Gandhi’s Gift

Filmmaker Kell Kearns’s documentary combines narration, archival material, newly-shot footage, and excerpts from interviews with scholars, followers, and relatives—including grandson Rajmohan Gandhi and granddaughter Ela—to present a moving portrait of Mohandas Gandhi’s final years, covering the period from his release from prison in 1944 up through his assassination in 1948. Gandhi’s protest method of non-violent, passive resistance would prove instrumental in finally securing the end of British colonial rule in 1947, and he hoped that the new nation would be a united, religiously pluralistic state, but he found himself at odds with both the Muslim League led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and many of his own Hindu colleagues, such as Jawaharlal Nehru, who ultimately agreed on partition along religious lines. When the split between India and Pakistan took place in August 1947, sectarian violence erupted, and Gandhi worked to mitigate it, undertaking two hunger strikes while preaching tolerance and calm. He was murdered in January 1948 by a Hindu extremist. Kearns emphasizes Gandhi’s serenity during these final months as he rejected admonitions to accept protection in the face of threats and adopted an attitude that could be termed fatalistic, hoping that if he were killed his death would help bring peace to the new country. Kearns also discusses the possible involvement of Vinayak Savarkar of the militant Hindu Mahasabha Party in the assassination. Gandhi’s Gift portrays Gandhi’s final years not, as some have argued, in terms of waning influence, but rather as a period in which he most fully exemplified the ideals he espoused. Recommended. Aud: C, P. [Note: the companion documentary Gandhi’s Awakening is also available at the same prices.] (F. Swietek)