[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 139 (Thursday, September 29, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 29, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                       TRIBUTE TO MAHATMA GANDHI

                                 ______


                            HON. BOB FILNER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 29, 1994

  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker and colleagues, I rise today to mark the 
celebration of the 125th birthday of a great revolutionary and social 
reformer, Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi was one of those unique individuals 
that sets out on a course to touch every life they come across in a 
positive manner, using their talents to promote change and progress.
  He was born in a seacoast town in the Kathiaware Peninsula, north of 
Bombay, to a wealthy family. He practiced law, using both his 
intellectual abilities and deep religious beliefs to bring equality and 
justice to society.
  In 1893, he accepted an offer from a Moslem firm to represent it in 
Pretoria, in the Union of South Africa. While traveling in a first-
class train compartment in Natal, he was asked by a white man to leave. 
He spent the night at the train station meditating on the incident and 
made the momentous decision to devote his life toward eradicating 
prejudice. He helped to launch a campaign to improve the legal status 
of Indians in South Africa who, at the time, suffered the same 
discrimination as blacks. Gandhi knew he faced a monumental task; in 
fact, when he reached South Africa, an angry mob stoned and attempted 
to lynch him. But he continued to fight for equality and justice for 
Indians in South Africa, eventually winning a law declaring Indian 
marriages valid in South Africa and abolishing the tax on former 
indentured Indian labor.
  Then he turned his eyes to his homeland.
  Gandhi knew how to reach the masses, working with them to spread the 
idea of a new and free Indian individual. He also moved his people 
toward a spiritual regeneration of the nation, raising awareness and 
activism.
  One technique he used in his effort to promote progress and change 
was the fast. He undertook a 21-day fast to bring the Hindu-Moslem 
communities together, believing that together they could accomplish 
much. In 1930, he began his famous 24-day salt march to the sea. At 
that time, a British law taxed all salt used by Indians, creating a 
severe hardship on the very poor. Several thousand marchers walked 
hundreds of miles to the coast, where Gandhi picked up a handful of 
salt in defiance of the government. This helped to start a nationwide 
movement against the tax, and made the British aware of Indian unrest.
  In August 1947, India finally celebrated its independence. Gandhi is 
still regarded as the most influential force in making this possible, 
through his teaching of nonviolent civil disobedience and his work in 
bringing the Indian people together for the betterment of the whole 
nation.
  In January 1948, Gandhi began his last fast, praying for Indian 
unity. He was shot and killed for his beliefs, but his ideals and works 
live on. Gandhi believed, as I do, that one person CAN make a 
difference. His followers joined with their hearts and minds to make 
their country better, not just for themselves, but for future 
generations. I join my friends today in remembering this great man and 
his work to bring the ideals of equality, justice and freedom to 
reality.

                          ____________________