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요약 인도의 민족운동 지도자이자 인도 건국의 아버지이다. 남아프리카에서의 인종차별에 대한 투쟁으로 유명해졌다. 제1차 세계대전 이후 영국에 대해 반영·비협력 운동 등의 비폭력 저항을 전개하였다.

간디

출생과 집안

1869년 10월 2일 인도 서부 포르반다르(또는 수다마푸리 Sudamapuri)에서 태어났다. 간디의 집안은 상인계급(Bania Caste)에 속했고 식료품상이었다. 그의 할아버지 우탐찬드 간디(Uttamchand Gandhi)는 포르반다르에서 관리로 근무했다. 그는 아들 6명을 두었는데 그중 5번째 아들 카바 간디(Kaba Gandhi)가 마하트마 간디의 아버지이다. 카바 간디는 부인이 매번 사망하여 네번이나 결혼을 하게 되었다. 마지막 아내였던 푸틀리바이(Putlibai) 사이에서 딸 하나와 아들 셋을 두었는데 그중 막내가 마하트마 간디였다. 카바 간디가 라지코트의 관리로 봉직했기 때문에 그곳으로 이주하여 초급학교를 다녔다. 조혼 풍습에 따라 13세에 동갑인 카스투르바이(Kasturbai)와 결혼했다. 당시 결혼은 형, 삼촌과 동시에 치뤄진 합동결혼식 이었다. 16세에 아이를 낳았으나 4일만에 죽었고 그해 아버지도 치루염으로 사망하였다. 훗날 마하트마 간디는 그의 자서전에서 어린시절 결혼생활에 죄책감을 느꼈고 인도의 조혼풍습을 강도 높게 비판했다.

영국 유학

1887년 18세 때 아메다바드(Ahmedabad)에서 치뤄진 대학 자격시험에 합격하였다. 학비가 싼 사말다스(Samaldas)대학에 입학하였지만 수업 내용이 어려워 첫 학기만 다니고 그만두었다. 하지만 영국에서 법률을 공부하고 돌아오면 좋은 일자리와 수익이 보장된다는 권유에 영국 유학을 결심하게 된다. 집안에서는 종교에 반대되는 생활을 하게 될것이라고 반대를 하지만 간디는 종교에 위배되는 행동을 하지 않을 것이라는 맹세를 하고 9월 4일 뭄바이를 떠나 런던으로 향했다. 영국에 도착하여 채식과 관습의 차이로 어려움을 겪으면서 런던 법학원에서 법률을 공부하였다. 1891년 6월 10일 간디는 변호사 면허를 취득하였다. 11일에 고등법원에 등록하였고 12일 인도 귀국길에 올랐다. 간디는 당시 런던 시험에 통과하여 변호사의 자격을 취득하는 과정이 쉬웠고 그 시험조차 가치가 없다는 것을 누구나 알고 있었다고 자서전에 기록했다. 면허는 취득했지만 그것으로 어떻게 법정에 서고 직업으로서 밥을 먹고 살 수 있을지 의심과 걱정으로 가슴이 찢어지는 고통을 겪었다고 술회했다.

변호사 개업과 남아프리카 여행

귀국하여 뭄바이와 라지코트에서 변호사로 개업하였지만 변호사로서 자질이 부족하여 실패하였다. 1893년 소송사건을 의뢰받아 1년간의 계약으로 남(南)아프리카 연방의 더반으로 건너갔다. 이 남아프리카 여행은 간디의 생애에 커다란 전기를 가져왔다. 당시 남아프리카에는 약 7만 명의 인도 사람이 이주해 있었는데 백인에게 차별대우를 받고 있었다. 이에 그는 거기에 사는 인도사람의 지위와 인간적인 권리를 보호하고자 결심하고 남아프리카 연방 당국에 대한 인종차별 반대투쟁단체를 조직, 1914년까지 그 지도자로 활동하였다.

인종차별에 저항

그동안 진리를 구현하기 위한 실천을 하였으며, 이러한 기반 위에 아힘사(ahi涵 sā :살아 있는 모든 것의 불살생)를 중심으로 하는 간디주의를 형성하였다. 간디 자신이 전개한 인종차별, 압박에 대한 투쟁(사티아그라하:satyagraha) 및 자기실현을 위한 인격의 도야와 수양(修養)의 노력은 어느 것이나 훗날 간디가 인도에서 전개한 독립운동의 모형이 되었고, 또한 아슈라마(āś rama:修道場)를 중심으로 이루어진 인도인의 정신개조계획의 토대가 되었다. 남아프리카에서의 최초의 사티아그라하 투쟁은 1906년 아시아인 등록법을 제정한 트란스발주(州)에서 일어났다.

차별법에 대한 투쟁

이 투쟁은 그로부터 약 8년 동안 인두세(人頭稅)를 비롯한 여러 차별법에 반대하기 위하여 계속되었으며, 남아프리카의 여러 주로 퍼져나갔다. 특히 1913년에 44세가 된 간디가 선두에 서서 행진한 나탈주(州)에서 트란스발주까지의 '사티아그라하 행진'은 전세계의 이목을 집중시켰다. 간디를 비롯한 행진 참가자 4,000명은 남아프리카 당국에 체포되었으나, 악법을 반대하는 주장은 세계적 여론의 동정을 모아 당국을 굴복시켰다. 결국 아시아인 구제법이 제정되어 인도인에 대한 차별법은 모두 폐지되기에 이르렀으며, 이 투쟁으로 간디는 남아프리카의 간디에서 일약 세계의 간디가 되었다. 남아프리카에서 사명을 다한 간디는 1915년에 귀국하였는데, 정치운동에는 참여하지 않고 토지분쟁의 해결 등에 노력하였다.

인도에서 비폭력 저항

제1차 세계대전이 일어나자 처음에는 인도의 독립을 촉진하기 위하여 영국의 입장을 지지하였으나, 전쟁 후 영국의 배신과 1919년의 롤라트 법안(Rowlatt Act)과 같은 반란진압조령(條令)의 시행 때문에, 사티아그라하운동을 전개하기도 하였다. 이를 위하여 인도 여러 곳을 두루 순회하였고 수방(手紡:charkha)운동을 장려하였다. 1919년 인도국민회의파의 연차대회에서는 간디의 지도 하에 영국에 대한 비협력운동 방침이 채택, 납세거부·취업거부·상품불매 등을 통한 비폭력 저항을 실시하였다. 이듬해에 반영·비협력 운동이 선언되고 외국제 직물의 불매운동은 성공하였으나, 인도 각지에서 유혈사태가 일어나자, 1922년 간디의 호소로 운동은 잠시 중지되었다.

투옥과 석방

그 동안 간디는 투옥되었다가 풀려 나왔으며, 1924년부터 1년간 인도국민회의파의 의장으로 있으면서 수방운동으로써 인도인이 자력에 의한 농촌구제에 나설 것을 역설하면서 전국을 돌아다녔다. 1929년의 연차대회에서 국민회의파는 창립 이래 처음으로 완전독립을 선언하였고, 61세가 된 간디는 1930년 3월에 사티아그라하운동의 지지자들을 이끌고 소금세 신설 반대운동을 벌였다. 이로 인하여 그는 구금되었으며, 1931년 석방 후, 어윈 총독과 절충한 결과, 간디어윈 협정을 체결하여 반영(反英) 불복종운동을 중지하였다. 간디어윈협정에도 불구하고 다시 탄압정책을 쓰는 영국 당국에 항의하기 위한 불복종운동을 재개하여 투옥되었다가 1932년 석방되었다.

인도 독립투쟁과 종교분쟁

제2차 세계대전이 일어나자, 영국은 인도의 찬성을 얻지도 않고 인도를 전쟁에 투입하였다. 이 기회를 이용한 인도는 완전독립의 약속을 얻어 내려고 노력하였으나, 상반된 이해관계로 타결을 보지 못하고, 1942년의 봄베이대회에서 국민회의파는 영국세력의 즉시 철퇴를 요구하여 공전의 대규모 반영불복종운동에 돌입하였다. 이로 인해 간디는 73세의 노령으로 다시 체포되어 1년 9개월의 옥고를 치렀다. 전쟁 후에는 인도를 하나의 감옥으로 보고 전화(戰禍)와 굶주림으로 거칠어진 인심에 용기와 희망을 불어넣기 위하여 인도의 여러 곳을 순회하면서, 힌두 ·이슬람의 화해에 따른 인도통일의 필요성을 역설하였다. 그러나 영국이 주권을 넘겨줌에 있어서 인도의 대정당인 국민회의파와 전인도(全印度) 이슬람 연맹이 인도를 둘로 분할 독립할 것을 협정한 결과 오히려 격렬한 힌두 ·이슬람의 대립소동이 벌어졌다.

힌두교와 이슬람교의 융화 활동 전개와 사망

1947년 7월 인도가 이러한 분란 속에서 분할 독립했을 때, 간디의 나이는 78세였으나 고령에도 불구하고 소동이 가장 격화되어 있던 벵갈에서 힌두·이슬람의 융화를 위한 활동을 계속하였다. 이듬해인 1948년 1월, 이 활동의 행선지를 뉴델리로 연장, 뉴델리의 소요를 진압하는 데는 성공하였으나, 1월 30일 반(反)이슬람 극우파인 한 청년의 흉탄에 쓰러졌다. 1922년 12월, 인도의 문호 R.타고르의 방문을 받아 '마하트마(Mahatma:위대한 영혼)'라고 칭송한 시를 받고, 그 후로 마하트마 간디라고 불리게 되었는데, 그의 위대한 영혼은 인도민족에게 커다란 영향을 주었다.

평가

일반적으로 민족의 독립을 위해서는 폭력이 커다란 역할을 하였으나, 인도에 있어서는 간디의 사티아그라하 사상에 입각하여 평화적으로 추진되었다는 점이 특징이다. 간디의 주저 《인도의 자치(自治)》에서 집약적으로 표현되어 있는 반서구사상(反西歐思想)은 그의 단편적인 편모에 지나지 않는다. 그의 평화사상과 평화에 바친 업적은 실천면에서 볼 때 민주적 민족주의자라고 보는 편이 타당하며, 특히 비폭력·무저항주의는 인류의 역사에 길이 남을 업적으로 평가 받는다.

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인도의 민족운동 지도자이자 인도 건국의 아버지이다. 남아프리카에서의 인종차별에 대한 투쟁으로 유명해졌다. 제1차 세계대전 이후 영국에 대해 반영·비협력 운동 등의 비폭력 저항을 전개하였다. [출생과 집안] 1869년 10월 2일 인도 서부 포르반다르(또는 수다마푸리 Sudamapuri)에서 태어났다. 간디의 집안은 상인계급(Bania Caste)에 속했고 식료품상이었다. 그의 할아버지 우탐찬드 간디(Uttamchand Gandhi)는 포르반다르에서 관리로 근무했다.

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Revered the world over for his nonviolent philosophy of passive resistance, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was known to his many followers as Mahatma, or "the great-souled one." He began his activism as an Indian immigrant in South Africa in the early 1900s, and in the years following World War I became the leading figure in India's struggle to gain independence from Great Britain. Known for his ascetic lifestyle-he often dressed only in a loincloth and shawl-and devout Hindu faith, Gandhi was imprisoned several times during his pursuit of non-cooperation, and undertook a number of hunger strikes to protest the oppression of India's poorest classes, among other injustices. After Partition in 1947, he continued to work toward peace between Hindus and Muslims. Gandhi was shot to death in Delhi in January 1948 by a Hindu fundamentalist.

Early Life

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869, at Porbandar, in the present-day Indian state of Gujarat. His father was the dewan (chief minister) of Porbandar; his deeply religious mother was a devoted practitioner of Vaishnavism (worship of the Hindu god Vishnu), influenced by Jainism, an ascetic religion governed by tenets of self-discipline and nonviolence. At the age of 19, Mohandas left home to study law in London at the Inner Temple, one of the city's four law colleges. Upon returning to India in mid-1891, he set up a law practice in Bombay, but met with little success. He soon accepted a position with an Indian firm that sent him to its office in South Africa. Along with his wife, Kasturbai, and their children, Gandhi remained in South Africa for nearly 20 years.

Did you know? In the famous Salt March of April-May 1930, thousands of Indians followed Gandhi from Ahmadabad to the Arabian Sea. The march resulted in the arrest of nearly 60,000 people, including Gandhi himself.

Gandhi was appalled by the discrimination he experienced as an Indian immigrant in South Africa. When a European magistrate in Durban asked him to take off his turban, he refused and left the courtroom. On a train voyage to Pretoria, he was thrown out of a first-class railway compartment and beaten up by a white stagecoach driver after refusing to give up his seat for a European passenger. That train journey served as a turning point for Gandhi, and he soon began developing and teaching the concept of satyagraha ("truth and firmness"), or passive resistance, as a way of non-cooperation with authorities.

The Birth of Passive Resistance

In 1906, after the Transvaal government passed an ordinance regarding the registration of its Indian population, Gandhi led a campaign of civil disobedience that would last for the next eight years. During its final phase in 1913, hundreds of Indians living in South Africa, including women, went to jail, and thousands of striking Indian miners were imprisoned, flogged and even shot. Finally, under pressure from the British and Indian governments, the government of South Africa accepted a compromise negotiated by Gandhi and General Jan Christian Smuts, which included important concessions such as the recognition of Indian marriages and the abolition of the existing poll tax for Indians.

In July 1914, Gandhi left South Africa to return to India. He supported the British war effort in World War I but remained critical of colonial authorities for measures he felt were unjust. In 1919, Gandhi launched an organized campaign of passive resistance in response to Parliament's passage of the Rowlatt Acts, which gave colonial authorities emergency powers to suppress subversive activities. He backed off after violence broke out-including the massacre by British-led soldiers of some 400 Indians attending a meeting at Amritsar-but only temporarily, and by 1920 he was the most visible figure in the movement for Indian independence.

Leader of a Movement

As part of his nonviolent non-cooperation campaign for home rule, Gandhi stressed the importance of economic independence for India. He particularly advocated the manufacture of khaddar, or homespun cloth, in order to replace imported textiles from Britain. Gandhi's eloquence and embrace of an ascetic lifestyle based on prayer, fasting and meditation earned him the reverence of his followers, who called him Mahatma (Sanskrit for "the great-souled one"). Invested with all the authority of the Indian National Congress (INC or Congress Party), Gandhi turned the independence movement into a massive organization, leading boycotts of British manufacturers and institutions representing British influence in India, including legislatures and schools.

After sporadic violence broke out, Gandhi announced the end of the resistance movement, to the dismay of his followers. British authorities arrested Gandhi in March 1922 and tried him for sedition; he was sentenced to six years in prison but was released in 1924 after undergoing an operation for appendicitis. He refrained from active participation in politics for the next several years, but in 1930 launched a new civil disobedience campaign against the colonial government's tax on salt, which greatly affected Indian's poorest citizens.

A Divided Movement

In 1931, after British authorities made some concessions, Gandhi again called off the resistance movement and agreed to represent the Congress Party at the Round Table Conference in London. Meanwhile, some of his party colleagues-particularly Mohammed Ali Jinnah, a leading voice for India's Muslim minority-grew frustrated with Gandhi's methods, and what they saw as a lack of concrete gains. Arrested upon his return by a newly aggressive colonial government, Gandhi began a series of hunger strikes in protest of the treatment of India's so-called "untouchables" (the poorer classes), whom he renamed Harijans, or "children of God." The fasting caused an uproar among his followers and resulted in swift reforms by the Hindu community and the government.

In 1934, Gandhi announced his retirement from politics in, as well as his resignation from the Congress Party, in order to concentrate his efforts on working within rural communities. Drawn back into the political fray by the outbreak of World War II, Gandhi again took control of the INC, demanding a British withdrawal from India in return for Indian cooperation with the war effort. Instead, British forces imprisoned the entire Congress leadership, bringing Anglo-Indian relations to a new low point.

Partition and Death of Gandhi

After the Labor Party took power in Britain in 1947, negotiations over Indian home rule began between the British, the Congress Party and the Muslim League (now led by Jinnah). Later that year, Britain granted India its independence but split the country into two dominions: India and Pakistan. Gandhi strongly opposed Partition, but he agreed to it in hopes that after independence Hindus and Muslims could achieve peace internally. Amid the massive riots that followed Partition, Gandhi urged Hindus and Muslims to live peacefully together, and undertook a hunger strike until riots in Calcutta ceased.

In January 1948, Gandhi carried out yet another fast, this time to bring about peace in the city of Delhi. On January 30, 12 days after that fast ended, Gandhi was on his way to an evening prayer meeting in Delhi when he was shot to death by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu fanatic enraged by Mahatma's efforts to negotiate with Jinnah and other Muslims. The next day, roughly 1 million people followed the procession as Gandhi's body was carried in state through the streets of the city and cremated on the banks of the holy Jumna River.

PHOTO GALLERIES

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Revered the world over for his nonviolent philosophy of passive resistance, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was known to his many followers as Mahatma, or "the great-souled one." He began his activism as an Indian immigrant in South Africa in the early 1900s, and in the years following World War I became the leading figure in India's struggle to gain independence from Great Britain.

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The life of Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, more commonly known as 'Mahatma' (meaning 'Great Soul') was born in Porbandar, Gujarat, in North West India, on 2nd October 1869, into a Hindu Modh family. His father was the Chief Minister of Porbandar, and his mother's religious devotion meant that his upbringing was infused with the Jain pacifist teachings of mutual tolerance, non-injury to living beings and vegetarianism.
Born into a privileged caste, Gandhi was fortunate to receive a comprehensive education, but proved a mediocre student. In May 1883, aged 13, Gandhi was married to Kasturba Makhanji, a girl also aged 13, through the arrangement of their respective parents, as is customary in India. Following his entry into Samaldas College, at the University of Bombay, she bore him the first of four sons, in 1888. Gandhi was unhappy at college, following his parent's wishes to take the bar, and when he was offered the opportunity of furthering his studies overseas, at University College London, aged 18, he accepted with alacrity, starting there in September 1888.

Gandhi in South Africa

Determined to adhere to Hindu principles, which included vegetarianism as well as alcohol and chastity he found London restrictive initially, but once he had found kindred spirits he flourished, and pursued the philosophical study of religions, including Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism and others, having professed no particular interest in religion up until then. Following admission to the English Bar, and his return to India, he found work difficult to come by and, in 1893, accepted a year's contract to work for an Indian firm in Natal, South Africa.

Although not yet enshrined in law, the system of ' apartheid' was very much in evidence in South Africa at the turn of the 20th century. Despite arriving on a year's contract, Gandhi spent the next 21 years living in South Africa, and railed against the injustice of racial segregation. On one occasion he was thrown from a first class train carriage, despite being in possession of a valid ticket. Witnessing the racial bias experienced by his countrymen served as a catalyst for his later activism, and he attempted to fight segregation at all levels. He founded a political movement, known as the Natal Indian Congress, and developed his theoretical belief in peaceful civil protest into a tangible political stance, when he opposed the introduction of registration for all Indians, within South Africa, via non-cooperation with the relevant civic authorities.

Peaceful disobedience

On his return to India in 1916, Gandhi developed his practice of peaceful civic disobedience still further, raising awareness of oppressive practices in Bihar, in 1918, which saw the local populace oppressed by their largely British masters. He also encouraged oppressed villagers to improve their own circumstances, leading peaceful strikes and protests. His fame spread, and he became widely referred to as 'Mahatma' or 'Great Soul'.

Growing fame

As his fame spread, so his political influence increased: by 1921 he was leading the Indian National Congress, and reorganising the party's constitution around the principle of 'Swaraj', or complete political independence from the British. He also instigated a boycott of British goods and institutions, and his encouragement of mass civil disobedience led to his arrest, on 10th March 1922, and trial on sedition charges, for which he served 2 years, of a 6-year prison sentence.

The Indian National Congress began to splinter during his incarceration, and he remained largely out of the public eye following his release from prison in February 1924, returning four years later, in 1928, to campaign for the granting of 'dominion status' to India by the British. When the British introduced a tax on salt in 1930, he famously led a 250-mile march to the sea to collect his own salt. Recognising his political influence nationally, the British authorities were forced to negotiate various settlements with Gandhi over the following years, which resulted in the alleviation of poverty, granted status to the 'untouchables', enshrined rights for women, and led inexorably to Gandhi's goal of 'Swaraj': political independence from Britain.

Assassination attempts

In total Gandhi suffered six known attempts on his life. The first attempt came on 25th June 1934, when he was in Pune delivering a speech, together with his wife, Kasturba. Travelling in a motorcade of two cars, they were in the second car, which was delayed by the appearance of a train at a railway level crossing, causing the two vehicles to separate. When the first vehicle arrived at the speech venue, a bomb was thrown at the car, which exploded and injured several people. No investigations were carried out at the time, and no arrests were made, although many attribute the attack to Nathuram Godse, a Hindu fundamentalist implacably opposed to Gandhi's peaceful acceptance and tolerance of all religions, which he felt compromised the supremacy of the Hindu religion. Godse was the person responsible for the final successful attemp t in January 1948, 14 years later.

Arrest

During the first years of the Second World War, Gandhi's mission to achieve independence from Britain reached its zenith: he saw no reason why Indians should sacrifice their lives for British sovereignty, in other parts of the world, when they were subjugated at home. This period saw the worst instances of civil uprising under his direction, through his 'Quit India' movement. As a result, he was arrested on 9th August 1942, and held for two years at the Aga Khan Palace in Pune. In February 1944, 3 months before his release, his wife Kasturbai passed away in the same prison.

May 1944, the time of his release from prison, saw the second attempt made on his life, this time certainly led by Nathuram Godse, although the attempt was fairly half-hearted. When word reached Godse that Gandhi was staying in a hill station near Pune, recovering from his prison ordeal, he organised a group of like-minded individuals who descended on the area, and mounted a vocal anti-Gandhi protest. When invited to speak to Gandhi, Godse declined, but he attended a prayer meeting later that day, where he rushed towards Gandhi, brandishing a dagger and shouting anti-Gandhi slogans. He was overpowered swiftly by fellow worshippers, and came nowhere near achieving his goal. Godse was not prosecuted at the time.

Four months later, in September 1944, Godse led a group of Hindu activist demonstrators who accosted Gandhi at a train station, on his return from political talks. Godse was again found to be in possession of a dagger that, although not drawn, was assumed to be the means by which he would again seek to attack Gandhi. It was officially regarded as the third attempt, by the commission set up to investigate Gandhi's death in 1948.

The partition of India

The British plan to partition what had been British-ruled India, into Muslim Pakistan and Hindu India, was vehemently opposed by Gandhi, who foresaw the problems that would result from the split. Nevertheless, the Congress Party ignored his concerns, and accepted the partition proposals put forward by the British.

The fourth attempt on Gandhi's life took the form of a planned train derailment. On 29th June 1946, a train called the 'Gandhi Special', carrying him and his entourage, was derailed near Bombay, by means of boulders, which had been piled up on the tracks. Since the train was the only one scheduled at that time, it seems likely that the intended target of derailment was Gandhi himself. He was not injured in the accident. At a prayer meeting after the event Gandhi is quoted as saying:

"I have not hurt anybody nor do I consider anybody to be my enemy, I can't understand why there are so many attempts on my life. Yesterday's attempt on my life has failed. I will not die just yet; I aim to live till the age of 125."

Sadly, he had only eighteen months to live.

Placed under increasing pressure, by his political contemporaries, to accept Partition as the only way to avoid civil war in India, Gandhi reluctantly concurred with its political necessity, and India celebrated its Independence Day on 15th August 1947. Keenly recognising the need for political unity, Gandhi spent the next few months working tirelessly for Hindu-Muslim peace, fearing the build-up of animosity between the two fledgling states, showing remarkable prescience, given the turbulence of their relationship over the following half-century.

Unfortunately, his efforts to unite the opposing forces proved his undoing. He championed the paying of restitution to Pakistan for lost territories, as outlined in the Partition agreement, which parties in India, fearing that Pakistan would use the payment as a means to build a war arsenal, had opposed. He began a fast in support of the payment, which Hindu radicals, Nathuram Godse among them, viewed as traitorous. When the political effect of his fast secured the payment to Pakistan, it secured with it the fifth attempt on his life.

The assassination of Gandhi

On 20th January a gang of seven Hindu radicals, which included Nathuram Godse, gained access to Birla House, in Delhi, a venue at which Gandhi was due to give an address. One of the men, Madanla Pahwa, managed to gain access to the speaker's podium, and planted a bomb, encased in a cotton ball, on the wall behind the podium. The plan was to explode the bomb during the speech, causing pandemonium, which would give two other gang members, Digambar Bagde and Shankar Kishtaiyya, an opportunity to shoot Gandhi, and escape in the ensuing chaos. The bomb exploded prematurely, before the conference was underway, and Madanla Pahwa was captured, while the others, including Godse, managed to escape.

Pahwa admitted the plot under interrogation, but Delhi police were unable to confirm the participation and whereabouts of Godse, although they did try to ascertain his whereabouts through the Bombay police.

After the failed attempt at Birla House, Nathuram Godse and another of the seven, Narayan Apte, returned to Pune, via Bombay, where they purchased a Beretta automatic pistol, before returning once more to Delhi.

On 30th January 1948, whilst Gandhi was on his way to a prayer meeting at Birla House in Delhi, Nathuram Godse managed to get close enough to him in the crowd to be able to shoot him three times in the chest, at point-blank range. Gandhi's dying words were claimed to be "Hé Rām", which translates as "Oh God", although some witnesses claim he spoke no words at all.

Gandhi's death

When news of Gandhi's death reached the various strongholds of Hindu radicalism, in Pune and other areas throughout India, there was reputedly celebration in the streets. Sweets were distributed publicly, as at a festival. The rest of the world was horrified by the death of a man nominated five times for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Godse, who had made no attempt to flee following the shooting, and his co-conspirator, Narayan Apte, were both imprisoned until their trial on 8th November 1949. They were convicted of Gandhi's killing, and both were executed, a week later, at Ambala Jail, on 15th November 1949. The supposed architect of the plot, a Hindu extremist named Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, was acquitted due to lack of evidence.

Gandhi's legacy

Gandhi was cremated as per Hindu custom, and his ashes are interred at the Aga Khan's palace in Pune, the site of his incarceration in 1942, and the place his wife had also died.

Gandhi's memorial bears the epigraph "Hé Rām" ("Oh God") although there is no conclusive proof that he uttered these words before death.

Although Gandhi was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize five times, he never received it. In the year of his death, 1948, the Prize was not awarded, the stated reason being that "there was no suitable living candidate" that year.

Gandhi's life and teachings have inspired many liberationists of the 20th Century, including Dr. Martin Luther King in the United States, Nelson Mandela and Steve Biko in South Africa, and Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar.

His birthday, 2nd October, is celebrated as a National Holiday in India every year.

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Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, more commonly known as 'Mahatma' (meaning 'Great Soul') was born in Porbandar, Gujarat, in North West India, on 2nd October 1869, into a Hindu Modh family. His father was the Chief Minister of Porbandar, and his mother's religious devotion meant that his upbringing was infused with the Jain pacifist teachings of mutual tolerance, non-injury to living beings and vegetarianism.