Encyclopedia of Islam

Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand

  

255  J

---

state called p

akistan

, Gandhi believed in an inde-

pendent India that would be religiously diverse 

but unified in essence under a pluralistic style 

of Hinduism. Gandhi was deeply opposed to the 

idea of the partition of India into Muslim and 

Hindu states and was devastated by the violent 

partition of British India into Pakistan and India 

that took place upon India’s independence. Gan-

dhi was assassinated on January, 30, 1948, by a 

Hindu extremist. His tragic death brought to the 

nation’s attention the anger of Hindu extremists 

at Gandhi’s concern for Indian Muslims. Since his 

death, Gandhi has become a worldwide icon for 

the power of passive resistance to political oppres-

sion, influencing such major leaders as Martin 

Luther King, Jr.

See also  a

ll

-i

ndia

  m

Uslim

  l

eagUe

; 

colonial

-

ism

; h

indUism

 

and

 i

slam

; k

hilaFat

 m

ovement

.

Megan Adamson Sijapati