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Mahatma Gandhi, Nonviolent Liberator: A Biography - ReviewApril 22, 2008 Richard Deats' biography on Mahatma Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi, Nonviolent Liberator: A Biography, is a well organized chronicling of Mohandas Gandhi's life from his early years as an aspiring lawyer to his death as an international symbol for nonviolent movements and peace. Deats concisely summarizes Gandhi's life:
As he founded several groups and movements Ghandi coined the term "satyagraha" (loosely translated as "nonviolent resistance") in one major movement, which he spearheaded against an ordinance that would require all Indian immigrants to be fingerprinted and registered. This movement provoked a huge following, and Gandhi's message began spreading like wild-fire. During this first satyagraha, Gandhi was imprisoned for the first time (one of many sacrifices he made for his causes) by South African general Christiaan Smuts for two months, during which time he made sandals for Smuts - an overwhelming act of love. Gandhi lead a second satyagraha against the fingerprint ordinance, and again a third one against a bill that would invalidate Indian marriages. The attention that these movements received managed to win over increasing numbers of Europeans as well as people from all races and religions around the world. Gandhi after 21 years in South Africa, returned to India where he continued to gain a huge following. In India, Gandhi made it a point to abolish the old Hindu cast system, which treated the lowest class, "the untouchables" as social outcasts. Also, Gandhi was an international icon in his involvement with attempting to bring peace between Hindu and Muslim Indians. Gandhi also continued to resist unjust English policies such as England's declared monopoly on salt production. In defiance of this declaration he lead his famous Salt March, where protesters produced their own salt from the waters of the Arabian Sea. English troops retaliated violently and beat the protesters. Deats refers to a quote from Louis Fischer - another great biographer of Gandhi - regarding this event. Fischer writes, "When the Indians allowed themselves to be beaten with batons and rifle butts and did not cringe they showed that England was powerless and India invincible. The rest was merely a matter of time." (65) Gandhi was winning the war for independence through purely nonviolent means. His methods of resistance often included fasting for several days. This method worked on several occasions to bring opposing parties to negotiate, including in protesting against the treatment of "the untouchables", and protesting against the Muslim-Hindu conflict. An extremist Hindu militant on January 30th of 1948 assassinated Gandhi shortly after completing a fast in protest of the violent Hindu-Muslim conflict. He had infuriated many Hindus who considered him a traitor for being sympathetic to Muslims. Gandhi left a great legacy, and his message of compassion and nonviolent resistance has clearly had a large effect on several nonviolent movements since his death. Deats' extremely informative and concise biography has several strong points. The author touches on many of the important events that Gandhi had lived through as a younger man, which were imperative in molding him into the selfless icon that he became. Also, Deats does an excellent job of emphasizing the important programs that Gandhi founded, and the instructive philosophies that he learned and preached. Although Gandhi's philosophy on life and subsequent actions are summarized well, there is unfortunately a lack of detailed information on how, from an organizational standpoint, he managed to assemble such a great following. The last twenty pages of the book are simply a collection of inspirational quotes from Gandhi's literature. Deats is incredibly effective at using quotes throughout the text to portray Gandhi's unconditional love for all humans, especially those who are suffering. It is made clear why so many hundreds of thousands of people were willing to join Gandhi in his movements for change.
