STORIES
“Our beloved ‘Bapu' is dead!”
India 's spiritual leader was killed in 1948
By David Cocksedge
AS THE frail old man walked slowly across the lawn, supported by his niece, adoring hundreds pressed around him, touching his robes and feet. The young radical was among them, fingering a handgun in his pocket. He had prayed hard that morning and was now totally focused on what he had to do. Gandhi was about to be shot dead.
Violence was anathema to Mahatma Gandhi. Throughout his life, he remained committed to non-violence and truth even in the most extreme situations. A student of Hindu philosophy, he always lived simply, organising an ashram (community) that was self-sufficient in its needs. Making his own clothes (the traditional Indian ‘dhoti' and shawl woven with a charkha), he also lived on a simple vegetarian diet.
Known as ‘Bapu' (father) by his millions of followers, Gandhi never sought high political office and used rigorous fasts for long periods for both self-purification and protest against British colonial rule. His life and teachings inspired Dr Martin Luther King, Steve Biko and Aung San Suu Kyi and through them the American civil rights movement and freedom struggles in South Africa and Myanmar ( Burma ) respectively.
In India , Gandhi is still recognised as ‘Father of The Nation' and his birthday on 2nd October is commemorated each year as ‘Gandhi Jayanti', a national holiday. He was the pioneer of ‘Satyagraha': the resistance of tyranny through mass civil disobedience firmly founded on a policy of non-violence, which led India to independence in 1947 and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom everywhere.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born into the Hindu Modh family in Porbandar, Gujarat on 2 October 1869. He was the son of Karamchand Gandhi, the ‘diwan' (Prime Minister) of Porbandar and Putlibai, Karamchard's fourth wife, a Hindu of the Pranami Vaishnava order. Living with a devout mother and surrounded by the Jain influences of Gujarat , Gandhi learned from an early age the tenets of non-injury to all living beings, vegetarianism, fasting for self-purification, and mutual tolerance between members of various creeds and sects. He was born into the ‘vaishya' (business) caste in a country where the caste system is rigid.
In May 1883, at the age of 13, Gandhi was married by arrangement to Kasturba Makhanji (nickname ‘Ba') and between 1888 and 1900 they had four sons together. Gandhi was a poor student at Samaldas College in Gujarat, barely passing his matriculation exams but in September 1888 he travelled to University College in London , England to train as a barrister. During his time in the Imperial capital he joined the Vegetarian Society, was elected to its executive committee and founded a local chapter. He later credited this experience with giving him valuable lessons in organising institutions.
He returned to India after being called to the bar by Inner Temple , but had limited success establishing a law practice in Bombay (now Mumbai), drafting petitions for litigants. In 1893 he accepted a year-long contract from an Indian law firm to a post in Natal , South Africa . His experiences there changed Gandhi dramatically, as he saw the discrimination directed at blacks and Indians. He was thrown off a train at Pietermaritzburg after refusing to move from first class to a third class coach while holding a valid first-class ticket. Travelling further on by stagecoach, he was beaten up by a driver for refusing to travel on the footboard to make room for a European passenger.
He suffered other hardships during his time in South Africa , including being barred from many segregated hotels. Through witnessing first hand the racism, prejudice and injustice against Indians, Gandhi started to question his people's status, and his own place in society. It was whilst attending a convention of the Indian National Congress that he met Gopal Krishna Gokhale, a respected leader of the Congress Party. Gopal introduced Gandhi to Indian issues and the complex politics of the country, and the new convert then changed his western clothes for the simple dhoti.
When he was arrested by police on charges of ‘creating unrest' in 1916 during the Kheda and Champaran farming campaigns, Gandhi became a rallying cause for the nation. Several thousand people milled outside the jail and courtroom, demanding his release, which was eventually granted. As he led strikes and peaceful ‘non co-operation' actions against British landlords, his fame spread all over India and he became known as ‘Bapu' (father) and ‘Mahatma' (Great Soul).
The violence peaked on 13 April 1919 at the northern Punjab city of Amritsar where British army Sepoys under the command of Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer opened fire on a gathering of unarmed men, women and children. The shooting lasted about ten minutes and over 1,600 rounds of ammunition were expended. Official sources placed the casualties at 379; but others have stated that over 1,000 civilians died in that hail of unprovoked gunfire. ( Civil Surgeon Dr D Smith has reported that around 1,800 were killed). The carnage would have been even greater if two armoured cars had been able to enter the square through a side street that was mercifully too narrow. This set off a chain of horror as the town hall and railway station were set on fire. Amid fierce rioting five Britons were killed by lynch mobs. Gandhi was horrified, demanding a shut-down of the entire country and the instant dismissal of Dyer (1864-1927) who was sent back to England but amazingly never faced a court martial for his brutal suppression of Indian civilians at Amritsar.*
Gandhi was arrested again in March 1922, tried for sedition, and sentenced to six years imprisonment. In fact he served only two years, being released in February 1924 after an operation for appendicitis. He was disturbed to learn that during his jail term, the Indian National Congress had become split along religious lines, between Hindus and Muslims. He made many attempts to reunite the party in the following years before the independent state of Pakistan was eventually born out of this split. Gandhi mourned this partition for the rest of his life.
The Mahatma famously launched a campaign against a new salt tax in 1930, walking the 400 kilometres from Ahmedabad to Dandi in Gujarat , from 12 March to 6 April to make salt for himself. Thousands of Indian protesters joined him on this march to the sea, which was one of his most successful actions against British rule.
Shortly after this Britain 's famous British statesman Winston Churchill (1874-1965) referred to Gandhi as “a seditious half-naked middle temple lawyer, now posing as a fakir of a type well known in the east.” To earn such a withering comment from Churchill was fame indeed!
When Nazi Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, starting World War II, Gandhi declared that India could not be a party to a war ostensibly being fought for democratic freedom, whilst that freedom was denied to Indian citizens. He drafted a resolution for the British to ‘Quit India', which inevitably led to more serious suppression by India 's colonial rulers.
Gandhi and the entire Congress Working Committee were arrested in Bombay on 9 August 1942, and he was incarcerated in the Aga Khan Palace in Poona . Six weeks after the death of his wife in 1944, Gandhi suffered a severe attack of malaria and was released. Although his ‘Quit India' movement had moderate success, the ruthless suppression of the organisation brought order to India and in May 1945, as the war in Europe ended, the British government gave clear indications that power would soon be transferred to Indian hands. At this point Gandhi called off the struggle, and over 100,000 political prisoners were released, including the Congress leadership.
Peaceful independence from Britain was achieved in 1947 but in the wake of that freedom came more sectarian violence as religious factions vied for control of the vast sub-continent. The year ended in sad disillusion for Gandhi. He continued to preach the immorality and futility of violence, but no one seemed to be listening any more. In January 1948, in a desperate attempt to stop the slaughter, he publicly embarked on a ‘fast unto death'. He explained his motives: “Death would be a glorious deliverance, rather than I should be a helpless witness to the destruction of India , Hinduism, Sikhism and Islam.”
His action had the desired effect. Leaders of the religious groups agreed to a compromise. Hindu and Islamic clerics agreed to end the violence if Gandhi would end his fast; and so he did. The inter-fractional co-operation did not last long however; and soon a strong anti-Gandhi movement began to develop. Militant Hindus complained that Gandhi was against members of their religion. Why else, they asked, would he allow thousands of them to be butchered in Pakistan ? They wanted armed intervention to protect their people but they knew that violence would not be tolerated as long as ‘Bapu' lived. The only solution was to do away with him.
The first attempt on Gandhi's life took place on 20 January 1948, just two days after he had ended his fast. He was addressing a prayer meeting at Birla House; his home in Delhi when a refugee from the Punjab named Jasber Madanlal threw an improvised grenade at him. The device exploded a few feet away from where the Mahatma was standing but he escaped without injury. An angry mob seized the bomber and was about to literally tear him apart until Gandhi intervened and made them stop.
The new Indian government, understandably alarmed at the incident, urged Gandhi to accept armed police protection. Of course ‘Bapu' would not hear of it. “If I am to die by the bullet of a madman”, he said, I must do so smiling. God must be in my heart and on my lips. And promise me one thing: should such a thing happen, you are not to shed one tear for me.”
On the morning of 30 January 1948, Gandhi arose at 3.30am and started drafting a new constitution for the Congress. He spent most of the day working on the document and discussing it with learned colleagues. When the time came for evening prayers he walked slowly across the lawn of Birla House supported by a cane and his niece Abha.
As usual, there was a crowd gathered to greet him. People rushed forward and jostled for position so that they could touch the Mahatma's feet as he passed. Suddenly a young man pushed his way through the throng. He shoved Abha aside, raised his hands together in a gesture of reverence, and then pulled out a pistol and fired three shots at India 's beloved spiritual leader.
The assassin was only two feet from his target and the first two rounds passed straight through Gandhi's frail body. The third bullet lodged in one of his lungs. Gandhi smiled; murmured “He Ram” (“Oh God”) and then collapsed. He died before medical help could arrive.
The assassin dropped his handgun and surrendered. He was Nathuram V Godse, a young Hindu radical who at the time was working as an editor of a newspaper in Marathi. It was obvious to the authorities that Godse had not acted alone in this murderous affair and a massive Hindu conspiracy was soon uncovered. In all, eight men stood trial for Gandhi's murder. Godse and his associate Narayan Apte were sentenced to death and duly hanged at Ambala Gaol on 15 November 1949. The six other members of the conspiracy received long prison sentences.
Gandhi's request that no tears be shed for him was not observed. His passing was mourned for weeks and his funeral was attended by millions. As his body was placed on the pyre and burned, people wept openly and unashamedly as smoke rose into the bright sky. Gandhi's memorial at Raj Ghat, New Delhi , bears the epigraph “He Ram”, allegedly his last words on this earth.
On 31 January 1948 India 's Prime Minister Jawaharlal Neru addressed the nation through radio: “Friends and comrades; the light has gone out of our lives, and there is darkness everywhere. I do not quite know what to tell you or how to say it. Our beloved leader, ‘Bapu' as we called him, the father of our nation, is dead. We will not see him again, as we have seen him for these many years. We will not be able to run to him for advice or seek solace from him, and that is a terrible blow, not only for me but for many millions in this country.”
According to his wish, the majority of Gandhi's ashes were immersed in The Ganges, The Volga, The Nile, The Seine and the River Thames. The remaining ashes were then encased in a brass and silver coffer and enshrined at the Mahatma Gandhi World Peace Memorial in the Self-Realisation Fellowship Lake Shine inside an ancient sarcophagus from China.
Ben Kingsley gained an Academy Award for his brilliant portrayal of Mahatma Gandhi and director Richard Attenborough also won an Oscar for the 1982 movie of the year, ‘Gandhi' which grossed millions at the box office. Mark Robson's 1963 movie ‘Nines Hour to Rama' also deals with Gandhi's assassination and events leading up to it. Based on the novel by Stanley Wolpert, it is a powerful but curiously underrated film starring Horst Bucholz (as Godse), Jose Ferrer and J S Casshyap in a cameo role as an amazingly realistic-looking Mahatma Gandhi.
During his lifetime, Gandhi spent one day each week in total silence. He believed that abstaining from speaking brought him inner peace. On such days he communicated with others by writing on notepads. He once said, “Man cannot be untruthful, cruel and incontinent and claim to have God on his side.” When an American reporter once asked him if he was a Hindu, Gandhi replied, “Yes I am. I am also a Christian, a Muslim, a Buddhist and a Jew.” Gandhi also had a mischievous sense of humour. When he was once asked what he thought of Western civilisation, he replied, “I think it would be a great idea!”
Mahatma Gandhi was a revered and charismatic spiritual leader. He was also a man of peace who constantly preached tolerance among India's many different creeds. Yet, in a final twist of irony, it was a religious fanatic who gunned him down.
(Research, wikipedia.org/Mahatma_Gandhi; ‘Gandhi', Colombia Pictures, 1982))
(* Next month, read a detailed account of the Massacre at Amritsar; the bloodiest episode in the history of British India)
IF YOU need a check on my True Crime series of stories, published in the Hua Hin Observer, here is a complete list to date:
April 2002 -The Green Bicycle case, 1921. May 2002 - The Craig/Bentley Case, 1952. June 2002 - The A6 Murder Case, 1961. July 2002 - Murder of the Earl of Errol, 1941. August 2002 - The O J Simpson murder trial, 1995. September 2002 - The Aileen Wuornos case, 1989. October 2002 - The Ronald Opus case, 1993. November 2002 - Madame X, 1929. December 2002 - The Spree Killer, 1984. January 2003 - Shootout at Smiths' Club, 1966. February 2003 - The Christine Dryland case, 1991. March 2003 - Poisoned Pie in Essex, 1982. April 2003 - The Heydrich assassination, 1943. May 2003 - The Diana Davidson Murder case, 1969. June 2003 - The death of Alkibiades, 404 BC. July 2003 - The headsman of Colmar, 1780. August 2003 - The Ruth Ellis case, 1955. September 2003 - The Mel Jones Murder case, 1975. October 2003 - The Bluebeard of the bath, 1915. November 2003 - Murder in a combat zone, 1966. December 2003 - The Barn Restaurant murder case, 1972. January 2004 - The assassination of JFK, 1963. February 2004 - Judge Falcone and the Mafia, 1992. March 2004 - Gilles de Rais/Bluebeard, 1404-1440. April 2004 - The hand in the sand case, 1885. May 2004 - The body in the bag, 1979
Thai's in the land of frozen smiles
It's hard to imagine two places more different than tropical Thailand and the Arctic Norwegian territory of Svalbard , or Spitsbergen as it is more commonly known after the main island in the frozen archipelago. But ironically Thais are the largest ethnic group here after the Norwegians.
The total population of the main settlement Longyearbyen is only about 1,800, of whom 70 are Thais. Most of them are female cleaners and chambermaids in Longyearbyen's hotels and restaurants. Apart from Longyearbyen there are only a few other settlements: the scientific station of Ny Alesund to the north - mankind's northernmost habitation - and the Russian mining town of Barentsburg to the west.
Ing-Ing is from Phitsanulok and Duanjai from Petchabun, two northern Thai provinces where green rice paddy fields billow in the warm breeze and coconut trees dot the landscape. They have been in chilly, snowy Longyearbyen for more than a year. “It's cooold,” Ing-Ing lamented. “I want to go home, but the money is too good here.” She and Duanjai work as chambermaids at Hotel Spitsbergen, along with five other young Thai women.
More than half of Svalbard 's 61,000 square kilometers is permanently covered by ice and snow. The sun doesn't rise at all for four months in winter and then it doesn't set in summer, when the temperature hovers around 9-12 degrees Celsius.
In winter, it drops to minus-20 Celsius, or lower. And across the territory there are more polar bears than people - at least 3,000 wild beasts compared with only 2,500 humans. People venturing outside Longyearbyen are requested to go armed, not to kill the bears but to scare them off if they attack, which they often do.
So how did tropical Thais end up here, only 1,000 kilometers from the North Pole? It's a fascinating twist on the human-migration angle to globalization: while a growing number of Westerners take up residence or retire in Thailand 's cheap, warm climes, Thais are simultaneously seeking richer economic opportunities wherever they can find them, even way north of the Arctic Circle .
Despite its remoteness, Longyearbyen is actually a surprisingly cosmopolitan place - and that is thanks to its unique history. Spitsbergen, and the rest of Svalbard as well, was disputed, and virtually uninhabited, until an agreement called the Svalbard Treaty was signed in 1920 at the final stages of the Versailles negotiations after World War I.
Spitsbergen is rich in coal deposits, and Longyearbyen was first established as a base for mining activities in 1906. It was named after John M Longyear, a businessman from the US state of Michigan who formed the Arctic Coal Co here in February of that year and built the first permanent houses in the polar archipelago.
Russians, Swedes and Canadians also began to show interest in the archipelago - but it was Norway that eventually was granted sovereignty. But it was not without certain conditions. Under the treaty, Norway was obliged to grant equal rights to citizens and companies from all the parties to the treaty to reside in Svalbard , to fish and hunt there, and to engage in mining and other commercial activities.
The Russians were the first to take advantage of this unique arrangement, and started mining for coal at several locations in Spitsbergen in the 1920s. During the Cold War, it was widely suspected that the Soviets were not only interested in coal, but also in developing a foothold inside a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member country as well. But there was also a mine run by a Swedish company, and assorted workers came from Scandinavia, the United States and even North Africa .
The Thais came much later, the first arriving in the mid-1980s. A Norwegian mining official - coal was then still the main source of income before tourism became more important in the 1990s - spent his vacation in Thailand and fell in love with a young Thai woman, the story goes. Then mainly a mining community, it was male-dominated, and few Norwegian women were prepared to move here.
But Sompong Haug did, and she is still here, a founding member of the slowly growing local Thai community. Word spread about this “free zone” near the North Pole, and more Thais followed. Thailand was not actually a signatory to the Svalbard Treaty, but Hanne Ingebrigtsen, legal adviser to the local government, explained: “We don't discriminate against citizens of non-treaty countries.” Anyone is welcome, that is, anyone who is prepared to put up with the harsh weather conditions. No visas or work permits are required, and even a cleaner at a hotel can earn as much as US$3,000 a month.
To get here, the Thais - and others - first apply for tourist visas for Norway , which they just transit on their way to Tromso, a town in northernmost Norway , from where there are regular flights to Longyearbyen. When they go back to Thailand - and many of them do when they have saved up enough money - all they need is a transit permit for Norway proper.
But some, like Sompong Haug, have chosen to settle here permanently. Apidej “Ae” Prinkan, who lives here with his family and works as a chef at Radisson SAS Polar Hotel, has been in Longyearbyen for six years. “It's quiet and nice here, not a lot of traffic jams and pollution as in Bangkok ,” he said, speaking in a mixture of Thai, English and Norwegian.
The Thais are well liked by the local community, asserted Birger Amundsen, editor-in-chief of Svalbardposten, the world's northernmost newspaper. “They do work that Norwegians don't want to do, they are good workers and they don't cause any trouble.” In fact, the only complaint about the Thais is that they are a bit too discreet and seldom take part in community events.
One exception was last April when Longyearbyen celebrated its 100th anniversary as a permanent settlement. Norway 's King Harald V and Queen Sonja were present at the celebrations, which included among the festivities a Thai cultural show at the local school. The year before that, Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana, the eldest sister of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand , paid a visit to Longyearbyen - and the entire Thai community showed up to pay their respects.
The Thais have become a growing part of the Longyearbyen's local scene, as can be seen also in the local supermarket: it now has an “Asian corner” with rice, chillies, soy and fish sauce and other Thai condiments. Ae the chef said: “More Thais should come to learn how we live here.”
As word spreads among Thais about the economic opportunities, despite the ice and cold, increased globalization ensures that will be the case.
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