Gandhi and the Non-Violent Protest Movement in India
Topic: The Indian independence movement
Purpose/ Relevance of the Lesson:
The Indian independence movement, which was based on the principles of non-violence, became the
model for the Civil Rights movement in the U.S. In order to better understand how the oppressed use
alternatives to force in throwing off the oppressors, it is helpful to look at the basic ideas behind nonviolence as described by Gandhi himself.
Objectives: (Students will be able to…Learn, Do, and Produce)
 Students will explain who Mahatma Gandhi was and why he is important in Indian history.
 Students will analyze a primary source written by Gandhi.
 Students will rewrite statements from Hind Swaraj to better understand the ideas of non-violent
protest.
Grade Level: 9th-12th (Best for an upper level class)
Time needed: One or two 45- minute class periods
Materials Needed:
 Copies of “Interpreting a Primary Source” handout
 Copies of “Excerpts from Hind Swaraj” handout
 “Gandhi and the Indian Independence Movement” reading
Academic Standards Covered:
Background Knowledge:
You will need to have a basic understanding of the Indian independence movement, non-violent
protest and civil disobedience, Gandhi, and Hind Swaraj.
“Hook” Activity:
Show students pictures or video footage of sit-ins, marches, freedom rides in which the AfricanAmerican protestors met violent resistance from white law enforcement. Ask students why these
kinds of protest worked.
Lesson Procedure:
- Explain that the idea of non-violent protest came from India’s struggle for Independence in
the early 1900s.
- Define “civil disobedience” on the board.
- (Optional) Read Thoreau’s essay on civil disobedience.
- Provide students with basic information on British rule of India, and the roots of discontent.
- Together as a class, or individually, have students read the 2-page reading on Gandhi.
- Discuss some of the personal characteristics of Gandhi that made him a good leader.
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- Assign students to groups of 2-3.
- Give each group the “Interpreting Primary Sources” handout AND the “Excerpts from Hind
Swaraj.
- Instruct each group to read through the excerpts and complete the “Interpreting Primary
Sources” handout
- (Optional) Once each group has rewritten the statements, have them exchange with
another group and try to identify which of the rewritten statements matches up with which
excerpts from Hind Swaraj.
Assessment/ Evaluation
Have each student answer the Conclusion statement in his/her own words, and turn it in as an exit
slip.
Ideas for Differentiating Instruction:
 Give each excerpt from Hind Swaraj a rating of Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 (with Level 1 being
the easiest statements to understand and Level 3 being the most difficult. Explain to students
that they should select statements that they feel most comfortable with.
 Have student watch short video clips showing non-violent protests in India and the U.S. and
explain what he/she learned.
 Have student draw picture(s) showing non-violent protest and demonstrating one main idea
behind it.
Additional Resources:
“Becoming Minnesotan: Stories of Recent Immigrants and Refugees” website:
https://www.mnhs.org/immigrant
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Name____________________________________________________ Hour____________
Interpreting a Primary Source
The people of India had resented the control of the British for many years, but it was not until a leader emerged
in the early decades of the 1900s that the independence movement took shape. Mahatma Gandhi was a
lawyer by trade who developed the strategies of non-violence, non-cooperation, and civil disobedience as
forms of protest against the British. These strategies would later be used in the American Civil Rights struggle.
Reading the exact text of Gandhi’s book Hind Swaraj gives us a good sense of what ideas “satyagraha” or
non-violence was based on. However, primary sources like this one sometimes have complicated language
that is difficult to understand. This activity will help us break down the language used in Hind Swaraj to better
understand what it is really saying.
Take a closer look at the excerpted statements from Hind Swaraj. Select ten statements below that you
understand and could explain to someone else.
For each statement use a piece of scratch paper to rewrite that sentence in language that you think your
classmates would understand. (Each of these sentences that you write should mean exactly the same thing as
one statement from Hind Swaraj.)
Revise the sentences that you wrote, checking for correct spelling and word choice. When you are happy with
your sentences, write them neatly on the following lines (in order).
1. ___________________________________________________________________________
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2. ___________________________________________________________________________
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3. ___________________________________________________________________________
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4. ___________________________________________________________________________
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5. ___________________________________________________________________________
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6. ___________________________________________________________________________
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7. ___________________________________________________________________________
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8. ___________________________________________________________________________
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9. ___________________________________________________________________________
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10. __________________________________________________________________________
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ON ANOTHER SHEET OF PAPER EACH GROUP MEMBER MUST ANSWER THIS QUESTION
IN YOUR OWN WORDS.
Conclusion: Explain the basic idea(s) of non-violent protest.
(Hint: #20 will help you get started! Add ideas from other excerpts, too.)
(Optional) Exchange papers with another classmate and try to figure out which statements in Hind
Swaraj match up with the above sentences that he/ she has written.
Copyright © 2010 Minnesota Historical Society
Excerpts from Hind Swaraj
1. Duties of a Newspaper
"One of the objects of a newspaper is to understand popular feeling and to give expression to it;
another is to arouse among the people certain desirable sentiments; and the third is fearlessly to
expose popular defects."
[M. K. Gandhi, Hind Swaraj, Chap. I]
2. Justice
"We who seek justice will have to do justice to others."
[M. K. Gandhi, Hind Swaraj, Chap. I]
3. Discontent and Unrest
"Unrest is, in reality, discontent. This discontent is a very useful thing. As long as a man is
contented with his present lot, so long is it difficult to persuade him to come out of it. Therefore it is
that every reform must be preceded by discontent. We throw away things we have, only when we
cease to like them."
[M. K. Gandhi, Hind Swaraj, Chap. III]
4. India Is A Nation
“India cannot cease to be one nation because people belonging to different religions live in it. The
introduction of foreigners does not necessarily destroy the nation; they merge in it. A country is
one nation only when such a condition obtains in it. That country must have a faculty for
assimilation. India has ever been such a country.”
[M. K. Gandhi, Hind Swaraj, Chap. X]
5. Religion and Nationality Not Synonymous
“In reality, there are as many religious as there are individuals; but those who are conscious of the
spirit of nationality do not interfere with one another’s religion.In no part of the world are one
nationality and one religion synonymous terms; nor has it ever been so in India.”
[M. K. Gandhi, Hind Swaraj, Chap. X]
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6. What Is True Civilization?
“Civilization is that mode of conduct which points out to man the path of duty. Performance of duty
and observance of morality are convertible terms. To observe morality is to attain mastery over our
mind and our passions. So doing, we know ourselves. The Gujarati equivalent for civilization
means ‘good conduct.”
[M. K. Gandhi, Hind Swaraj, Chap. XIII]
7. Indian Civilization – II
“The more we indulge our passions, the more unbridled they become. Our ancestors, therefore,
set a limit to our indulgences. They saw that happiness was largely a mental condition.”
[M. K. Gandhi, Hind Swaraj, Chap. XIII]
8. Indian Civilization Vs Western Civilization
”The tendency of Indian civilization is to elevate the moral being, that of the Western civilization is
to propagate immorality.”
[M. K. Gandhi, Hind Swaraj, Chap. XIII]
9. Freedom from England
“If the English become Indianized, we can accommodate them. If they wish to remain, in India
along with their civilization, there is no room for them.”
[M. K. Gandhi, Hind Swaraj, Chap. XIV]
10. Means and End – III
“fair means alone can produce fair results, and that, at least in the majority of cases, if not indeed
in all, the force of love and pity is infinitely greater than the force of arms. There is harm in the
exercise of brute force, never in that of pity.”
[M. K. Gandhi, Hind Swaraj, Chap. XV]
11. History A Record Of Wars
“History, as we know it, is a record of the wars of the world, and so there is a proverb among
Englishmen that a nation which has no history; that is, no wars, is a happy nation.”
[M. K. Gandhi, Hind Swaraj, Chap. XVII]
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12. Brute Force vs. Love-Force
“A petition of an equal is a sign of courtesy; a petition from a slave is a symbol of his slavery. A
petition backed by forced is a petition from an equal and, when he transmits his demand in the
form of a petition, it testifies to his nobility. Two kinds of force can back petitions. “We shall hurt
you if you do not give this,” is one kind of force; it is the force of arms. The second kind of force
can thus be stated: “If you do not concede our demand, we shall be no longer your petitioners.
You can govern us only so long as we remain the governed; we shall no longer have any dealing
with you.” The force implied in this may be described as love-force, soul-force, or, more popularly
but less accurately, passive resistance. This force is indestructible.”
[M. K. Gandhi, Hind Swaraj, Chap. XVI]
13. Satyagraha Explained – I
“Passive resistance is a method of securing rights by personal suffering; it is the reverse of
resistance by arms. When I refuse to do a thing that is repugnant to my conscience, I use soulforce.”
[M. K. Gandhi, Hind Swaraj, Chap. XVII]
14. Satyagraha Explained – III
“The real meaning of the statement that we are a law-abiding nation is that we are resisters. When
we do not like certain laws, we do not break the heads of law-givers but we suffer and do not
submit to the laws.”
[M. K. Gandhi, Hind Swaraj, Chap. XVII]
15. Satyagraha Explained – IV
“it is contrary to our manhood if we obey laws repugnant to our conscience. Such teaching is
opposed to religion and means slavery. Even the Government does not expect any such thing
from us. They do not say: ‘You must do such and such a thing, ’but they say: ’If you do not to do it,
we will punish you’.”
[M. K. Gandhi, Hind Swaraj, Chap. XVII]
16. Satyagraha Explained – VIII
“Physical-force men are strangers to the courage that is requisite in a passive resister,”
[M. K. Gandhi, Hind Swaraj, Chap. XVII]
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17. English-Knowing Indians Have Enslaved India
“English-knowing Indians have not hesitated to cheat and strike terror into the people. It is we, the
English-knowing Indians, that have enslaved India. The curse of the nation will rest not upon the
English but upon us.”
[M. K. Gandhi, Hind Swaraj, Chap. XVIII]
18. Economic Enslavement Of India – I
“When I read Mr. Dutt’s Economic History of India, I wept; and as I think of it again my heart
sickens. It is machinery that has impoverished India. It is difficult to measure the harm that
Manchester has done to us. It is due to Manchester that Indian handicraft has all but disappeared.”
[M. K. Gandhi, Hind Swaraj, Chap. XIX]
19. Duty Is Service
“Let each do his duty. If I do my duty, that is, serve myself, I shall be able to serve others.”
[M. K. Gandhi, Hind Swaraj, Chap. XX]
20. Real Home-Rule (Conclusion)
“I will take the liberty of repeating:
1.Real home-rule is self-rule or self-control.
2.The way to it is passive resistance: that is soul-force or love force.
3.In order to exert this force, Swadeshi in every sense is necessary.
[Swadeshi= self-
sufficiency. Boycott British goods and produce what you need.]
4.What we want to do should be done, not because we object to the English or because we want
to retaliate but because it is our duty to do so.”
[M. K. Gandhi, Hind Swaraj, Chap. XX]
Copyright © 2010 Minnesota Historical Society
Gandhi and the Indian Independence Movement
Mohandas K. Gandhi, known as “Mahatma” (great soul) was one of the most influential spiritual and political
leaders of our time. Gandhi is most well known for his help in India’s struggle for independence from British
rule. Freedom was achieved based on a campaign of non-violence and civil disobedience. People
everywhere heard his message in which he empowered the POWERLESS people to effect change without
violence.
A national movement for independence was reviving in India in 1930. The Indian National Congress declared
to the British that they would not be satisfied with nothing short of a complete independence of India from
Britain. The Congress asked help from Gandhi. He knew that he had to follow up the statement of “complete
independence” with action. On March 2, 1930 Gandhi composed a letter to British Viceroy Irwin stating that
unless Indian demands were met, he would be compelled to break the “SALT” laws. Of course, the letter was
received by the British with amusement and not taken seriously.
The British had complete monopoly of the production and sale of salt throughout India. Gandhi set forth on
March 12, calling upon the Indian masses to refuse to pay taxes, particularly the tax on Salt, which is a basic
necessity of daily life. The campaign was to march on foot to the sea, in which thousands of Indians followed
Gandhi from Ahmedabad to the Arabian Sea. Once at the Arabian Sea, they made salt by evaporating
seawater.
Once more Gandhi was arrested but he was released in 1931, halting the campaign after the British made
concessions to his demands and alleviated the tax. Gandhi and his followers continued the civil disobedience
movement by the complete boycott of British goods and eventually wore down the British into giving India its
independence in 1947.
Gandhi’s influence reached across the world to many famous world leaders. Martin Luther King Jr. achieved
equality and civil rights in the United States through non-violent means. Martin Luther King Jr was fascinated
by the life of Gandhi, who had successfully transformed the ethic of nonviolence into a political instrument
against British colonial rule. The impact they made on him is best described in his own words: "As I read, I
became deeply fascinated by his campaigns of nonviolent resistance. As I delved deeper into the philosophy of
Gandhi, my skepticism concerning the power of love gradually diminished, and I came to see for the first time
its potency in the area of social reform."
"The 'turn-the-other-cheek' philosophy and the 'love-your-enemies' philosophy," he went on, "were only valid
when individuals were in conflict with other individuals; when racial groups and nations were in conflict, a more
realistic approach seemed necessary.”
King came to realize that Gandhi was the first person in history to re- invent the Christian ethic of love as a "a
potent instrument for social and collective transformation." It was a short journey thereafter to complete
acceptance of the Gandhian technique of nonviolence as the only viable means to overcome the problems
faced by his people.
Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violence movement also heavily influenced Nelson Mandela, a prominent leader of the
black opposition to Apartheid in South Africa. Albert Einstein, John Lennon, Al Gore and Barrack Obama have
all respectfully made mention of the impact that Mahatma Gandhi had on each of them.
Indeed Mahatma Gandhi was a great apostle of non-violence who is considered father of the nation. His life
and massage have impacted many world leaders.
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