Everybody people around the world have recognized Gandhiji with the
doctrine of non-violence or ahimsa. For this reason he is regarded as
one of the most significant and motivational persons in the 20th
century. He proved to the world that if you have the will power and
motivation you can fight successfully without violence. It was the
integrity within him, which gave him the courage to fight against the
British. He never took the help of violence to fight against odds of
life. His weapons were humanity, tolerance, ideas and non-violence. He
showed the way to a better world. And still today there are many people
who love him and who use his philosophy to change the world. A very
important example is the fight against wars. Usually people who fight
against a war try to fight without violence. They march through cities
and try to convince people not to go to the war there are other ways you
can solve problems. Another very popular example is the fight against
nuclear energy or nuclear weapons. Many people all over the world agree
with the Gandhian philosophy.
An example which all of us sees and experience from time to time is the
strike. Gandhi made the strike as a strong weapon of fighting and it is
still widely used today. Gandhi managed to get India independent of the
British without violence. That was a sign for the world. And especially
for the other countries ruled by the British. It was then that many of
those countries saw their chance for independence. Gandhi showed them
the way. That was one of the main causes for the independency of many of
those countries. In the 1960's most colonies in Africa became
independent and also Indochina became independent. Gandhi fought for the
rights of minorities and people who were looked down. He encouraged
every one to stand up for their rights and to fight against cruelty, as
he always believed in equality for all irrespective of caste, sex and
religion. He showed the whole world how easy it is to fight for the
rights and how successful it can be if there are many people fighting
for the same cause together as he believed 'unity in diversity'. He
motivated many people around the world to fight for their rights. That
was the start of many fights for humanity and equalities of minorities.
Good examples are the fights of the blacks in North America. Gandhi
played a vital role in the fight for humanity without violence. Looking
at his fighting spirit people understood how important and rebellion can
be the weapon of non-violence. So the doctrine of non-violence has
evolved with time and taught us that it is important to save the (human)
life and not to destroy it.
