Tributes To Gandhi From India & Abroad |
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© Rajagopalachari © Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru © Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel | |
Bharatmata is writhing in anguish and pain over the loss. No man loved Bharatmata and Indians more than Mahatma Gandhi. Let the tragedy that was enacted in Delhi give the people of India the tune, reason, rhyme and melody for the history of their future. I pray that the history of India might be written with the rhythm and tune of the grief that Bharatmata had felt when Mahatma Gandhi fell. | |
This man of God trod the Earth
Great men and eminent men have monuments in bronze and marble set up for them, but this man of divine fire managed in his life-time to become enmeshed in millions and millions of hearts so that all of us became somewhat of the stuff that he was made of, though to an infinitely lesser degree. He spread out over India not in places only, or in select places, or in assemblies, but in every hamlet and hurt of the lowly and those who suffer. He lives in the hearts of millions of and he will live for immortal ages. | |
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel |
His supreme sacrifice will quicken our conscience
For even though his mortal frame will turn in to ashes tomorrow, at 4.00 pm, Gandhiji's imperishable teachings will abide with us. I even feel that Gandhiji's immortal spirit is still hovering over us and will continue to watch over the nation's destiny in future also. The mad youth who killed him was wrong if he thought thereby he was destroying his noble mission. Perhaps God wanted Gandhiji's mission to fulfill and prosper through his death. |
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad |
Carried burden of humanity on his frail shoulders Mahatma Gandhi has carried on his frail shoulders a great deal of burden of humanity and now it was for them to stand together and share it. If millions of Indians could divide that burden and carry it successfully, it would be nothing short of a miracle. |
Dr. S. P. Mukharjee |
Undying influence
The light that illuminated our motherland and indeed the world amidst darkness and sorrow has suddenly gone out. The passing away of Mahatma Gandhi is the most stunning blow to that could fall on India. That he who made India free and self-reliant, a friend of and enemy of none, loved and respected by millions, should fall at the hands of an assassin, one of his own community and countrymen, is a matter of deepest shame and tragedy. He is of those whose influence never dies and indeed shines more and more with the passage of time. |
Mrs. Sarojini Naidu |
Gave his country its freedom and its flag Mahatma Gandhi, whose frail body was committed to the flames yesterday, is not dead. It was right that the cremation took place in the midst of the dead kings who were buried in Delhi, for he was the kingliest of all kings. It is right also that he who was the Apostle of Peace should have been taken to the cremation ground with all the honours of a great warrior. Far greater than all the warriors who led the armies to battle was this little man, the bravest, the most tried friend of all. Delhi has become the centre and sanctuary of the great revolutionary who emancipated his enslave country from foreign bondage and gave it to its freedom and its flag. |
Dr. Rajendra Prasad |
The liberator of the Hindu Community Can we ever dream that Gandhiji was bringing harm to the Hindus or to their religion? Was it ever possible that this liberator of the Hindu community and emancipator of the low and downtrodden could even think of doing so? But men with narrow minds and limited vision who do not understand the core of Hindu Dharma thought it otherwise and the present calamity is a direct result of such an out look. |
Dr. S. Radhakrishnan |
The lonely symbol of a vanishing past
I am shocked beyond words at this fatal attack on Gandhiji. The incredible, the inconceivable, has happened. That this purest, most elevating, most inspiring man of our age should have suffered by a madman's anger shows that we have not improved since the days of Socrates, who had to drink hemlock, of Jesus, who was put on the cross. |
Sri Aurobindo |
The light will burn on
I would have preferred silence in the face of these circumstances that surround us. For, any words we can find fall flat on amid such happenings. |
Jayprakash Narayan |
We must follow the path shown by him It is not the time to speak as it is an occasion of mourning. Let us weep. Let the nation weep and wipe off from its soul the stain of the innocent blood of the greatest man the world has ever produced. We must follow the path shown by Mahatma Gandhi. He came to Delhi with a specific mission, either to do or die. He did a lot and in the end he laid down his life for what he wished to do. Let us now accomplish the sacred task that has been left undone by him. |
G. D. Birla |
Warrior, prophet and saint
Seldom, I think, human history records of one individual was at once a warrior, a prophet and a saint and yet deeply humble and intensely human. |
Devdas Gandhi |
I had long ceased to look upon him as my father
During the past few months that he was in Delhi it was the privilege of my three year old boy to be lovingly fondled by Bapu. I was a complete back number and once recently had told me that he missed Bapu more than me whenever he failed to turn up at Birla house. The little urchin now draws renewed tears from our eyes when he pouts his lips in imitation of the way his grandfather greeted him. And yet Gandhiji's interest in the narrow domestic circle was of the meagerest, and I had long ceased to look upon him as my father in any possessive sense. He was to me a saint as much as to any of you and I feel and see the void exactly as you do. |
Global Leaders |
United States of America (USA)
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UNITED KINGDOM |
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His Majesty the King |
Irreparable loss |
Lord Mountbatten |
Life of love and truth |
Countess Mountbatten |
An international tragedy |
George Bernard Shaw |
Dangerous to be good |
EUROPE | |
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Belgium |
Frans Van Cauwelaer, President of the Belgian Chamber of Deputies His death has plunged in a personal mourning all men who have not ceased to believe in the power of the spirit and the radiance of godliness. Let this tragic death continue to serve his noble dream of human fraternity. |
Czechoslovakia |
Dr. Edward Benes |
France |
A Resolution of the Council of Republic of France |
Germany |
Dr. Kurt Schumacher, GSD Leader |
Italy |
His Holiness Pope Pius XII, Vatican City |
Switzerland |
President |
USA | |
Albert Einstein |
Everyone concerned in the better future of mankind must be deeply moved by the tragic death of Mahatma Gandhi. He died as the victim of his own principles, the principle of non-violence. He died because in time of disorder and general irritation in his country, he refused armed protection for himself. It was his unshakable belief that the use of force is an evil in itself, that therefore it must be avoided by those who are striving for supreme justice to his belief. With his belief in his heart and mind, he has led a great nation on to its liberation. He has demonstrated that a powerful human following can be assembled no only through the cunning game of the usual political manoeuvres and trickeries but through the cogent example of morally superior conduct of life. |
President Truman |
Gandhi was great Indian nationalist, but at the same time he was a leader of international stature. His teachings and actions have left a deep impression on millions of people. As a teacher and leader, his influence made itself felt not only in India, but everywhere in the world and his death brings great sorrow to all peace loving people. Another giant among men has fallen in the cause of brotherhood and peace. I know that the people of Asia will be inspired by his tragic death to strive with increased determination to achieve the goals of cooperation and mutual trust for which the Mahatma has now given his life. |
Eleanor Roosevelt |
There is no doubt Gandhi had great spiritual qualities and the one only hope, even though he is not with his people, is that his influence had much of value to give to the rest of the world and one hopes the very violence of his death will turn people away from violence. |
General Dogulas MacArthur, C-in-C, Allied forces in Japan |
Nothing more revolting has occurred in history of modern world than the senseless assassination of this venerable man. That he should die by violence is one of those bitter anachronisms that seems to refute all logic. |
PAKISTAN | |
The only ray of light | |
M. A. Jinnah
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A noble death |
Liaquat Ali Khan |
Memorable efforts for communal harmony |
Arnold Zweig |
“Then rose the star of Gandhi. He showed that a doctrine of nonviolence was possible.” |
Haile Selassie I. |
“Mahatma Gandhi will always be remembered as long as free men and those who love freedom and justice live.” |
Ho Chi Minh |
“I and others may be revolutionaries but we are disciples of Mahatma Gandhi, directly or indirectly, nothing more nothing less.” |
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. |
“Gandhi was probably the first person in history to lift the love ethic of Jesus above mere interaction between individuals to a powerful and effective social force on a large scale. The intellectual and moral satisfaction that I failed to gain from the utilitarianism of Bentham and Mill, the revolutionary methods of Marx and Lenin, the social contract theory of Hobbes, the 'back to nature' optimism of Rousseau, and the superman philosophy of Nietzsche, I found in the non-violent resistance philosophy of Gandhi.” |
Pearl S. Buck |
“He was right, he knew he was right, we all knew he was right. The man who killed him knew he was right. However long the follies of the violent continue, they but prove that Gandhi was right. 'Resist to the very end', he said, 'but without violence'. Of violence the world is sick. Oh, India, dare to be worthy of your Gandhi.” |
Rabindranath Tagore |
"Mahatma Gandhi came and stood at the door of India's destitute millions, clad as one of themselves, speaking to them in their own language...who else has so unreservedly accepted the vast masses of the Indian people as his flesh and blood...Truth awakened Truth.” |
Romain Rolland |
“Gandhi is not only for India a hero of national history, whose legendary memory will be enshrined in the millennial epoch. -Gandhi has renewed, for all the peoples of the West, the message of their Christ, forgotten or betrayed.” |
U Thant |
“Many of his principles have universal application and eternal validity, and I hope the passing years will show that his faith in the efficacy of nonviolent pressure as an agent for peaceful change is as justified today all over the world as it was in his time in India.” |
Werner Heisenberg |
“Gandhi's way of thinking can lead directly into the political structure of the future world, in which a nation might be much better protected by not possessing atomic weapons than by having them, or might pursue its own interests much more efficiently by participating in the interests of other nations than by ignoring them. It was the unique example given by Gandhi which demonstrated that the most sincere personal engagement combined with complete renunciation of violence can lead to great political success. We are all indebted to him for this example.” |
Will Durant |
“Not since Buddha has India so revered any man. Not since St. Francis of Assissi has any life known to history been so marked by gentleness, disinterestedness, simplicity of soul and forgiveness of enemies. We have the astonishing phenomenon of a revolution led by a saint.” |
Lord Richard Attenborough |
“When asked what attribute he most admired in human nature, Mahatma Gandhi replied, simply and immediately, 'Courage'. 'Nonviolence', he said, 'is not to be used ever as the shield of the coward. It is the weapon of the brave.” |
HH The Dalai Lama |
“I have the greatest admiration and respect for Mahatma Gandhi. He was a great human being with a deep understanding of human nature. He made every effort to encourage the full development of the positive aspects of the human potential and to reduce or restrain the negative. His life has inspired me ever since I was a small boy. Ahimsa or nonviolence is the powerful idea that Mahatma Gandhi made familiar throughout the world. But nonviolence does not mean the mere absence of violence. It is something more positive, more meaningful than that, for it depends wholly on the power of truth. The true expression of nonviolence is compassion. Some people seem to think that compassion is just a passive emotional response instead of a rational stimulus to action. To experience genuine compassion is to develop a feeling of closeness to others combined with a sense of responsibility for their welfare. This develops when we accept that other people are just like ourselves in wanting happiness and not wanting suffering. What is the relevance of nonviolence and compassion to the future of humanity? As Mahatma Gandhi showed by his own example, nonviolence can be implemented not only in politics but also in day-to-day life. That was his great achievement. He showed that nonviolence should be active in helping others. Nonviolence means that if you can help and serve others you should do so. If you cannot, you must at least restrain yourself from harming others. I believe that it is very important that we find positive ways in which children and adults can be educated in the path of compassion, kindness and nonviolence. If we can actively do this I believe we will be fulfilling Mahatma Gandhi's legacy to us. It is my prayer that, as we enter this new century, nonviolence and dialogue will increasingly come to govern all human relations.” |
The Dalai Lama |
I have the greatest admiration for Mahatma Gandhi. He was a great human being with a deep understanding of human nature. His life has inspired me. |
Bernard Shaw |
Impressions of Gandhi? You might well ask for someone's impression of the Himalayas. |
Romain Rolland |
This is the man who has stirred three hundred million people to revolt, who has shaken the foundation of the British Empire, and who has introduced into human politics the strongest religious impetus of the 2,00 years. |
Louis Fischer |
Just an old man in a loin cloth in distant India. Yet when he died, humanity wept. |
Khan Abdul Gafar Khan |
Gandhi was the only ray of light to help us through the darkest days. |
Ho Chi Minh |
I and others may be revolutionaries but we are disciples of Mahatma Gandhi. |
Pearl. S. Buck |
He was right, he knew he was right. We all knew that he was right. The man who killed him knew he was right. |
Rabindranath Tagore |
Mahatma Gandhi came and stood at the door of India's destitute millions, clad as one of themselves. |
Earl Mountbatten |
Mahatma Gandhi will go down in history on par with Buddha and Jesus Christ. |
Albert Einstein |
A leader of his people, unsupported by only outward authority; a politician whose success rests not upon craft nor mastery of technical devices, but simply on the convincing power of his personality; a victorious fighter who has always scorned the use of force; a man of wisdom and humility, armed with resolve and inflexible consistency, who has devoted all his strength to the uplifting of his people and the betterment of their lot; a man who has confronted the brutality of Europe with the dignity of the simple human being, and thus at all times risen superior. Generations to come, it may be, will scarce believe that such one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth. |
Swami Premananda |
True to its spiritual heritage, India has contributed in the personality of Mahatma Gandhi the greatest truth, the truth of God. No other nation in this century has contributed anything of such eternal value. But India has. And this I must say; that for another thousand years the world must look towards the idealism of Mahatma Gandhi. Mahatma Gandhi was an avatar. I don't mean a mythological figure or a personality. Who is an avatar? one who manifests in his life to the utmost the attributes of God on earth; he is an avatar. Who has done this in this twentieth century of ours? Mahatma Gandhi. He is an avatar. India has contributed something to the United States: idealism, the truth by living example rather than theory, not in words, not not from the pulpit, but from among the people. Not in words but in action. India has contributed Mahatma Gandhi's life, his ideals. There is no other way for mankind to establish the kingdom of God on earth, no other way except the path which Mahatma Gandhi has revealed unto us." |