Gandhi Case

Gandhi is a movie depicting the Biography of Mohandas Gandhi, the lawyer that led the Indian struggle for liberation from the British Empire.  It was relatively challenging for Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violence to promote Indian sovereignty but ultimately it became a success.  In the movie, after getting thrown of a train in South Africa, He came to a harsh realization that his countrymen were treated with unfavorable bias as a result of the color of their skin.  He subsequently took up the responsibility of organizing non violent protests against the treatment of Indians in South Africa.  His success was noticed in India and thereafter, he was recruited by congress members to assist with the call for independence.

In class, some of the relevant leadership concepts identified from the movie were discussed as follows.  Firstly, vision, which is a mandatory conceptual skill leaders should posses and according Robert Katz model, the ability to develop ideas. Gandhi displayed exceptional vision in leading his people.  The most evident was the use of non-violent protests.  Despite events like the Amritsar massacre and pressure from the Muslim brotherhood for insurgency, he still advocated non violence.  Another notable example was selflessness; he was pursued his country’s agenda with so much passion without accepting financial compensation.  He supported himself primarily through his legal practice and newspaper.

Another issue highlighted in class was the effectiveness of non-violent protests.  Gandhi was deeply religious and from a moral perspective, considered it more effective to write, fast and organize peaceful movements, rather support violence.  For example he successfully orchestrated the reinstatement of non-Christian marriages in South Africa that were previously nullified to oppress the Indians.  In addition, India’s independence was achieved without a civil war even though it was evident that the British were constrained by size of manpower and the ongoing world war.  In contrast, it was mentioned that when compared with violent uprisings like the American Revolution, India’s independence would have been achieved much sooner if they took up arms against the British.