In the history of nationalism a single individual is often identified with the making of a nation. For example, Garibaldi– in the making of Italy; George Washington – the American War of Independence; and Ho Chi Minh – the struggle to free Vietnam from colonial rule. In the same manner, Mahatma Gandhi has been regarded as the ‘Father’ of the Indian nation. 

Description about Gandhi

Arrival in India: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, aged 46, arrived in India in January 1915 from South Africa.

• Work in South Africa: He went to South Africa as a lawyer, and in time became a leader of the Indian community in that territory. 
• Non-Violent Resistance: Having led Indians in that country in non-violent marches known as satyagraha against racist restrictions, he was already a respected leader, known internationally. 
• Chandran Devanesan’s Perspective : As the historian Chandran Devanesan has remarked, South Africa was “the making of the Mahatma”. 
• Gandhi’s Interactions: His South African campaigns had brought him in contact with various types of Indians: Hindus, Muslims, Parsis and Christians; Gujaratis, Tamils and north Indians; and upper-class merchants, lawyers and workers. 

Early Phase in India

Political Landscape of India: The India that Gandhi came back to in 1915 was rather different from the one that he had left in 1893. It was far more active politically. 

• Growth of the Indian National Congress (INC): The INC now had branches in most major cities and towns and the Swadeshi movement of 1905-07 had greatly broadened its appeal among the middle classes. 
• Role of “Lal, Bal, Pal”: The leaders like “Lal, Bal and Pal”, advocated militant opposition to colonial rule, there was a group of “Moderates” who preferred a more gradual and persuasive approach. 
• Gandhi’s Political Mentors: Among these Moderates was Gandhiji’s acknowledged political mentor, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, as well as Mohammad Ali Jinnah, who, like Gandhiji, was a lawyer of Gujarati extraction trained in London.
• Gandhi’s Year of Exploration and Engagement in India: On Gokhale’s advice, Mahatma Gandhi spent his first year in India travelling throughout the country, getting to know the land and its peoples, their needs and the overall situation. 

Gandhiji’s First Major Public Appearance

Gandhi’s Inauguration Speech : His first major public appearance was at the opening of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in February 1916 who was invited on account of his work in South Africa. 

• Attendees: Among the invitees to this event were the princes and philanthropists whose donations had contributed to the founding of the BHU. 
  • Leaders of the Congress, such as Annie Besant, were also present.
• Critique of Indian Elite’s: The opening of the BHU, Gandhiji charged the Indian elite with a lack of concern for the labouring poor. 
• Call to Strip Oneself of Privileges for the Nation’s Sake: Gandhiji told the privileged invitees that “there is no salvation for India unless you strip yourself of this jewellery and hold it in trust for your countrymen in India”. 
• Speech: “There can be no spirit of self-government about us,” he went on, “if we take away or allow others to take away from the peasants almost the whole of the results of their labour. 
•  Importance of Farmers in India’s Salvation: Our salvation can only come through the farmer. Neither the lawyers, nor the doctors, nor the rich landlords are going to secure it.” 
• Nationalism as an Elite Phenomenon: Gandhiji’s speech at Banaras was, at one level, merely a statement of fact – namely, that Indian nationalism was an elite phenomenon, a creation of lawyers and doctors and landlords. 
• Make Nationalism Representative of the Masses: But, at another level, it was also a statement of intent – the first public announcement of Gandhiji’s own desire to make Indian nationalism more properly representative of the Indian people as a whole. 

Gandhiji’s Early Movements

Gandhi’s Encounter with the Champaran Peasant: At the annual Congress, held in Lucknow in December 1916, he was approached by a peasant from Champaran in Bihar, who told him about the harsh treatment of peasants by British indigo planters.

• Seeking Security and Freedom for Peasants: Mahatma Gandhi spent much of 1917, seeking to obtain for the peasants security of tenure as well as the freedom to cultivate the crops of their choice.
• Interventions in Local Movements: Later interventions were in local movements in Kheda and Ahmedabad where he came into contact with Rajendra Prasad and Vallabhbhai Patel. 
• Labour Dispute Intervention in Ahmedabad: In Ahmedabad, he intervened in a labour dispute, demanding better working conditions for the textile mill workers and led a successful millworkers’ strike in 1918. 
• Peasant Demands for Tax Remission in Kheda: Then he joined peasants in Kheda in asking the state for the remission of taxes following the failure of their harvest. 
• Nationalist Championing the Poor: These initiatives in Champaran, Ahmedabad and Kheda marked Gandhiji out as a nationalist with a deep sympathy for the poor. 

Conclusion

Gandhi, upon returning to India, encountered a more active nationalist movement. After observing the country, his first major public appearance challenged the elite and highlighted the plight of the poor. These early interventions, in Champaran, Ahmedabad, and Kheda, established him as a champion for the masses.

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