Okla-homey
6/7/2007, 06:01 AM
June 7, 1893: Gandhi's first act of civil disobedience
http://img192.echo.cx/img192/1548/gandhibig3kh.jpg
On this day 104 years ago, in an event that would have dramatic repercussions for the people of India, Mohandas K. Gandhi, a young Indian lawyer working in South Africa, refuses to comply with racial segregation rules on a South African train, insists on being seated in a "whites only" first-class car and is forcibly ejected at Pietermaritzburg.
http://img182.echo.cx/img182/6428/gandhi2149ph.jpg
A Young M. K. Gandhi
Born in India and educated in England, Gandhi traveled to South Africa in early 1893 to practice law under a one-year contract. Settling in Natal, he was subjected to racism and South African laws that restricted the rights of Indian laborers. Gandhi later recalled one such incident, in which he was removed from a first-class railway compartment and thrown off a train, as his moment of truth. From thereon, he decided to fight injustice and defend his rights as an Indian and a man.
http://img182.echo.cx/img182/9264/215885mm.jpg
When his contract expired, he spontaneously decided to remain in South Africa and launch a campaign against legislation that would deprive Indians of the right to vote. He formed the Natal Indian Congress and drew international attention to the plight of Indians in South Africa.
In 1906, the Transvaal government sought to further restrict the rights of Indians, and Gandhi organized his first campaign of satyagraha, or mass civil disobedience. After seven years of protest, he negotiated a compromise agreement with the South African government.
http://img182.echo.cx/img182/3041/0303africagandhisquare6qs.jpg
Gandhi Square in modern Johannesburg, South Africa
In 1914, Gandhi returned to India and lived a life of abstinence and spirituality on the periphery of Indian politics. He supported Britain in the First World War but in 1919 launched a new satyagraha in protest of Britain's military draft of Indians. Hundreds of thousands answered his call to protest, and by 1920 he was leader of the Indian movement for independence.
http://img182.echo.cx/img182/1029/snapshots16km.jpg
Always nonviolent, he asserted the unity of all people under one God and preached Christian and Muslim ethics along with his Hindu teachings. The British authorities jailed him several times, but his following was so great that he was always released.
http://aycu30.webshots.com/image/16309/2001019925420549022_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001019925420549022)
I think it would be a good idea. -- Mahatma Gandhi, when asked what he thought of Western civilization
After World War II, he was a leading figure in the negotiations that led to Indian independence in 1947. Although hailing the granting of Indian independence as the "noblest act of the British nation," he was distressed by the religious partition of the former Mogul Empire into India and Pakistan.
http://img182.echo.cx/img182/4962/gandhi9iu.jpg
When violence broke out between Hindus and Muslims in India in 1947, he resorted to fasts and visits to the troubled areas in an effort to end India's religious strife. On January 30, 1948, he was on one such prayer vigil in New Delhi when he was fatally shot by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu extremist who objected to Gandhi's tolerance for the Muslims.
http://img192.echo.cx/img192/4594/funeral8do.jpg
Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist and Christian Indians throng to pay respects to the assasinated leader at his February 1948 funeral ceremony.
Known as Mahatma, or "the great soul," during his lifetime, Gandhi's persuasive methods of civil disobedience influenced leaders of civil rights movements around the world, especially Martin Luther King, Jr., in the United States.
In fact, the historic 1956 Montgomery Alabama Bus Boycott led by King and begun when Rosa Parks sat in the whites only section of a Montgomery city bus was directly inspired by Gandhi's example and teachings.
http://img192.echo.cx/img192/5309/gandhi13kc.jpg
http://img182.echo.cx/img182/1641/gandhifilm4fl.jpg
One of the 20th centuries finest and most important films. Ben Kingsley as Gandhi won the Academy Award for Best Actor. The 1982 film has held up extremely well and I encourage you all to see it on DVD.
http://img142.echo.cx/img142/2623/insane7zo.jpg
http://img192.echo.cx/img192/1548/gandhibig3kh.jpg
On this day 104 years ago, in an event that would have dramatic repercussions for the people of India, Mohandas K. Gandhi, a young Indian lawyer working in South Africa, refuses to comply with racial segregation rules on a South African train, insists on being seated in a "whites only" first-class car and is forcibly ejected at Pietermaritzburg.
http://img182.echo.cx/img182/6428/gandhi2149ph.jpg
A Young M. K. Gandhi
Born in India and educated in England, Gandhi traveled to South Africa in early 1893 to practice law under a one-year contract. Settling in Natal, he was subjected to racism and South African laws that restricted the rights of Indian laborers. Gandhi later recalled one such incident, in which he was removed from a first-class railway compartment and thrown off a train, as his moment of truth. From thereon, he decided to fight injustice and defend his rights as an Indian and a man.
http://img182.echo.cx/img182/9264/215885mm.jpg
When his contract expired, he spontaneously decided to remain in South Africa and launch a campaign against legislation that would deprive Indians of the right to vote. He formed the Natal Indian Congress and drew international attention to the plight of Indians in South Africa.
In 1906, the Transvaal government sought to further restrict the rights of Indians, and Gandhi organized his first campaign of satyagraha, or mass civil disobedience. After seven years of protest, he negotiated a compromise agreement with the South African government.
http://img182.echo.cx/img182/3041/0303africagandhisquare6qs.jpg
Gandhi Square in modern Johannesburg, South Africa
In 1914, Gandhi returned to India and lived a life of abstinence and spirituality on the periphery of Indian politics. He supported Britain in the First World War but in 1919 launched a new satyagraha in protest of Britain's military draft of Indians. Hundreds of thousands answered his call to protest, and by 1920 he was leader of the Indian movement for independence.
http://img182.echo.cx/img182/1029/snapshots16km.jpg
Always nonviolent, he asserted the unity of all people under one God and preached Christian and Muslim ethics along with his Hindu teachings. The British authorities jailed him several times, but his following was so great that he was always released.
http://aycu30.webshots.com/image/16309/2001019925420549022_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001019925420549022)
I think it would be a good idea. -- Mahatma Gandhi, when asked what he thought of Western civilization
After World War II, he was a leading figure in the negotiations that led to Indian independence in 1947. Although hailing the granting of Indian independence as the "noblest act of the British nation," he was distressed by the religious partition of the former Mogul Empire into India and Pakistan.
http://img182.echo.cx/img182/4962/gandhi9iu.jpg
When violence broke out between Hindus and Muslims in India in 1947, he resorted to fasts and visits to the troubled areas in an effort to end India's religious strife. On January 30, 1948, he was on one such prayer vigil in New Delhi when he was fatally shot by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu extremist who objected to Gandhi's tolerance for the Muslims.
http://img192.echo.cx/img192/4594/funeral8do.jpg
Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist and Christian Indians throng to pay respects to the assasinated leader at his February 1948 funeral ceremony.
Known as Mahatma, or "the great soul," during his lifetime, Gandhi's persuasive methods of civil disobedience influenced leaders of civil rights movements around the world, especially Martin Luther King, Jr., in the United States.
In fact, the historic 1956 Montgomery Alabama Bus Boycott led by King and begun when Rosa Parks sat in the whites only section of a Montgomery city bus was directly inspired by Gandhi's example and teachings.
http://img192.echo.cx/img192/5309/gandhi13kc.jpg
http://img182.echo.cx/img182/1641/gandhifilm4fl.jpg
One of the 20th centuries finest and most important films. Ben Kingsley as Gandhi won the Academy Award for Best Actor. The 1982 film has held up extremely well and I encourage you all to see it on DVD.
http://img142.echo.cx/img142/2623/insane7zo.jpg