How India’s independence movement set the tone for future global political movements

The Indian independence movement has been inspirational not just to the current generation of political movements but the Gandhian non-violent approach to protest also set the tone for future political movements across the world, inspiring several leaders fighting for various causes, from civil rights to a country’s battle for independence.

India’s independence was one of the first high-profile decolonisation moves that the British made in the post-war era. British decolonisation started soon after the end of World War II. The nation was running out of funds to maintain the empire as a result of the losses in the war and cited that the reason for the downfall of the empire. When the British left India after nearly a century of protests, riots and movements, it was the first of a 52-year era of British decolonisation.

Many countries under the British Empire before World War II had achieved dominion status with the crown remaining as the head of state. In the decolonisation period, however, several of these countries became republics.

British Ceylon, now called Sri Lanka, gained independence in 1948. The country was a dominion of the United Kingdom till 1972 when it became a republic. Several youth leagues in the country had organised peaceful protests against British rule to call for 'Poorana Swaraj' or complete self-rule.

These peaceful protests were inspired by two major figures of South Asia. One was Anagarika Dharmapala, a Buddhist revivalist who rose to prominence in the late 19th century and early 20th century. The other was Mahatama Gandhi. Protestors sought secularism, national unity and for peace to prevail. Violence was rare and Sri Lanka’s independence in 1948 was gained in a largely peaceful fashion. Gandhi visited then Ceylon at the invitation of Sri Lankan freedom fighter Charles Edgar Corea. He delivered several speeches in Sri Lanka and had left a strong influence on the freedom movement of the country.

Nelson Mandela, who fought for the abolition of apartheid in South Africa, was a staunch African nationalist. Mandela, however, was moved by Gandhi’s call for non-violence and non-cooperation. In his autobiography, he wrote, “Nonviolent passive resistance is effective as long as your opposition adheres to the same rules as you do.” He added that in fighting the dominant Afrikaner population, “if peaceful protest is met with violence, its efficacy is at an end. For me, nonviolence was not a moral principle but a strategy.” He also said later on, “Violence and nonviolence are not mutually exclusive; it is the predominance of the one or the other that labels a struggle". South Africa’s movement against apartheid and racism, similar to India’s and Sri Lanka’s independence movements, was largely peaceful with only some groups taking to violence to achieve their objective.

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Another such movement inspired by the Gandhian approach was the American civil rights movement in the mid-late 20th century. Dr Martin Luther King Jr. was inspired by Christian beliefs and the non-violent activism of Gandhi. In an interview, King said that he admired freedom fighters wherever they were and that he believed non-violence was the best approach.

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Fighting against racial inequality, he organised several marches and spoke to thousands of people. He organised the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott, a key moment in the civil rights movement, which fought against racial segregation in buses and public transit. This boycott brought into the limelight Rosa Parks, another well-known civil rights activist. His methods were strikingly similar to those employed by Gandhi prior to 1947.

In an interview on Gandhi and how he was inspired by him, King said, “Organised non-violence is the most powerful weapon that oppressed people can use in breaking loose from the bondage of oppression.”

From battles to break free from colonial rule and civil rights movements to the abolition of apartheid, India’s century-long non-violent approach to independence set the tone for political movements in many parts of the world.