PHOTO/ Gandhi assassinated 64 years ago today

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, often called Mahatma (great soul) was assassinated on January 30, 1948 by a Hindu fanatic. Gandhi, the leader of the Indian independence movement and pioneer of non-violent resistance using civil disobedience, has since been an inspiration for countless non-violent protests and civil rights movements around the world, including the American one led by Martin Luther King Jr.

Gandhi was born in Porbandar, India on October 2, 1869. He studied law in England and, when he could not find a job in India, he went to South Africa. There he faced discrimination and fought against it using non-violence. He organized his first demonstration of civil disobedience, called satyagraha. After seven years, he negotiated a compromise with the South African government.

He returned to India in 1914 and, in 1919, organized a satyagraha against the drafting of Indians to fight for the British in World War I. He became the leader of the independence movement, organizing a massive boycott of British products, including persuading people to spin their own clothes in the traditional style instead of buying clothes. In 1930, he led the famous Dandi salt march, in which thousands of Indians marched to the sea to protest the tax on salt by making it themselves from evaporating the seawater. This led to the arrests of Gandhi and 60,000 others.

Gandhi spent many years in and out of jail, using fasting to protest against the various moves of the British government. In 1942, he began the Quit India movement, calling for Britain to leave India. When the talks for independence began, Gandhi supported a unified India, but India was eventually split into India and Pakistan, leading to violence that left hundreds of thousands dead. In an attempt to stop the violence Gandhi led fasts and visited the troubled areas. Many think that much more violence would have occurred had Gandhi not acted.

On January 20, 1948, he was visiting New Delhi when he was killed by Nathuram Godse, who fired three shots at him pointblank. Godse was upset about what he considered the weakening of India and held Gandhi responsible. He was executed two years later. Gandhi was mourned around the world and millions joined in his funeral parade. He was cremated and his ashes spread in places around the world. He is also called Bapu, or father, in India, as he is considered the father of the nation.