Osama Gandhi Analysis

Mahatma Gandhi and Osama Bin Laden, Polar Opposites Two very influential leaders in their times, both leaders had goals of driving out foreign influence from their nations. But this is the only thing they have in common, as both employed drastically different methods of achieving this. Through non-violence or Ahimsa, Gandhi achieved independence for India without dealing a single blow, while Bin Laden relied mostly on violence, or Jihad, and fear to drive western influence out of the Middle East, leaving a path of destruction across the globe. A major difference between Gandhi and Osama Bin Laden were their goals. Throughout his whole life Gandhi lived under the might of British imperialism, seeing how his nation was exploited for resources …show more content…
To achieve independence for India, Gandhi sought a path of non-violence and civil disobedience. In 1918 he began a career in Congress and slowly won the support of it, using it as a means to support his nonviolent resistance and non-cooperation with the British, believing that it would lead to the collapse of the British Empire and independence. He encouraged Indian Hindus and Muslims alike to boycott foreign made goods and instead spin cloth to make homemade clothing, and drop out of British institutions and government positions. But in response, British officials imprisoned Gandhi in revenge for the civil disobedience. In jail, Gandhi would often go on hunger strikes to oppose the British, who force fed him out of fear of him becoming a martyr if he passed away. But after he was released, he continued the campaign expanding it to initiatives against untouchability, alcoholism, ignorance, and poverty. In March of 1930, in opposition of the new tax on salt, Gandhi led many thousands of Indians on the famous salt march from Ahmedabad to Dandi, to make their own salt. This greatly upset the British, who responded with violence, imprisoning over 60,000 people. Ultimately Gandhi was successful in his efforts, as India became independent in 1947 and Gandhi became known as “The Father of the Nation” and a saint among …show more content…
His path of achieving this began in 1979 when he went to Pakistan to help the Afghan people fight off the Soviet occupation of the country. During this time, Bin Laden used his family’s fortune to pay for fighters entering Pakistan. After the withdrawal of the Soviets from Afghanistan, Bin Laden began the formation of his fighting force, al-Qaeda to take up the Jihad cause elsewhere. Following the U.S invasion of Iraq in the response to the occupation of Kuwait, Bin Laden offered Saudi Arabia protection from Iraqi forces, who declined and instead relied on U.S support. This deeply angered him, as the U.S now had bases near the holiest cities in Islam, furthering his hatred of the U.S and the west. He later moved al-Qaeda to Sudan, and began a terror campaign against neighboring nations in response to the U.S forces inside Saudi Arabia, but was allowed to move to a country of his choice after Sudan expelled him. He chose to move back to Afghanistan, where in 1996 he declared war on the U.S, for occupying his holy land and supporting Israel. He began training insurgents and continued his attacks, now justifying killing innocents, and calling it a “duty” of Muslims to kill Americans and their allies. Throughout the 1990’s Bin Laden spread fear among the globe killing hundreds in attacks such as The 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings and calling for a Jihad against the west.