Pravasi Bharatiya Divas: When Mahatma Gandhi returned to India to a hero’s welcome

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas: When Mahatma Gandhi returned to India to a hero’s welcome
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas: When Mahatma Gandhi returned to India to a hero’s welcome

New Delhi: Every year on January 9, Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (Non-Resident Indian Day) is observed in India. It is celebrated once in two years and is a significant event that honors the contributions of the Indian diaspora to their homeland. It is celebrated on January 9 because on that day in 1915, Mahatma Gandhi returned to India from South Africa as a hero. In this article, we will take a look at his exploits in South Africa and how he was welcomed in India after his return.

Mahatma Gandhi and his tryst with South Africa

Born on October 2, 1869, Mahatma Gandhi became a lawyer and started his practice in India. However, it did not take off in this country and he was not able to start a successful law practice. Hence, in 1893, he moved to South Africa where he represented an Indian merchant in a lawsuit. He faced racial discrimination is the country and that made him to fight against the racially discriminating government in South Africa. He stayed there for 21 years with his family and it was in that country that he first employed his Satyagraha or non-violent resistance while campaigning for civil rights. Gandhi played a crucial role in securing civil rights for the Indian and Black communities residing in South Africa and to date, he is hailed as a prominent figure there.

When did Mahatma Gandhi return to India?

On January 9, 1915, at the age of 45, Mahatma Gandhi returned to India at the Apollo Bunder in Bombay (now Mumbai) and a hero’s welcome awaited him. On January 12, the people in the city honoured him with a magnificent reception in Jehangir Petit’s palatial house, a noted nationalist, mill owner, philanthropist, and one of Gandhi’s earliest supporters.

The British Indian government also honoured him and in the King’s birthday honours list of 1915, he received the “Kaiser-I-Hind” gold medal. Since Gandhi knew Gopal Krishna Gokhale who acted as his mentor, his place in the Indian politics was more or less assured. His fight in South Africa was as much humanitarian as political which is why he was applauded by Indians and also by the Englishmen who believed in humanity.

The ‘probation year’ of Mahatma Gandhi

The year 1915 was sort of a ‘probation year’ for Mahatma Gandhi. Coaxed by Gokhale, Gandhi promised that he would not express himself upon public questions. He visited Porbandar and Rajkot and later went to Shantiniketan in West Bengal, where Rabindranath Tagore founded the Visva Bharati University. During his stay in Shantiniketan, Gandhi learned about Gokhale’s death and he mourned by going barefoot for a year. During 1915, Gandhi learned everything about Indian politics and learned about the issues that ailed this country. He studied the conditions in India during this period, which would help him in subsequent years during his fight against the British Indian government.

 Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, which is observed in India every two years on January 9, honours the Indian diaspora’s contribution to their homeland and also commemorates Mahatma Gandhi’s return from South Africa on that day in 1915.   knowledge Knowledge News, Photos and Videos on General Knowledge