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Mahatma Gandhi

Salt of the Earth

Long before the Salt Satyagraha was launched by Mahatma Gandhi from Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad on 12 March 1930, there were popular uprisings, hunger-strikes in jails, workers' strikes and public processions denouncing the ruthless colonial rule subjugating the country.

Apartheid Bond

Even Mahatma Gandhi, who had his own tryst with apartheid in South Africa and who sympathized with the Jews owing to the unprecedented pain and persecution they faced at the hands of Nazis, was able to nuance his views on the Israel-Palestine issue with the comment, ‘Palestine belongs to the Arabs in the same sense that England belongs to the English, and France to the French‘

A Man of God~II

To the British, a non-violent Pathan was unthinkable, a fraud that masked something cunning and darkly treacherous. In the most horrifying case, the British killed about 400 Khudai Khidmatgar members in Peshawar on 23 April 1930. The massacre at the Qissa Khawani Bazaar became a defining moment in the non-violent struggle to drive the British out of India

Throes of survival

There have already been at least four Prime Ministers, who do not belong to the dynasty, and they were equally successful. In the present chaotic and uncertain state of the Congress when several suggestions and solutions are being put forward by central as well as regional leaders, the party should opt for a leader outside the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.

Gandhi and China

The study or practise of Gandhi's principles is gradually increasing in China. During the first phase, it had become somewhat static due to the political ideology. In the second phase, it was driven by the rationalists and the academics. Later, it was a victim of political concepts. It appears that in the next era, the changes that took place in the liberal policies and the political outlook under the patronage of Mao ensured the acceleration of Gandhi's thoughts.Along with socio-economic development, Gandhi and his principles have helped the Chinese to deal with such issues as social discrimination, human rights, environmental protection,freedom of expression, corruption. The Mahatma's thoughts are very pertinent in contemporary China.