World leaders on Gandhi: “We may ignore him at our own risk”

Mahatma Gandhi is not just an individual; he is a movement and his name continues to remain synonymous with non-violence and freedom.

Here’s what a few world leaders have said about him:

Barack Hussein Obama

“It was Gandhi’s understanding of India’s stories and traditions and his attention to the marginalised voices in Africa, that helped him gather a movement that drove out the world’s most successful empire”

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela

“Gandhi’s ideas have played a vital role in South Africa’s transformation and with the help of Gandhi’s teaching, apartheid has been overcome”

George Bernard Shaw

“Impressions of Gandhi? You might well ask for someone’s impression of the Himalayas”

John Lennon

“Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King are great examples of fantastic non-violents. who died violently. I can never work that out. We’re pacifists, but I’m not sure what it means when you’re such a pacifist that you get shot. I can never understand that.”

(Ironically, Lennon was himself shot dead in New York a month after saying this)

Martin Luther King Jr

“Christ gave us the goals and Mahatma Gandhi the tactics. If humanity is to progress, Gandhi is inescapable. He lived, thought, and acted, inspired by the vision of humanity evolving toward a world of peace and harmony. We may ignore him at our own risk”

Albert Einstein

“Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth. He has demonstrated that a powerful human following can be assembled not only through the cunning game of the usual political manoeuvres and trickeries but through the cogent example of morally superior conduct of life”

This article first appeared in National Herald on Sunday