By Sat Paul Goyal
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on Oct. 2, 1869, at Porbandar, Gujarat, India. He went to England to study law before taking an attorney's job in Durban, South Africa. He was thrown out of a first-class train compartment when traveling from Durban to Pretoria and denied accommodation at Grand National Hotel because of his race. Embittered by the humiliating experience, Gandhi fought against the South African practice of racial prejudice and injustice; he won the case, and unjust laws were abolished.
He became a political activist after returning to India, and millions followed his crusade against the British rule. By segregating India's people, the British maintained the favor of the rich and absolute control over the masses. Gandhi's Durban experience was a unique model to transform India. He soon became the leader of Freedom Movement. All over India there were agitations and uprising against the British rule. People went on Satyagraha (civil disobedience), asking the British to quit India. He awakened India's consciousness and led the struggle till India gained its freedom in 1947.
Gandhi was assassinated by a Hindu fanatic on Jan. 30, 1948. Later that evening, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, addressing the nation, said, "The light has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere." In a moving tribute to Gandhi, Albert Einstein said, "Generations to come, it may be, will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth."
Mahatma Gandhi dedicated his whole life for the service of humanity.
Values of truthfulness, honesty and integrity were instilled in him from the very beginning. He was an incredible fighter whose instrument of nonviolence, prayer and reflection became more powerful than guns and mighty empires.
"Nonviolence is the law of our species, as violence is the law of the brute," Gandhi asserted. His teachings inspired Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela and many others. President Barack Obama was inspired by Gandhi's individual charisma and relentless pursuit of reaching out to masses to feel the pain and aspirations in their ordinary lives.
Gandhi believed in the power of ordinary citizens. He never sought power or position for himself but sought truth and peaceful coexistence of diverse faiths and communities. Simple activities of life were very sacred to him. "I'm spinning the destiny of my nation," Gandhi would say while working on his spinning wheel.
His fasts, marches, and prayer sessions fired the imaginations of the oppressed and the privileged alike wherever he went. His tireless pursuit liberated India and sped the end of colonial empires around the world. Gandhi gave it a magical name: Satyagraha (Truth-Force) and he added another dimension to it: Ahimsa (Nonviolence).
Satyagraha and Ahimsa together became his blueprint of social and political transformation. "I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and nonviolence are as old as the hills," he used to say.
President Obama is following Gandhi's footsteps. He has chosen peace over war and diplomacy over discord. He has treated his political opponents with utmost respect and even asked for their advice. His choice of Hillary Clinton as the Secretary of State shows Obama's magnanimity and vision on Gandhian lines. His political agenda is to lead the country from "peril to progress" and the world towards peace, friendship, and understanding.
Obama attended Columbia University and Harvard Law School. Like Gandhi, Obama worked for a small civil rights firm before entering politics. His "audacity of hope" and other speeches have appealed to American masses as did Gandhi's multifaith group prayers and rallies for peace and awakening.
Obama is brilliant, eloquent, dynamic, warm and committed to clean politics. His inspiration comes from Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Abraham Lincoln. Charm, sophistication, vision, and discipline overflow in his person. He is echoing Gandhi's spirit by choosing "hope over fear."
Jan. 20, people from the grandest capitals in the world to the smallest villages across the globe watched Obama delivering the Inaugural speech with his characteristic eloquence to let the whole world "know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity. And that we are ready to lead once more."
Let us pray that President Obama lives up to his promise and his evocation of hope becomes people's power to transform not only America but the whole world through peace and love instead of missiles and hatred.
