In what way did Mahatma Gandhi transform the nature of the national movement?


Mahatma Gandhi transformed the national movement’s nature which can be elaborated by the following pointers:

(A) The freedom movement was restricted to the middle class when Gandhiji joined Indian politics. Everyone who volunteered in the political movements was a product of English education. Gandhiji made it all pervasive by calling Indian nationalism an elite phenomenon as a formation of doctors, landlords and lawyers and reminding that lower classes were not not represented there due to which people from village, labours, poor persons, workers as well as students became part of the struggle for freedom. He wished to make Indian nationalism more precisely representative of the Indian people as a whole. And thereafter whenever he got an opportunity, he attempted to implement his wish into action. Thus, in 1918 and 1917, he took initiatives at Ahmedabad, Kheda and Champaran which marked Gandhiji as a nationalist with a deeper sympathy for poor.


(B) Mahatma Gandhi had to be credited with emancipation of females along with their participation in the public life at that scale which was not known in Indian history. Females were very prominent in picketing operations against shops that were selling foreign goods. The freedom movement provided some prominent female leads like Rajkumari Amrit Kaur and Sarojini Naidu.


(C) For Gandhiji, freedom movement was also one platform for social reforms. Additionally, he spoke in favour or location of dignity and respects for depressed classes. He made halt to untouchability a primary objective of his political philosophy.


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