United Nations in 2007 decided to observe Gandhi’s birthday, October 2, as International Day of Non-violence

The birth anniversery of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi, October 2, is observerd as the International Day of Non-Violence. It was established on 15 June 2007 according to United Nations General Assembly resolution. The day is an occasion to “disseminate the message of non-violence through education and public awareness and reaffirm the desire for a culture of peace, tolerance, understanding and non-violence”. It is not a public holiday, but is observed around the world in various ways, often to draw attention to global issues. Its date and purpose correspond with those of the Indian national public holiday of Gandhi Jayanti.
Biography
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in Porbandar, India. He became one of the most respected spiritual and political leaders of the 1900’s. Gandhi helped free the Indian people from British rule through nonviolent resistance, and is honoured by Indians as the father of the Indian Nation. He was highly influenced by Thoreau, Tolstoy, Ruskin, and above all the life of Jesus Christ. The Bible, precisely the Sermon of the Mount and the Bagavad -Gita had a great influence on him. The Indian people called Gandhi ‘Mahatma’, meaning Great Soul. At the age of 13 Gandhi married Kasturba, a girl the same age. Their parents arranged the marriage. The Gandhis had four children. Gandhi studied law in London and returned to India in 1891 to practice. In 1893 he took on a one-year contract to do legal work in South Africa.
At the time the British controlled South Africa (though South Africa as such did not exist at that time, and the British did not control all of it by any means. In fact the Boer War (1898-1900) established the supremacy of the British over the Dutch (Boers) and eventually led to the Union of South Africa. Gandhi served as a medical attendant in this war.). When he attempted to claim his rights as a British subject he was abused, and soon saw that all Indians suffered similar treatment. Gandhi stayed in South Africa for 21 years working to secure rights for Indian people. He developed a method of action based upon the principles of courage, non-violence and truth called Satyagraha. He believed that the way people behave is more important than what they achieve. Satyagraha promoted nonviolence and civil disobedience as the most appropriate methods for obtaining political and social goals. In 1915 Gandhi returned to India. Within 15 years he became the leader of the Indian nationalist movement. Using the principles of Satyagraha he led the campaign for Indian independence from Britain. Gandhi was arrested many times by the British for his activities in South Africa and India. He believed it was honourable to go to jail for a just cause. More than once Gandhi used fasting to impress upon others the need to be nonviolent. India was granted independence in 1947, and partitioned into India and Pakistan. Rioting between Hindus and Muslims followed. Gandhi had been an advocate for a united India where Hindus and Muslims lived together in peace.
There are five great contributions which Mahatma Gandhi gave to the world as follows: (1)A New spirit and technique- Satyagraha; (2) The Emphasis that the moral universe is one and that the morals of individuals, groups, and nations must be the same. (3)His insistence that the means and the ends must be consistent; (4) The fact that he held no ideals he did not embody or was not in the process of embodying. (5) A willingness to suffer and die for his principles. The greatest of these is his Satyagraha.
Gandhi, Truth and Ahimsa
“My religion is based on Truth and Non-Violence. Truth is my God. Non-Violence is the means of realising him”
– Mahatama Gandhi
The idea of Truth is the principle on which Mahatma laid the thrust of the methodology he referred to as “Satyagraha”, where he emphasised the need to search for Truth. For Gandhi, nothing exists in reality but the Truth. Devotion to what is true is the only justification for a person’s existence. The general understanding of Truth only indicates that one must speak the Truth. However, the word Satya/Truth has a broader connotation for Mahatma. The Truth has to be observed not only in one’s speech but also in thought and action.
Mahatma’s idea of Satyagraha, where ‘Satya’ means Truth and ‘agraha’ translates to insistence, implies following the path of Truth. It is the demonstration of the Truth that does not seek vengeance but appeals to the oppressor’s conscience to see what is true. Satyagraha is resistance, but it cannot be equated to passiveness. It is not the weapon of the weak. It is a power that only the strong have, as it demands intense activity. It neither implies any hatred nor destruction. It recognises the difference between evil and evil-doers. This is a significant distinction Satyagraha recognises. It understands that the oppressor is not the enemy but only away from the Truth and can be convinced (not forced) to know the Truth.
Gandhi and Ahimsa
The word Ahimsa is loosely translated to Non-Violence. Ahimsa means “lacking any desire to kill”. It means to be harmless to oneself, others, and all living beings. But that is only a limited definition of what he meant by Ahimsa or Non-Violence. Gandhi gained an understanding of Hinduism and Jainism in his childhood, and perhaps, that was the significant influence that allowed him to advocate for Ahimsa. His belief in non-violence was demonstrated when he decided to call off the Non-Cooperation Movement at its height after a peaceful demonstration turned into a violent conflict at Chauri Chaura in Gorakhpur.
For him, there was no space for violence. He advocated Ahimsa (Non-Violence) in his idea of Satyagraha, a method used for mass mobilisation. While the Truth was the foundation of his philosophy, Ahimsa was the guiding law that should be followed by each Satyagrahi.
Ahimsa has two different connotations. In the narrow sense, it means not harming the other or oneself by body or mind. In the positive and broader sense, it denotes infinite love and charity.
He says,
“..in its negative form, [Ahimsa] means not injuring any living being whether by body or mind. I may not, therefore, hurt the person of any wrong-doer or bear any ill-will to him and so cause him mental suffering. In its positive form, Ahimsa means the largest love, the greatest charity. If I am a follower of Ahimsa, I must love my enemy or a stranger to me as I would my wrong-doing father or son. This active Ahimsa necessarily included Truth and fearlessness.”

How Gandhi shaped our Independence
Mahatma Gandhi was the leader who guided India towards Independence. India was under the British rule for over 250 years. Gandhi returned to India from South Africa in 1915 at the request of Gopal Krishna Gokhale.
Gandhi’s contribution to the Indian freedom movement cannot be measured in words. He, along with other freedom fighters, compelled the British to leave India. His policies and agendas were non-violent and his words were the source of inspiration for millions.
Let’s look at Mahatma Gandhi’s famous contributions to Indian freedom movement:
1. World War I
Lord Chelmsford, the then Viceroy of India, invited Gandhi to Delhi at a War Conference. In order to gain the trust of the empire, Gandhi agreed to move people to enlist in the army for World War I. However, he wrote to the Viceroy and said that he “personally will not kill or injure anybody, friend or foe”.
2. Champaran
The Champaran agitation in Bihar was Gandhi’s first active involvement into Indian freedom politics. The Champaran farmers were being forced to grow Indigo and were being tortured if they protested.
The farmers sought Gandhi’s help and through a calculated non-violent protest, Gandhi managed to win concessions from the authority.
3. Kheda
When Kheda, a village in Gujarat, was badly hit by floods, the local farmers appealed to the rulers to waive off the taxes. Here, Gandhi started a signature campaign where peasants pledged non-payment of taxes.
He also arranged a social boycott of the mamlatdars and talatdars (revenue officials). In 1918, the Government relaxed the conditions of payment of revenue tax until the famine ended.
4. Khilafat Movement
Gandhi’s influence on the Muslim population was remarkable. This was evident in his involvement in the Khilafat Movement. After the first World War, the Muslims feared for the safety of their Caliph or religious leader and a worldwide protest was being organised to fight against the collapsing status of the Caliph.
Gandhi became a prominent spokesperson of the All India Muslim Conference and returned the medals he had received from the Empire during his Indian Ambulance Corps days in South Africa. His role in the Khilafat made him a national leader in no time.
5. Non-cooperation Movement
Gandhi had realised that the British had been able to be in India only because of the co-operation they received from the Indians. Keeping this in mind, he called for a non-cooperation movement.
With the Congress’ support and his indomitable spirit, he convinced people that peaceful non-cooperation was the key to Independence. The ominous day of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre triggered the non-cooperation movement. Gandhi set the goal of Swaraj or self-governance, which since then became the motto of Indian freedom movement.
6. Salt March
Also known as the Dandi Movement, Gandhi’s Salt March is considered to be a pivotal incident in the history of freedom struggle. At the Calcutta Congress of 1928, Gandhi declared that the British must grant India dominion status or the country will erupt into a revolution for complete independence. The British did not pay heed to this.
As a result, on December 31, 1929, the Indian flag was unfurled in Lahore and the next January 26 was celebrated as the Indian Independence Day. Then, Gandhi started a Satyagraha campaign against the salt tax in March 1930. He marched 388 kilometres from Ahmedabad to Dandi in Gujarat to make salt. Thousands of people joined him and made it one of the biggest marches in Indian history.
7. Quit India Movement
During the Second World War, Gandhi was determined to strike the British Empire with a definitive blow that would secure their exit from India. This happened when the British started recruiting Indians for the war.
Gandhi protested strongly and said that the Indians cannot be involved in a war that is in favour of democratic purposes when India itself is not a free country. This argument exposed the two-faced image of the colonisers and within half a decade, they were out of this country.
How the Mahatma influenced and inspired people in other countries
Regarded by many as the greatest leader of the Indian independence movement, Gandhi’s legacy and teachings continue to have a huge global influence even seven decades after his death.
Despite the moniker affectionately bestowed upon him by Indians, the truth is that Gandhi, as a person and a symbol, belongs to the whole of humanity. As Dr Martin Luther King Jr himself put it, ‘If humanity is to progress, Gandhi is inescapable. He lived, thought, and acted, inspired by the vision of humanity evolving toward a world of peace and harmony. We may ignore him at our own risk.’
The quote is particularly telling in that it speaks of a man who strived to live a life tethered to a carefully crafted value system that has come to be admired by so many of history’s most important leaders.
When Gandhi first returned to India in 1915 from South Africa, he found himself aghast at the poverty and exploitation that his fellow countrymen were subject to. The next few years and decades would see him discover and hone unprecedented ways to unify a populace, challenge an imperialist authority, and ultimately spark a grand revolution. Through a political movement premised on non-violent civil disobedience, better known as ‘Satyagraha,’ the Mahatma would show the world the transformational impact that persistence, conviction, honesty, and truth could have.
Himself inspired by greats like Russian author Leo Tolstoy, English art critic John Ruskin, and American writer Henry David Thoreau, Gandhi forged an ideology on social harmony, inclusion and simplicity that instantly resonated with those who came to dedicate their lives to social service. From Martin Luther King Jr to Nelson Mandela to Ho Chi Minh and even the Dalai Lama, nearly every great leader has sought to learn and borrow from a rare man who strived to live his life by the same principles he preached.
But Gandhi was more than just a symbol of beneficence. His intellectual astuteness coupled with a unique sensitivity to the Indian masses allowed him to foresee challenges that many others couldn’t. For instance, he understood the problems that would arrive with the onset of modernisation and laid them bare in his work Hind Swaraj, published in 1909. He consistently spoke of the importance of making India a self-reliant nation in the face of rapid industrialisation, warning against the destruction of the environment and the death of the local economy. ‘The world has enough for everyone’s need, but not greed,” he once said.