East Pakistan)

JawaharlalJawaharlal NehruNehruJawaharlalJawaharlal NehruNehru Ally of Gandhi.Ally of Gandhi. 11stst Prime Minister Prime Minister

of India, of India, 1947-1964.1947-1964.

PakistanPakistanPakistanPakistan Led by Led by

Muhammad Ali JinnahMuhammad Ali Jinnah governor-general of a newly

formed Pakistan. Conflicts in Pakistan divides Conflicts in Pakistan divides

(1972)(1972) W. Pakistan = PakistanW. Pakistan = Pakistan E. Pakistan = E. Pakistan = BangladeshBangladesh

Two Nations; disappointed GandhiThe subcontinent was divided (partitioned)

into:– Muslim: Pakistan - to protect Muslin minority –

Muhammad Ali Jinnah – Hindu: India

• Gandhi refused to celebrate Indian independence b/c of the violence, Heartbroken (#18)

GANDHI RAPS

#6

Formation of Pakistan

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Hindu-Muslim Conflict

• At partition, Mutual violence during mass migration (#18)

• 500,000 died in the fighting between the two nations

• Gandhi: guilt b/c he failed to convert people to non-violence

• Gandhi’s Hunger strike to end the violence (#19)– successful

Gandhi Clip 2:42-2:44:32

GANDHI RAPS

#7

Hindu/Muslim Conflict

Yo Yo Yo

India after Gandhi• Gandhi assassinated about 1 year after

India’s independence (1948)

• shot by a Hindu extremist – Nathuram Godse (#20) on 30 January 1948

I took courage in both my hands and I did fire the shots at Gandhiji on 30th January 1948, on the prayer-grounds of Birla House.I do say that my shots were fired at the person whose policy and action had brought rack and ruin and destruction to millions of Hindus. There was no legal machinery by which such an offender could be brought to book and for this reason I fired those fatal shots.

Rama – Indian Word: God(#20)

• Some questions on last words

Raj Ghat - A National Memorial

The body of Mahatma Gandhi lying in state at Birla House, New Delhi, before the funeral cortege leaves for the burning ghats on the banks of the river Yamuna on 2 February 1948. Keystone/Getty Images

Funeral procession of Gandhi at New Delhi on 6 February 1948

The Governor General’s Bodyguard heading the procession on the 5.5 mile route through New Delhi to the funeral pyre during the funeral of Mahatma Gandhi on 4 February 1948. Keystone/Getty Images

The ashes of Mahatma Gandhi are collected at his funeral, held in Delhi and attended by several thousand people on 9 February 1948

• George C. Marshall, US Secretary of State– "Mahatma Gandhi had become the

spokesman for the conscience of all mankind. He was a man who made humility and simple truth more powerful than empires.

• Albert Einstein – "Generations to come will scarce believe that

such a man as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth."

GANDHI RAPS

#8

Assassination of Gandhi

Yo Yo Yo

Gandhi Clip Assassination 2:47 or VHS Assignations That Changed the World

India After Gandhi