E X T E N S I O N THE VOICE OF NON-VIOLENCE: MAHATMA GANDHI Mohandas Karamchand known as Mahatma or Great-Souled Gandhi (1869-1948) became the most powerful symbol of non-violence in the 20th century. He was born in Porbandar, the capital of a small principality1 in today s Gujarat (Western India), where his father was prime minister. He and his family belonged to a branch of Hinduism in which non-violence and tolerance between religious groups were considered very important. In the late 1880s, Gandhi went to London to study law. After finishing his studies, he worked as a barrister2 in India, and in 1893 moved to Natal in South Africa, where he was employed by an Indian trading company. Here, Gandhi first made use of civil disobedience, while he was trying to improve living conditions for the Indian minority. He introduced a method of non-violence called satyagraha (truth force).Without rejecting the rule of law as a principle, the Indians should break those laws which were unreasonable or suppressive. Each individual would have to accept the punishment for having violated the law. However, they should, calmly yet with determination, reject the legitimacy of the law in question. This would make the adversaries first the South African authorities, later the British in India recognize their legislation as wrong. Gandhi returned to India in 1915 and in a few years became a leading figure in the Indian National Congress. In the period between the two World Wars, he began a series of non-violent campaigns against the British Raj, making use of peaceful resistance and non-cooperation. He also made strong efforts to unite the Indian Hindus, Muslims and Christians, and struggled for the emancipation of the Indian untouchables , people belonging to the lowest caste3 in Indian society. 1. principality: country ruled by a prince. 2. barrister: a lawyer who has the right to argue cases in the highest courts of law. 3. caste: class of Indian society. 42