Introduction

Gandhi

King

Ikeda

Quotes

Exhibit info

Ceremony

World Peace Buddhists

Stanford

Gallery

Non-violent resistance implies the very opposite of weakness. Defiance combined with non-retaliatory acceptance of repression from one's opponents is active, not passive. It requires strength, and there is nothing automatic or intuitive about the resoluteness required for using non-violent methods in political struggle and the quest for truth. -Mahatma Gandhi 1936

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi 

was a full-fledged revolutionary firmly committed to nonviolence. He took the lead in long struggle for India's independence from Britain, worked for elimination of racial discrimination in South Africa, promotion of Hindu-Muslim unity, abolition of untouchability. He organized what later recalled as the "advent of satyagraha" or nonviolence movement and raised consciousness about independence and self-reliance in India by employing fasting and wearing home-spun Indian fabric (Khadi). He was imprisoned many times for leading protests and nonviolence movements against discriminatory laws and abusive working conditions. India gained independence from Great Britain in 1947. Gandhi was assassinated by Hindu fanatic upset over Gandhi's tolerance of Muslims. Gandhi's wife Kasturbai Kapadia Makanji Gandhi was a constant source of wisdom and inspiration for Gandhi and those who knew her.