India celebrates the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi every year on 2 October as Gandhi Jayanti. Widely revered as the ‘Father of the Nation’, he helped India gain independence from British rule in August 1947. Gandhi, fondly called Bapu, was born in Porbandar, Gujarat in 1869. His principle of nonviolence has inspired many leaders around the world. Even today the Mahatma remains a beloved figure in India and around the world. How has Mahatma Gandhi influenced world leaders?
martin luther king jr
American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was inspired by Gandhi’s teachings of nonviolence. According to his writings, the Indian freedom fighter was a “guiding light” for him. According to reports, King first encountered Gandhi’s idea of nonviolence while he was studying to become a Christian priest. Recognizing the “Gandhian method of nonviolence,” King understood that nonviolence could be a powerful weapon in the “struggle for freedom.” He was already aware of Gandhi’s non-violent non-cooperation philosophy of Satyagraha (force of truth). In the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955–1956, King and others boycotted buses in Montgomery, Alabama, due to the segregation of African Americans. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled segregation unconstitutional in 1956.
Addressing a crowd after the verdict in New York City, King reportedly said, “Jesus Christ showed us the way, and Gandhi in India showed it could work.” Although the two never met, King learned more about Gandhi during his months-long stay in India in 1959. In a radio address at the time, the American leader said, “The spirit of Gandhi is stronger today than some people realize”. In 2009, the US House of Representatives passed a resolution recognizing Gandhi’s influence on King. It states, “The visit to India deeply influenced Dr. King, and he continued to use nonviolence as a means of social change to end segregation and racial discrimination in America throughout the rest of his work during the Civil Rights Movement. Motivated them to use.”
nelson mandela
South African revolutionary Nelson Mandela also took inspiration from Gandhi’s idea of nonviolence. The former president, who stood up against apartheid in his country, is known as the “Gandhi of South Africa”. Gandhi, who spent 21 years in South Africa, left the country in 1914, four years before Mandela was born. Mandela and the African National Congress opposed much of the violence in the fight against apartheid.
However, according to The Hindu, Mandela was “in favor of a more active, militant protest style […] – Believed in actions that punish those in power.” Mandela once said, “I called for non-violent protest as long as it was effective.” In 1990, India awarded Mandela the country’s highest civilian honour, the India Awarded the International Gandhi Peace Prize in 2001 for his efforts to establish peace through Gandhi’s principles. Mandela said at the inauguration of the Gandhi Memorial in South Africa in 1993: He is most respected for his commitment to non-violence and the Congress movement was highly influenced by this Gandhian philosophy.”
The Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama, in his speech for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, said that Gandhi’s life “taught and inspired” him. In a discourse on ‘Ancient Wisdom, Modern Thought’ at the University of Mumbai in 2011, the Tibetan spiritual leader reportedly said, “Many international personalities are inspired by the principles of non-violence and harmony of Mahatma Gandhi, who was born in India. He has understood the values of India.” “Non-violence and religious harmony are the two treasures of India. I think people should learn religious harmony and non-violence from India. The country is a role model for others for non-violence and religious harmony,” he said.
Barack Obama
Former US President Barack Obama is among the world leaders who were inspired by Gandhi’s principles of non-violence. Obama has said that he was inspired by the Indian leader’s principle of “Be the change you want to see in the world”. Addressing the Indian Parliament in 2010, Obama said, “I am deeply impressed by a man from your country whose message of love and justice shows us the way forward. The way he (Gandhi) told Indians to take control of their destiny.” In the same way he influenced champions of equality in my own country, including Martin Luther King, Jr., Dr. King saw Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolence and resistance as the only logical and moral approach in the struggle for justice and progress. ” In his book A Promised Land, the 44th US President wrote that his attraction to India was primarily linked to Gandhi, whose “successful non-violent campaign against British rule became a beacon for other disenfranchised, marginalized groups”. .
“However, more than anything else, my attraction to India was linked to Mahatma Gandhi. Along with (Abraham) Lincoln, (Martin Luther) King and (Nelson) Mandela, Gandhi deeply influenced my thinking,” he wrote. Obama said of the Mahatma, “His concept of Satyagraha or devotion to truth and the power of non-violent resistance to stir the conscience; His emphasis on our common humanity and the essential unity of all religions; And his belief in the responsibility of every society, through its political, economic and social systems, to recognize the equal worth and dignity of all people – each of these ideas resonated with me.”
