he had a first class ticket he was thrown off the train he resolved to stay and fight for inequality in south africa. when he returned to india in one thousand nine hundred fifteen gandhi was a changed man. the barrister had become a political activist trading his english suit and tie for a dhoti the traditional dress of the indian poor he says how to familiarize himself with the social problems in his homeland travelling by train across the country always insead clients. the movement for indian independence was gaining momentum gandhi addressed crowds in every town and village he visited he spoke of human dignity justice and independence. across the country nationalists organized bonfire protests to burn textiles

imported from england gandhi launched his charkha all spinning wheel movement. he declared it the patriotic duty of every indian to spend two hundred yards of cotton thread a day and to boycott textiles produced in the mills of manchester and liverpool. to become a symbol of the commitment of the nationalist corps to every every morning to sit down and to get out your spinning wheel to spin your cotton thread and they became very skillful at it you know they were spent hours every day doing this i'm down the saugus of something which was was was almost a spiritual task of of spending you know for the good of the.

the nineteen thirty gandhi led the three week sultan march walking three hundred fifty eight kilometers to the village of dandy on the arabian sea where he defied the british sultan of lead by lifting and auctioning off just full of salt. he and his followers were arrested but it was a victory for the man who churchill contemptuously called the half naked for. coverage of the march captured the world's attention. gandhi had an innate sense of symbolism and mass communication. the more this seems like a contradiction to a paradoxical for a man who came across as an ascetic as someone who renounced worldly things in

search of spiritual salvation. but he was a great politician and a great communicator us. said. gandhi's weapons with civil disobedience and nonviolent resistance the british countered with truncheons. colonial repression was often brutal presence. gandhi was jailed seven times for a total of forty years he's part of. a times serving nine years. from the beginning to the end the struggle for independence was led by the indian national congress party. gandhi was its guiding light. its chief organizer.

the two men shared a deep bond even if they didn't always see eye to eye. candy from a traditional merchant family now and they set it close in a dhoti. narrows the anglicized brahman well dressed and elegant with ideas rooted in socialism something like their brains socialism in the one nine hundred twenty s. . gandhi was prepared to tolerate that because he believed that there would always basically be dawdle to him. so that he gave narrow sort of certain amount of rope you could say you know to do go his own way but gandhi would always be holding it's amazing to draw him in whenever he felt you know he was going to to to to create an extreme and there who he was a you know that he was it was in his interests to keep him with gandhi but he also had a genuine affection for gandhi there is own father died in. and in

many respects you can see gandhi sort of taking over that position of father figure for marriage and so they do have a very close relationship despite the differences. the two men were very different not least in their views on religion. narry was a self professed atheist something rare in a country where refusing to express religious belief is a to boon. gandhi was deeply religious he began each meeting with prayer. life in india is permeated by the values of hinduism which assigns a person's caste on the basis of birth. but hinduism has been traditionally because it was a tolerant religion not given to proselytizing.

islam had expanded under the reign of the moodle empress in northern india to become the country's second largest religion. in british india muslims accounted for a quarter of the population. after the country's partition in one nine hundred forty seven that number dropped to twelve percent. hindus and muslims had long enjoyed a peaceful coexistence until political representation was attached to religious

identity. the muslim league emerged as a political force in the one nine hundred thirty s. with the aim of protecting the interests of indian muslims. but a new goal in the creation after britain's best all from india of a muslim nation pakistan or land of the pier. the party was led by mohammed ali jinnah who had known gandhi for years. both gandhi came from. speaking people they were both lawyers have been educated in the received training there so in a way they had a lot in common but unfortunately they came into very sharp conflict fight after gandhi returned to india. in one nine hundred forty four gandhi went to meet jinnah at his private residence in bombay. over the course of almost three weeks sunday

timelessly tried to dissuade from his plan for a muslim pakistan. he assured him that muslims would have an honorable place in a secular and democratic india. he even offered him the post of prime minister independent india's first government. jim then the super junior couldn't stand the affection and attention he was shown by gandhi because like many muslims he viewed it as a patronize ing attempt by hindus to assimilate muslims. gandhi's saw him yet everything about his style his dress was typically hindu dominion. so musical memory and his embrace of renunciate are a disciplines and linking of ascetic practice with political aspirations all that created the impression of a quintessential hindu bike sales. to. shimla

the summer capital of british india. in the one nine hundred forty six the leaders of the muslim league and indian congress party met here to discuss ways to implement gandhi's vision of a united independent india. that . narrows netware diplomacy failed in the face of generous intransigence. after three weeks the talks broke down. in june our campaign centered on a single topic congress was a hindu party with a hindu leader and if hindus won the first elections after independence muslims would face assimilation and oppression to survive i needed their own state pakistan . so in one hundred forty six he decides to take the matter to the streets general

had been a strictly constitutional competition for them and he'd been loyal to the british he hadn't ever been involved in civil disobedience campaigns he never adopted the sort of tart tactics that gandhi adopted but one hundred forty six august nine hundred sixty decides to take the issue to the streets he's going to show the power of muslims in india and he has a direct actual. jinnah's call for direct action day on aug sixteenth nine hundred forty six in support of the demand for pakistan sparked an eruption of harrowing violence in calcutta. five thousand people were massacred and twenty thousand wounded most of the victims were hinting . that led to retaliatory attacks by hindus against muslims elsewhere reprisal killings spread across northern india entire families were slaughtered.

something hindus now claim their religion was too passive and lacked martial art. to them the hindu value of tolerance was an inexcusable weakness which had for centuries allowed first the move and then the british empire to enslave the hindu majority. they felt the time had come for hindus to assert themselves and for hindu to reclaim their progress. for me they wanted to reform hindu islam and boost hindus moral and physical strength in every town and village where the movement had a local chapter activists convened mornings and evenings for ideological training and physical drills to prepare to fight muslims who were once again the enemy of the more he saw. in. well into nationalist. muslims muslim league extremists hindus gandhi

was horrifying. he began to fast in calcutta which he vowed to continue until the fun and stopped. he refused to relinquish his vision of an india where the two communities could live in friendship and peace. and gandhi was watching all this he was doing his best he went to go he walked around the villages which where the muslims have massacred the landlords and he talked to the muslims he really put his life on the line and he went without any protection just a few of his father's walking on foot and he managed to persuade the muslims that there was not not right to do this as he walked people would throw glass pieces on the floor. in his spot and his answer to that was to even give more of the very simple sandals which he used. in order to walk and start walking barefoot this

had a tremendous mortar impact and the battle that we like to draw is between in the christian tradition the crucifixion of christ that is suffering for humanity tormenting the fish in order to make the martyr. beat and then there is other retaliation by by muslims in east bengal whether in the majority they turn on him attack them massacre many then hindus and be hard on. the muslims. and again they do the same in india and then in the punjab we see the muslims retaliating by attacking the sikhs and killing a lot of sikhs in march nine hundred forty seven so the whole thing is blowing up in a way that's becoming really completely uncontrollable. in march nine hundred forty seven lord louis mountbatten arrived in delhi. as the last viceroy of india he's

been tasked by the british prime minister to negotiate an exit deal with indian leaders. batten appeared bent on hastening the end of imperial rule and soon came to favor the option of partition. again and again. but. once you are gone. but. only after you decide. and. then of course the congress leaders decided that they would accept the partition. was able to stir up so much trouble for them that if they didn't concede for a separate state of pakistan then he would he would cause terrible disruption

within within after independence and perhaps compromise the integrity of the indian nation state perhaps collapse. was appointed to the boundary commission in charge of equitably carving a muslim majority state from british india. he was assisted by two thousand and two muslims because he himself knew nothing of india that was why he'd been chosen to guarantee objective ety and fairness. most of india's muslims lived in the north the plan called for the creation of one state with two territories east and west pakistan located two thousand kilometers apart. but hindu and muslim communities in bengal and punjab were in extra mixed drawing board is was an exercise in absurdity. on aug fifteenth nine hundred forty seven the partition between india and pakistan was made official. as the clock had approached midnight darla nehru

the first prime minister of independent india address the nation. to do we in the room with dick cheney. and now all the time come when we showed you the big at the front of the midnight hour when they will leap into our window we don't like when we don't. but the very morning after independence celebrations hindus in pakistan and muslims in india began to flee their homes muslims headed for pakistan well hindus set off for india. enormous convoys of people moving in opposite directions the greatest mass migration in history. ten million people with displaced many were attacked by robbers and militants along the way

a million people lost their lives. no one took responsibility for the tragedy but hindu nationalists accused gandhi of allowing muslims to steal part of the hindu nation. we went to the delhi headquarters of the rightwing hindu muss about organization. there we spoke to its then president he maintained that his was the only group that sought to defend india's integrity. of i was the only one major son in india richard lugar. with the great journey explorations there. really should never. do you all for india. you know i did indeed wonder so in fact it was very

much a part of their own program to have a separate state and its always serve their interests subsequently to have a separate pakistani state which is always an antagonism there's always a red representation of. india's other it's a post. a few months after independence the new states waged their first war over kashmir a province with a muslim majority but a hindu maharajah the two sides agreed to a ceasefire along what's known as the line of control it divided the region into with one side and ministered by india and the other by pakistan of the three officially declared wars between india and pakistan to have been over kashmir and it remains a flash point to this day. on september the ninth nine hundred forty seven gandhi moved into the delhi home of his friend the industrialist and congress party supporter than she does. in

january of the following year gandhi began another indefinite fast saying he would only east if he saw a plan to stop the continuing violence hindus who had fled persecution in pakistan with dumbfounded by gandhi's empathy for muslims which was inherent in the second in direct goal of his fasting. going to gandhi's hunger strike was also aimed at forcing the indian government to release pakistan share of assets from the treasury of british india. with their nic. that stood in. and said. straight. deprived of should be given then only i can leave my past that moment.

yields take me did you die of hunger strike. now. hindu nationalists found it scandalous that gandhi would fast to ensure india respected the financial clauses of the partition agreement and transfer five hundred fifty million rupees to a country that had launched cross border rates on kashmir. so all on the ground did it. or don't do any. attempt. as far as i remember say one of their goosed. beds and did. their city. not end up. going to. see the mice and.

the attack of january twentieth was botched. it was unable to reach the window from which he planted by his gun he hadn't thought of bringing a ladder. so hard drive from the river. it was so high here and. so. i mean he feels. rather loud. here in my ear. actions did not take place so probably. the group fled to plan a renewed attack their accomplice. was arrested. under

interrogation he revealed the names of his coconspirators. even now there is debate in india as to why police failed to apprehend the men for ten days. to sit in the monitor as you can see in this picture this was taken on twenty ninth . on the eve of his. he would address people who are visiting. him that they would i mean i don't know there was a thinking among them who did not do enough to prove in the partition. of. the story.

and if you see the photograph. with the bullets it's on. it's almost in the same missile could. there sassing gollin didn't even bullets and i think. at that one moment mahatma gandhi laws from the ashes from the ark and we became larger than life.

in a radio broadcast narrow announce the news of god to his death. the light has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere. near who this narrow band the movements he held responsible for gandhi says has

a nation. the hindu master and the hindu volunteer organization the r.s.s. twenty thousand r.s.s. militants were jast see members do they let us forget how. gandhi supporters targeted the brahmins of maharashtra the caste to which the assassin ghodsee belonged and which was closely associated with the hindu party and the r.s.s. teens. as it. the trial of gandhi's assassins was held at the red fought a highly symbolic location it was there that larry had made his first speech to independent india and to this day the prime minister addresses crowds from the red force on independence day. india is a democracy the defendants had the right of their trial supposedly for the trial of

the red forty offered mataram god syria the perfect platform to air his views. he refused legal defense and though he had lawyers he pleaded his own case but he did do he stated that he had out it to his hindu faith and the back about good to which justified violence. he said he had been compelled to take action for the nation of hindus which gandy had betrayed. he needed to rid the nation of this man who persisted in weakening india starts pakistan. he described the assassination as a salutary act undertaken in the public interest not the rash deed of a lunatic but rather a deed motivated by political realism which had been well thought out and planned and lacked the serum or efficient. on the. game

properly named in fortnight. drug they're not put on board see. i don't. know. if i should have simply been struggling. amid a resurgence of fundamentalism in india nationalist groups like the hindu musser bar enjoying a revival. and its daily headquarters there is a statue of its late leader vinayak download us of a cur a contemporary of gandhi's and a nationalist but one with a very different ideology. correspond the idea of hindutva or hindu this a concept that inseparably links the hindu and indian identity not what i'm going to say himself shared that i have more love than the big mean. there is no question

that i'm going to belong to. no doubt but you know was our eyes not belong to god. this is a doozy and of michael. has more part in the murder of bundy there was a very closely linked between the leader off the hindu and the assassin the main assassin and the mean organizer of the conspiracy off. and. not to have a good thing he had been a close associate of father for it gives the decade before the assassination and this man saw that heard was directly involved not just ideologically or inspiring but directly involved in the conspiracy to murder. other courier in a group with the conspirators he was also arrested and tried but denied all challenges and was acquitted. going to

remember again he himself said after the first assassination attempt. maybe the assailant is right maybe i am a nuisance in independent india. the pool. than the one this is the classical greek tragedy in its purest form where victim and assassin have a secret understanding with gandhi felt deep despair his method and his course had failed. sunni. despite his efforts to violence between hindus and muslims continued. and despite his efforts india was fractured into. what use was he alive now. that. gandhi had envisioned an independent india that was self-sufficient and predominantly agrarian naris approach was more grounded in economic reality he aim to combat economic stagnation

and dire poverty with state centered planning and industrialization that relied on domestic industry after independence went all out for you know modernization of economic organize ation in developing large scale industries building large which he. described as the new temples to india which should replace you know the old temples. it is difficult to know how gandhi responded to this had he been alive after nine hundred forty eight and it's likely that gandhi and nehru would have come into some conflict over this because mayer didn't really put very much into trying to. maintain the gandhi and economic program. to this day gandhi disciples gather on fridays to spin cotton at his commission site the same

handwheel the same motions us back then when carson was spun to create the basis for economic independence. today it's more of a ritual than a lesson in economic theory. you've got. to. keep. kicking. the can least. ansible of self-sufficiency did prevail until the early nine hundred ninety s. . measures like high tariff levels and exchange rate management protected domestic industry from foreign competition in. the city. bus over the past few decades the country has really opened up to the forces of

globalization. a growing middle class shops at new malls of these the temples of india today. your job as a on an order if gandhi returned to india today he would be aghast to see how far the country particularly the middle class is has succumbed to western consumerism. he preached the importance of self-sufficiency that each village the defense of the week and a form of asceticism according to such dictates as don't consume more than you need respect nature. there was a clear environmental subtext to gandhi's message for the young is that they're going to. on march the twelfth two thousand and

five ten months after returning to power india's congress party marks the seventy fifth anniversary of the so much. hundreds of people walked in the outburst footsteps following the same three hundred fifty eight kilometer route for twenty six days. marches done traditional white comedy clothing made of homespun cotton. and the iconic gandhi cap. the great grandson of to her lol nehru rahul gandhi was thirty five at the time of the procession and had only recently entered politics. he would go on to become party president. he joined the marches as they reached the coast in which are at seventy five years to the day that mahatma gandhi shook the british empire to its

cool by harvesting a handful of salt. with their own thirty five millimeter film. or undertow video cameras captured the same scene. globalization has swept aside many of gandhi's principles but the mahatma's fundamental message has endured a message that speaks of the power of peace forgiveness and freedom and can transcend even the hatred that killed him.

city government has come to nothing but it has the right to our correspondent he is in.