Speaker

General aspects

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born in 1869 in a Hindu family in Gujarat, India. He left for London at the age of 18 to study law and later returned to India. In 1893, he moved to South Africa to work as a lawyer and lived there for over 20 years. He is usually referred to as Mahatma Gandhi. “Mahatma,” while often mistaken for Gandhi’s given name, is in fact an honorific title meaning “venerable.”

Gandhi was the leader of the Indian independence movement against British rule. In India, he is considered the “Father of the Nation,” an honorific title showing his great contribution in establishing India as a free country. He has also gained a great international reputation for his activism, charity, and teachings. He is especially admired for his ideas on non-violence.

Gandhi has collaborated extensively with the Muslim community in India, advocating for unity between Hindus and Muslims. However, his vision was challenged by Muslim nationalists who advocated for separation from India and the formation of Pakistan as an independent Muslim state.

Activism in South Africa

Due to the discrimination he faced in South Africa because of his Indian origins, G...