Mohandas Gandhi, Father of a Nation Quiz

Answer: London

In 1888, Mohandas Gandhi sailed to London to study law at the Inner Temple, one of the four Inns of Court. Before leaving India, he made a solemn promise to his mother, with a Jain monk as witness, that he would not eat meat, drink alcohol, or engage in other practices considered impure in their Hindu tradition.

In London, he initially struggled with homesickness and adapting to English customs but became deeply committed to honoring his vow. Seeking affordable and suitable food, he discovered the London Vegetarian Society, where he became an active member. Gandhi attended meetings, contributed articles to their publication, and even served on the society's executive committee.

Answer: Gandhi refused to move and was kicked off the train

In 1893, while traveling for legal work in South Africa, Mohandas Gandhi boarded a train from Durban to Pretoria with a first-class ticket. Despite holding the valid ticket, a white passenger objected to Gandhi's presence in the first-class compartment. The train conductor demanded that Gandhi move to the third-class carriage, designated for non-white passengers. Gandhi refused to comply, asserting his right to remain in first class since he had the proper ticket. As a result, he was forcibly removed from the train at Pietermaritzburg station and left in the cold waiting room overnight.

This incident was one of several acts of racial discrimination Gandhi encountered in South Africa, but it profoundly shaped his resolve to fight injustice. It marked the beginning of his commitment to nonviolent resistance as a means to challenge inequality and oppression.

Answer: Satyagraha

In 1906, Mohandas Gandhi led his first "satyagraha," or nonviolent resistance campaign, in South Africa to oppose the Asiatic Registration Act. This law required all Asians in the Transvaal region to register with the government, carry identification passes, and submit to intrusive physical examinations, treating them as second-class citizens. Gandhi and his supporters saw the act as deeply unjust and dehumanizing.

Instead of resorting to violence, they organized peaceful protests, public burnings of registration passes, and acts of civil disobedience.

Despite facing arrests, beatings, and imprisonment, the protesters remained steadfast.

Answer: Indian National Congress

Gandhi returned to his homeland at the urging of Indian leaders who saw his potential to lead the fight against British colonial rule. Gandhi sought to better understand the conditions of the Indian people before fully engaging in politics, traveling extensively across the country to observe the struggles of peasants, laborers, and marginalized communities.

He soon joined the Indian National Congress, a key political organization advocating for Indian self-rule. Gandhi's ideas and leadership began to shape the Congress, steering it toward mass mobilization and nonviolent methods of resistance against British oppression.

Answer: Jallianwala Bagh massacre

In the early decades of the 20th century, Indo-British relations became increasingly strained as demands for Indian self-rule grew. Tensions escalated sharply in 1919 after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar. Acting on orders from General Reginald Dyer, British troops opened fire on a peaceful gathering of unarmed Indians protesting oppressive colonial laws, killing hundreds and injuring over a thousand. Dyer later justified his actions, further inflaming Indian outrage.

He also issued the "Crawling Order," forcing Indians in one area of Amritsar to crawl on their hands and knees as punishment for alleged attacks on British officials. These events shocked the nation and strengthened resistance to British rule. Gandhi, already a rising leader, condemned the violence and launched a nationwide nonviolent movement against British oppression, including the Non-Cooperation Movement of 1920-22.

Answer: He extracted salt from the seawater

The Salt March of 1930, led by Mohandas Gandhi, was a response to the British monopoly on salt production and sales in India, which forced Indians to pay a heavy tax on an essential commodity. This tax disproportionately affected the poor, and it became emblematic of British exploitation. Gandhi launched the march as part of his broader campaign of civil disobedience against unjust colonial laws. Walking 240 miles from his ashram to the coastal village of Dandi, Gandhi drew national and international attention to the cause.

At the end of the march, he symbolically broke the salt laws by extracting salt from seawater, demonstrating that Indians could defy British regulations peacefully.

Answer: True

In 1942, during World War II, Mohandas Gandhi launched the Quit India Movement, demanding an immediate end to British rule in India. The movement, fuelled by Gandhi's call for nonviolent resistance, aimed to pressure the British to grant independence. In response, the British arrested Gandhi and many other leaders of the Indian National Congress, which effectively decapitated the movement's leadership but also intensified public protests across the country. The arrests caused widespread unrest, with strikes and demonstrations breaking out, often met with brutal repression.

The movement also complicated British efforts to secure India's support for the war effort, as many Indians refused to cooperate. Meanwhile, the United States, a key British ally in World War II, urged Britain to offer concessions to India to maintain stability and bolster the Allied cause, but the British resisted any significant changes.

Answer: Pakistan became its own nation, separate from India

In the 1940s, Mohandas Gandhi held talks with Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the leader of the All-India Muslim League, in an effort to prevent the division of India and foster unity between Hindus and Muslims. Gandhi advocated for a united India where all communities could coexist peacefully, while Jinnah argued that Muslims needed a separate state to protect their political and cultural rights.

Despite extensive discussions, the two leaders failed to reach a compromise due to deep-seated mistrust and differing visions for India's future.

As a result, when British rule ended in 1947, India was partitioned into two nations: a predominantly Hindu India and a Muslim-majority Pakistan.

Answer: Self-reliance

Gandhi encouraged Indians to spin their own cloth, known as "khadi," as a way to boycott British textiles, which were imported to India at the expense of local industries. Gandhi believed that producing homespun cloth would not only promote economic independence but also unite Indians across class and regional divides.

As part of this movement, he urged Indians to burn their British-made goods in public bonfires, demonstrating their rejection of foreign domination.

Answer: A fast to promote religious harmony

In 1948, Mohandas Gandhi undertook a fast in Delhi to promote peace and religious harmony between Hindus and Muslims following the violent aftermath of India's partition. His fast was a plea for an end to communal violence and hatred, urging people to embrace unity despite the deep scars left by the creation of Pakistan and widespread bloodshed.

Gandhi's efforts helped bring a temporary halt to the violence, but his commitment to reconciliation angered some Hindu nationalists, who viewed his stance as overly sympathetic to Muslims. On January 30, 1948, just days after his fast ended, Gandhi was assassinated in New Delhi by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu extremist who opposed his vision of unity and blamed him for weakening India's interests.