During his time under British control, Gandhi positioned himself as a spokesperson of the common people. As the leader of the Indian National Congress (INC), he was effective in his efforts to organize nonviolent resistance. He organized a peaceful resistance campaign known as satyagraha in order to pressure the British to better the situation of the poor and grant freedom to India (Duiker and Jackson 698). An example of civil disobedience was demonstrated in 1930 when Gandhi openly accompanied other supporters in a 240-mile walk to the sea to urge the Indians to disregard the law (Duiker and Jackson 698). Gandhi was known for his civil disobedience in the past. Thousands of Indians demonstrated against oppression by colonial authority while facing their own mistreatment. Other nationalist/anti-imperialist organizations such as the Indian National Congress (INC) under Gandhi, through non-violent methods, gained global sympathy for the struggle for Indian rights and provided an opportunity for Indians to have a parliamentary form of government under British administration.
Through the INC, Gandhi was unable to lessen or eliminate religious or radical conflicts between Muslims and Hindus, as he had hoped. Gandhi’s party was having difficulty resolving religious disputes within its ranks; as a result, in the first decades of the 20th century, a different Muslim League was established to represent the interests of the millions of Muslims who lived in Indian society at the time of its establishment (Duiker and Jackson 698). Indian Muslims who were members of the Muslim League formed a different political organisation that was critical of violence between Hindus and Muslims in the country. While this was going on, Muslim dissatisfaction with Hindu supremacy over the INC was growing as well. In 1940, the Muslim League proposed for the establishment of a separate state of Pakistan based on Islamic principles in areas of the country where Muslims constituted a majority of the population. In 1947, as a result of this religious strife, India was separated into two new countries: Pakistan and Bangladesh (Duiker and Jackson 698). Unfortunately, Gandhi was killed in 1948 by violent Hindu zealots.
Work Cited
Duiker, William J., and Jackson J. Spielvogel. World history, volume II: Since 1500. Cengage learning, 2018.