Civil Disobedience

IMAGES OF HEALTH

Spinning for India's Independence Theodore M, Brown, PhD, and Elizabeth Fee, PhD

THPS PHOTOGRAPH OF

Mohandiis K. Gandhi (October 2, 18(S9-Jamiai>' 30, 1948), ilit̂ ssed only in a loincloth and workitij; at his spintiinjj wheel on the (leek ol'llu' SS Hajputiinu. was taken in 1931 as Gandhi traveled to Uindon to attend a high-level ("oiuidtable conference wilh Uritish officials.' Gandhi was leader of tlie Indian National Congress and Uic major torce in its drive for independence. He had already led sticcessf'ul non- violent civil dLsobt'dience and ta^ resistance campaigns against Biitish mle, culininating in the 250 mile Salt Maich" li-om Ahmedabad to the Indian Ocean at Dandi (Mairh 12-Apnl 6, 1930).~ Alter violently assaulting the marchers, the British impris- oned Gandhi and 6 0 0 0 0 sup- poilenj. Becaase of adverse worldwide publicity, the British eveiiliially n'leasod Gandhi and ill Mairh 1931 negoliattid an agi-eement with him for tlie re- lease of the i-eiiiaining political prisoners in exchange for the sus- pension of civil disobedience, llie Bntish inviied Gandhi to London in laic 1931, supposedly to discuss the transfer of power. The confei-ence disappointed Gandhi hut provided liiin with opporttmities to win popular sup- port. In 1930, he had already been declared 7i>ne's "Man of the Year"; in 1931, he won over such leading figures in London as Geoi'gc Bei'nard Shaw, Maria Montessori, and Charlie Chaplin, I lis every move was followed

closely by the press, and after an audience at Duckingham Palace, he was asked if he had felt under- dressed. His widely reported comment expressed with ty])i( al Gandhian wit, was, "The king had on enough for both of us,"^'""^'

Gandhi's manner of dress and commitment to hand spinning were essential elements of his philosophy and politics. He chose the traditional loinclotli as a re- jection of Western culture and a symbolic identilication witli the poor of India, 1 iis pei-sonal choice became a powerful politi- cal gesture as he tii-ged his more privileged followers to copy his example and discard—or even bum—their luimpean-style cloth- ing and return with pride to tlieir ancient, precolonial culture.** Gandhi claimed that spinning thread in the traditional maimer also had material advantages, as it would create the basis for eco- nomic independence and tbe possibility of survival for India's impoverished Riral multititdes.'* Tins commitment to tiadilional cloth making was also part of a larger swadeshi movement, which aimed for the boycott of all British goods. As Gandhi ex- plained to Charlie Chaplin in 1931, the return to spinning did not mean a rejection of all mod- em technology but of the ex- ploitive and conliollmg economic and [jolitical system in which tex- tile manufacture had become en- tangled, Gandhi said. "Machinery in the past has made us depen- dent on England, and the only

Mohandas K. Gandhi

way we can rid ourselves of the dependence is to boycott all goods made by machinery. This is why we have made it the patii- otic duty of every Indian to spin his own cotton and weave his

The image of the emaciated, almost naked, and obviously nonviolent Gandhi hard at work at his spinning wheel had an electric effect on millions in India and across the world. He was hailed as the father of In- dian independence, and start- ing in 1931, his traditional spinning wheel became the pri- mary symbol on the Hag of the Provisional Government of Free India. •

About the Authors Ihi-iidiire M. llroien is with tlie Depart- ments o/Hislim/ and Community and Preuvntive .Medicine. University of Rochester. Rochfstn; \'Y. Elizabeth Fee w

with the National Library of Medicine, Na- tional Institutes of Health, Bethesda. Md.

Rejyrint ret/uests shniitd be sent to Theodore M. Hmwn, fhO. Histoni Dep<irt- ment, Unwersity of liochester. Rochester. NY I'i627 fe-niail: theodomjnvum® iirmc. nxhester. edu).

doi:l0.2l05/AJPH.2007.l20l39

REFERENCES 1. Git'cn M. Gandhi' Vniceofa New :\ge Revolution. New York. NY; Contin- uum; 199:i.

2- l-ischer L. lhe Essential Gandhi: An Anthohgii of His Writings on His Life. Work and Ideas. New York, NY; Vintage Books; 1983.

3. jHck HA. Vie Gandhi Header: A Source Book of his Life and Writinfpi. Bioomington; Indiana Univcrsily Press; 1956.

4. lirikson K. Gandhi's Thith: On lhe Origins of Militant ,\'imviolence. New York. NY: WVV N.iiion; 19(19,

5. BhattatihaiyyH B. Vie Evolution of the Piiitical Hliilosophi/ of Gandhi. Cal- cuMa, India: Cnlailta Uoiik I liniise; 1969.

(i, The Collected Works ofMaliatma Gandhi. Vol 4 8 (Soim-mbcr 1 9 3 1 - January 1932). Ahmed all (id; Ministry of Infoniialion antl Broadcasting, Gov- ernment ol'India; 1971.

January 2008, Vol 98. No. 1 ) American Journal of Public Health Images of Health | 39