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| M.K. Gandhi, Indian patriot and freedom fighter. |
This day in 1948 Gandhiji was shot at point blank by Nathuram Godse in the evening at Birla House, Delhi while proceeding for the evening prayer. Godse, a member of Hindu Mahasabha, fired three bullets in Gandhi’s chest as he made his way to a prayer meeting. Godse was also a member of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) but his affiliation to the organization at the time of assassination is contested. Gandhiji's death is being observed across country as Martyrs’ Day in memory of freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives for India’s independence.
PM Narendra Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind and other top political leaders will be paying glowing tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at New Delhi’s Rajghat. The central government already directed the state and Union territories to observe two minutes of silence at 11am in the memory of martyred freedom fighters.
This is Gandhiji's 74th death anniversary; born Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, he studied law at Lincoln's inn, England; he joined Indian politics after his long sojourn in South Africa where he fought against the Apartheid South African government using non-cooperation and public disobedience as tools to fight the oppressive regime.
Back in India he had joined the freedom movement upon the advice of patriot and freedom fighter Gopal Krishna Gokhale As part of his tour across the country his visit to the temple town of Madurai brought about a change in his attitude toward India's freedom and a spiritual cleansing. He gave up his famous Gujarati-style dress with a turban and for the first time ever Gandhiji appeared in his famous trade-mark dress two meter loin clothes around his hip with shawl over his chest. On 22 September 1921 Gandhiji appeared in a new avatar and addressed a meeting poor and emaciated. As a matter of fact Gandhiji visited Madurai, his most favorite destination in Tamil Nadu. 5 times between 1921 to 1946 his most favorite destination in Tamil Nadu. On his last visit he visited Madurai Meenashshi temple along with Harijans (on 8th August, 1939 first temple entry took place here under Vaidhyanatha Aiyar, an eminent advocate and a close friend of Rajaji and Sri Muthuramalinga Thevar). It was this change in attire angered Winston Churchill, famous India baiter and supremacist famously ridiculed Gandhi as a 'half-naked fakir' when he was visiting London for the second round table conference.
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| Champarad district, Bihar. timesofindia.indiatimes.com |
The Champaran district of Bihar where the Raj was forcing the poor Indian farmers to raise indigo plants without paying adequate wages, became an experimental ground for him to test his Satayagriha or non-cooperation and public disobedience policy. The British reaped a huge profit on the dye made from Indigo.
On April 10, 1917 Gandjiji visited Champaran district for the first time and later launched what was called Champaran satyagraha. it was India's first ever Satyagraha movement- public disobedience protest against injustice meted out to tenants-farmers
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| Dandi (gujarat) salt march. twitter.com |
Above image: Dandi salt march in April 1930 by Gandhiji.
The Salt march to Dandi from Ahmedabad to protest against taxes on salt in 1930 was another political event that made Gandhij a powerful political leader with mass appeal. Despite police brutality and aggressive tactics, Gandhi broke the British Raj salt laws at 8:30 am on 6 April 1930 on the shore of Dandi, Gujarat. It sparked large scale acts of civil disobedience against the salt laws by millions of Indians across India.
Union home minister and minister of cooperation Amit Shah will unveil the mural of Mahatma Gandhi at the Sabarmati Riverfront in Gujarat's Ahmedabad city. Gujarat at 10 am on January 30," Home Minister's Office (HMO) tweeted.
