Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary is commemorated as Gandhi Jayanti. It is one of India’s three national holidays, and it is marked in all states and territories of the country. This year marks the 152nd birth anniversary of father of the nation. Renowned world over for his message on peace, Gandhi is known to inspire people to get together and fight injustice without violence. His message remains relevant even today and continues to resonate with people.
Here are some of his iconic speeches:
Dandi March speech
Gandhi led the peaceful march to protest against the British Raj’s salt tax rule and his speech for this movement remains one of his most remembered speeches. He propagated the message of satyagraha through his speech made on March 11, 1930, where he said, “A Satyagrahi, whether free or incarcerated, is ever victorious. He is vanquished only when he forsakes truth and nonviolence and turns a deaf ear to the inner voice. If, therefore, there is such a thing as defeat for even a Satyagrahi, he alone is the cause of it.”
Quit India Movement speech
Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘Do or Die’ message for Indians during the announcement of Quit India Movement unified the country to fight the British Raj. The speech initiated a civil disobedience campaign that spread across the country and lasted from August 1942 to September 1944. He said, “If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children.”
Gandhi on righteousness
“It’s the action, not the fruit of the action, that’s important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there’ll be any fruit. But that doesn’t mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.”
Gandhi on India’s partition in 1947
On June 3, 1947, when the Partition plan was announced, Gandhi told Rajendra Prasad, “I can see only evil in the plan.”
Gandhi on the Swadeshi movement
Gandhi believed in self-reliance and moreover, economic freedom for Indians who were suffering from poverty during the colonial era. Khadi became the symbol of that self-reliance as he promoted the spinning wheel which fulfilled these conditions.
“It is best to die performing one’s own duty or Swadharma. Paradharma, or another’s duty, is fraught with danger, he said, explaining, “What the Gita says with regard to swadharma equally applies to swadeshi also, for swadeshi is swadharma applied to one’s immediate environment.”
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