• Date: 2 October 2026

• Occasion: 157th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi

• Born: 2 October 1869, Porbandar, Gujarat

• Full Name: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

• Assassinated: 30 January 1948, New Delhi

• International Day of Non-Violence: 2 October

• Declared by the UN: 2007

Early Life

• Father: Karamchand Gandhi

• Mother: Putlibai

• Married Kasturba Gandhi: 1883

• Went to England to study law: 1888

• Called to the Bar: 1891

• Went to South Africa: 1893

• Developed Satyagraha: In South Africa

Early Movements in India

• Champaran Satyagraha – 1917: Indigo cultivators

• Kheda Satyagraha – 1918: Land revenue relief

• Ahmedabad Mill Strike – 1918: Textile workers’ dispute

• Returned to India: 1915

Major Movements

• Non-Cooperation Movement: 1920–22

• Withdrawal: February 1922, following the Chauri Chaura incident

• Civil Disobedience Movement: 1930

• Dandi March: Began on 12 March 1930

• Salt Law: Gandhi reached Dandi and broke the Salt Law

• Gandhi-Irwin Pact: 1931

• Quit India Movement: 1942

• Famous Call: “Do or Die”

Congress

• Belgaum Session: Presided over in 1924

• Only Congress Session: The Belgaum Session of 1924 was the only Congress session presided over by Gandhi

• Key Focus Areas: Khadi, spinning, communal harmony, and removal of untouchability

Gandhian Philosophy

• Satyagraha: Truth and non-violent resistance

• Ahimsa: Non-violence

• Swaraj: Self-rule

• Sarvodaya: Welfare of all

• Trusteeship: Wealth as a social trust

• Swadeshi: Self-reliance and indigenous production

Important Books

• Hind Swaraj (1909): Views on civilisation, modernity, and Swaraj

• The Story of My Experiments with Truth: Autobiography

Gandhi Jayanti

• National Holiday: One of India’s three national holidays

• Other National Holidays: Republic Day and Independence Day

• Rajghat, New Delhi: Important memorial site

• 2 October 2026: Listed as a gazetted holiday

Swachh Bharat Mission

• Launch Date: 2 October 2014

• Focus: Cleanliness, sanitation, and behavioural change

• Rural Component: Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen)

• Second Phase: Sustaining ODF status and improving waste management