List of fasts undertaken by Mahatma Gandhi

2021-11-05T16:39:13Z

172.74.167.117: Updated details of his 1921 fast.

[[Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi]], popularly known as ''Mahatma Gandhi,'' informally [[Father of the Nation#List|The Father of the Nation]] in India, undertook 18 [[fasting|fast]]s during [[Indian Freedom Movement|India's freedom movement]]. His longest fasts lasted 21 days. Fasting was a weapon used by Gandhi as part of his philosophy of [[Ahimsa]] ([[non-violence]]) as well as [[satyagraha]].<ref name=gdn11>{{cite news|title=National hunger strike?|url=http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=307474|access-date=27 January 2012|newspaper=[[Gulf Daily News]]|date=9 June 2011}}</ref>

==Fasts==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Number
! Date
! Duration
! Place
! Reason and demands
! Reaction to fast
! Result
|-
| 1
| 1913 (July 13–20)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://gandhiserve.org/cwmg/VOL013.PDF#[207,{%22name%22:%22FitH%22},678]|title=Letter to Millie Graham Polak, July 13, 1913}}</ref>
| data-sort-value="7" | 7 days
| [[Phoenix, Durban|Phoenix]], South Africa
| First penitential fast<ref name=dhiman/>
|
|
|-
| 2
| 1914 (April)
| data-sort-value="14" | 14 days
|
| Second penitential fast<ref name=dhiman/>
|
|
|-
| 3
| 1918 (March 15–18)
| data-sort-value="3" | 3 days
| [[Ahmedabad]]
| Striking mill workers in [[Ahmedabad]] were dejected and losing hope of getting their needed raise. Gandhi announced an indefinite fast until it was resolved.
| Mill workers agreed to stay on strike.
| Mill workers and owners agreed to arbitration; the workers got their raise.<ref name="Mahatma.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.mahatma.com/php/showContent.php?linkid=7 |title=Short Chronology of Gandhi's Life |author=Jack, Homer A. |date=2005 |work=Mahatma.com |publisher=Worldview.com |access-date=27 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051023094337/http://mahatma.com/php/showContent.php?linkid=7 |archive-date=23 October 2005 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|-
| 4
| 1919 (Apr 14-16)
| data-sort-value="3" | 3 days
| [[Ahmedabad]]
| First anti-violence fast: against the attempted derail of a train at [[Nadiad]].<ref name=dhiman/>
|
|
|-
| 5
| 1921 (Nov 19-22)
| data-sort-value="4" | 4 days
| [[Bombay]]
| Second anti-violence fast: indefinite fast until peace was made in Bombay, after violence broke out on the occasion of the Prince of Wales arrival<ref name=dhiman/>
|Community leaders went around the city to "restore and preserve peace."<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.granth.6850|title=The Bombay Chronicle, 22 November 1921|date=1921-11-22|publisher=The Bombay Chronicle (Bombay)}}</ref>
|After a peaceful night, broke his fast with "a frugal fruit repast."<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.granth.6861|title=The Bombay Chronicle, 23 November 1921|date=1921-11-23|publisher=The Bombay Chronicle (Bombay)}}</ref>
|-
| 6
| 1922 (Feb 12-17)
| data-sort-value="5" | 5 days
| [[Bardoli]]
| Third anti-violence fast: for atonement for violence done in [[Chauri Chaura incident]].
|
|
|-
| 7
| 1924 (Sep 18-Oct 8)
| data-sort-value="21" | 21 days
| [[Delhi]]
| First [[Hindu]]-[[Muslim]] unity fast
| Interest of [[Hindu]] - [[Muslim]] unity after the first [[non-cooperation movement]]
| Ended fast while listening to the [[Quran]] and [[Gita]] being read.<ref name=ie4mar43_b>{{cite news|title=The Previous Fasts|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LLw-AAAAIBAJ&pg=4995,4559107&dq=|access-date=27 January 2012|newspaper=[[The Indian Express]]|date=4 March 1943}}</ref>
|-
| 8
| 1925 (Nov 24-30)
| data-sort-value="7" | 7 days
|
| Third Penitential Fast.<ref name=dhiman/>
|
|
|-
| 9
| 1932 (Sep 20-26)
| data-sort-value="6" | 6 days
| [[Poona]]
| First anti-untouchability fast: [[Communal Award]] of separate electorates and separate reservation of seats for depressed classes
| Fast undertaken at [[Yerwada Central Jail]]. When released a few days later, Gandhi continued his fast at a private house in Poona, with the result that all national leaders assembled in Pune.
| [[British Raj|British Government]] withdrew the clauses in the [[Communal Award]] against which Gandhi was protesting<ref name=ie4mar43_b/>
|-
| 10
| 1932 (Dec 3)
| 1 day
|
| Second anti-untouchability fast: sympathetic to Appasaheb Patwardhan<ref name=dhiman>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jSXgQYRxfmkC&pg=PA315|title=Betrayal of Gandhi|author=O.P. Dhiman|year=2010|isbn=978-81-78-35-746-1}}</ref>
|
|
|-
| 11
| 1933 (May 8-May 29)
| data-sort-value="21" | 21 days
|
| Third anti-untouchability fast: for the improvement of [[Harijan]]s' condition<ref name=nyt_obit>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1002.html|title=Mohandas K. Gandhi: The Indian Leader at Home and Abroad|newspaper=[[New York Times]]|date=31 January 1948|access-date=30 December 2013}}</ref>
|Released unconditionally from prison on 8 May, 1933, and observed the fast at [[Premlila Vithaldas Thackersey|Lady Thackersey]]'s home in Poona.
|
|-
| 12
| 1933 (Aug 16-23)
| data-sort-value="7" | 7 days
|
| Fourth anti-untouchability fast: to obtain privileges (while in prison) that would enable him to carry on his fight in behalf of the Harijans<ref name=nyt_obit/>
| Released unconditionally from prison on 23 August 1933, for health reasons<ref name=rajmohan>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FauJL7LKXmkC&pg=PA361|title=Gandhi: The Man, His People, and the Empire|author=Rajmohan Gandhi|date=10 March 2008|page=361|isbn=978-0-520-25570-8}}</ref>
|
|-
| 13
| 1934 (Aug 7-14)
| 7 days
|
| Fourth anti-violence fast: against a violent young Congressman<ref name=dhiman/>
|
|
|-
| 14
| 1939 (March)
| data-sort-value="3" | 3 days<ref name=advocate>{{cite web|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article68544508|title=Rajkot dispute settled - Gandhi breaks his fast|publisher=The Advocate|date=8 March 1939}}</ref>
| [[Rajkot]]
| In support of political reform.
|
|
|-
| 15
| 1943 (Feb 10-Mar 3)
| data-sort-value="21" | 21 days
| [[Delhi]]
| Objecting to his detention without charges by the British.<ref name=dna11>{{cite news|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_anna-a-man-of-stamina-his-longest-fast-lasted-12-days_1579090|access-date=27 January 2012|newspaper=[[Daily News and Analysis]]|date=24 August 2011}}</ref><ref name=ie4mar43_a>{{cite news|title=Gandhiji Breaks Fast|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LLw-AAAAIBAJ&pg=2180,4555643|newspaper=[[The Indian Express]]|date=4 March 1943|access-date=30 December 2013}}</ref>
|
|The British ignored him; nothing changed.
|-
| 16
| 1947 (Sep 1-4)
| data-sort-value="4" | 4 days
|
| Second Hindu-Muslim unity fast<ref name=dhiman/>
|
|
|-
| 17
| 1948 (Jan 13-18)
| data-sort-value="6" | 6 days
|
| Third Hindu-Muslim unity fast for restoration of communal peace. Gandhi was reading the dreadful news of the Kashmir war, while at the same time fasting to death because Muslims could not live safely in Delhi. Meeting Maulana Azad, Gandhi laid down seven conditions for breaking his fast. These were:
*The annual fair (the Urs) at the Khwaja Bakhtiyar shrine at Mehrauli, due in nine days time, should take place peacefully;
*The hundred odd mosques in Delhi converted into refugees camps should be restored to their original uses;
*Muslims should be allowed to move freely around Old Delhi;
*Non-Muslims should not object to Delhi Muslims returning to their homes from Pakistan;
*Muslims should be allowed to travel without danger in trains;
*There should be no economic boycott of Muslims;
*Accommodation of Hindu refugees in Muslim areas should be done with the consent of those Muslims already in these localities.<ref>https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/gandhi-s-last-and-greatest-fast/story-wpf0NL3LgsWUegv7uVTopL.html</ref>
| Politicians and leaders of communal bodies had to agreed for a joint plan for restoration of normal life. [[Nathuram Godse]] assassinated Gandhi.
| A large number of important politicians and leaders of communal bodies agreed to a joint plan for restoration of normal life in the city
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}
139 fast days total.

==External links==
* [http://www.gandhiheritageportal.org/eventcontentdetail/MTA=/NzM4Nw== List of fasts done by Mahatma Gandhi]

{{Mohandas K. Gandhi|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Mahatma Gandhi]]
[[Category:Protests in British India]]
[[Category:Protests in India]]
[[Category:Hunger strikes|Gandhi]]

Bharatpedia - User contributions [en]

List of fasts undertaken by Mahatma Gandhi