Mohandas Gandhi, otherwise known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer and a spiritual leader who led the people of India into independence from the British while deploying non-violent resistance. He was a political ethicist, a colonial nationalist whose principle of being a great soul applied first in South Africa and later had its benefits extend to the whole world. Mohandas was born on 2nd October 1869 and lived through 30th January 1948 (Balasubramanian and Venkataman 197).
He was born to a Hindu family from which he learned significant spiritual aspects of leadership. In addition, he studied law at the Inner Temple in London to provide him with the academic professionalism of becoming an elite leader and an influencer. Much can be said about Mohandas Gandhi, but this paper focuses on the person he was as a spiritual leader.
Mahatma Gandhi was an ordinary man born to the third wife of Karamchand Gandhi after the first three wives of the man had died during childbirth. At the time of his birth, India was passing through a period of tiring exhaustion. Growing up, he became cognizant of the power of enjoying freedom and authority’s utility. He, therefore, gave himself to fighting for freedom that when the Indian National Congress he had served to attain freedom for his people digressed into politics, he withdrew (Balasubramanian and Venkataman 197). Mahatma Gandhi became one of the leaders men gave to the fight for the liberty of all people through the platform of peace.
He gave over 20 years of his life to fighting for liberty for the South African blacks and Indians. He aimed to restore ordinary persons’ dignity against the British colonialists’ exploitation. At this time, through the integration of spiritual acumen, he developed the notion of a non-violent, non-cooperation movement, which became the foundation of his leadership style and influenced other great leaders (Balasubramanian and Venkataman 198).
He went back to his hometown in India in the year 1913, according to Balasubramanian and Venkataman (198). He joined the Indian National Congress to help his compatriots attain independence against the colonial rule of the British government. The extent to which this man was given to peace and spiritual leadership passed the test when he abandoned his non-violent, non-cooperation arsenal against the British when it turned violent.
Gandhi was a leader who showed the way by being an example. In his engagement with non-violent, non-cooperation, he aimed at building the Swadeshi Movement. For him to achieve this, Gandhi called upon his followers to boycott foreign textiles. For example, he refrained from wearing an Indian’s women wheelchair. Some of these leadership interventions earned him a place behind bars, but these culminations would not stop his ambition of fostering justice and equality (Balasubramanian and Venkataman 198). Even behind bars, he still believed that the independence of his people and country would emanate from religious pluralism. Besides being a leader who acts by giving examples, he was willing to give his life, as envisioned in his arrest, for the common good of justice and equality.
Summarily, Mahatma Gandhi was an ordinary man born into an Indian family who studied law to become one of the most influential spiritual leaders. He served for over 20 years in South Africa, fighting for the rights of the African and the Indians through peaceful non-violence and non-cooperation against the British government. Gandhi later extended the fight to liberate his people in India through the same notion until the formula turned violent, at which point he withdrew. He demonstrated his leadership through the provision of examples and was willing to lay his life for the more extraordinary course of justice and equality.
Work Cited
Balasubramanian, Thirugnanam, and Venkataman, V. “Principles and Peace Communication of Mahatma Gandhi: A Semiotic Analysis.” Utkal Historical Research Journal, vol 34, no. XVIII, 2021, pp. 197–201. Web.