E-Book - Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi – His Life & Timeslinked with the struggle of the Indian people for their national liberation whichhas lasted over such a long period.' Soviet Ukraine delegate Tarasenko alsostressed Gandhi's politics.The U.N. lowered its flag to half-mast.Humanity lowered its flag.The worldwide response to Gandhi's death was in itself an important fact; itrevealed a widespread mood and need. 'There is still some hope for the worldwhich reacted as reverently as it did to the death of Gandhi,' Albert Deutschdeclared in the New York newspaper PM. 'The shock and sorrow that followedthe New Delhi tragedy shows we still respect sainthood even when we cannotfully understand it.'Gandhi 'made humility and simple truth more powerful than empires', U.S.Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg said. Pearl S. Buck, novelist, described Gandhi'sassassination as 'another crucifixion'. Justice Felix Frankfurter called it 'a cruelblow against the forces of good in the world'.General Douglas MacArthur, supreme Allied military commander in Japan, said:'In the evolution of civilization, if it is to survive, all men cannot fail eventuallyto adopt Gandhi's belief that the process of mass application of force to resolvecontentious issues is fundamentally not only wrong but contains within itselfthe germs of self-destruction.' Lord (Admiral) Mountbatten, last British Viceroyin India, expressed the hope that Gandhi's life might 'inspire our troubled worldto save itself by following his noble example'. The spectacle of the general andthe admiral pinning their faith on the little ascetic would certainly seem tojustify the verdict of Sir Hartley Shawcross, British Attorney General, thatGandhi was 'the most remarkable man of the century'.To the statesmen and politicians who eulogized him Gandhi was at least areminder of their own inadequacies.A California girl of thirteen wrote in a letter: 'I was really terribly sad to hearabout Gandhi's death. I never knew I was that interested in him but I foundmyself quite unhappy about the great man's death.'www.mkgandhi.org Page 14