"If I am to die by the bullet of a madman, I must do so smiling. There must be no anger within me. God must be in my heart and on my lips." -- Mahatma Gandhi
The Aftermath of The Salt March
Gandhi was released from jail in January of 1931, eight months after he was put in jail. When he was released, he negotiated with the viceroy of India and agreed to call of the revolt in exchange for attending a London meeting on India's future. Even though the meeting was not successful for Gandhi, he still made the impression of a powerful intelligent person rather than just another angry rebel. This showed the British leaders that he could not simply be ignored.
India Gains Independence
Although Gandhi worked relentlessly for India's freedom, it did not happen until August 15, 1947 when the India Independence Act was passed. This act freed India from British rule and also split India into two countries, India and Pakistan. This was necessary because of the conflict that would've occurred between the Hindus and Muslims throughout India at that time. As soon as India gained independence and split from Pakistan, there was much turmoil as both Muslims and Hindus fled to get to their religion's respective country (Hindus to India, Muslims to Pakistan). Gandhi was very opposed to this and fasted as an attempt to stop the violence raging between the two countries. In the end, 250,000 people died in the religious fighting and turmoil.
The Assassination Of Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi died in January of 1948. He was killed by a Hindu extremist named Nathuram Godse. He was being helped across the Birla House gardens by his great-nieses when Nathuram appeared from within the crowd and shot Gandhi at point-blank range three times in the stomach and chest. When Gandhi was shot, he raised his hands in the Indian gesture of greeting, gallantly welcoming his killer.
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Gandhi's LegacyIndia is now an independent country. Even the everyday things that a person does in India could have been illegal or not allowed before Gandhi freed them. India contains hundreds of millions of people who would still be unfairly treated if it weren’t for the actions Mahatma Gandhi. He did not die in vain...
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Today
It is believed that Gandhi inspired other peaceful revolutions that occurred later in history, the greatest of these being that led by Martin Luther King Jr.. Martin used many of Gandhi's revolutionary ideas and even mentioned him as one of his inspirations (See above).
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Gandhi's principals were based on the fact that peaceful protesting was more effective and moral than violent protesting. Above is a graph showing the effectiveness of different types of protest. According to the graph, peaceful protesting is more effective than violent protesting.
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"Death for me would be a glorious deliverance rather than that I should be a helpless witness of the destruction of India, Hinduism, Sikhism and Islam" -- Mahatma Gandhi