#GandhiAbovePolitics: How Mahatma influenced people across the globe

New Delhi, Oct 03: On 30 January 1948 on his way to prayers Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi) or Bapu was an extraordinary political strategist.

He was an influential figure in the history of India and modern Indian political theory which gained international fame for his effective ideologies.

He has influenced generations of politicians outside India, hence public figures and even businessmen from Henry Ford to Martin Luther King Jr to Barack Obama everyone was influenced by his ideologies.

Though Gandhi has never visited America but this is the only country that has more statues, busts, and memorials of Gandhi in the world.

He had combined within himself aspects of the Philosopher and politician. Once the great admirer and critic of Gandhi, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, said that Gandhi had to play the roles of a world teacher as well as the Supreme leader of the Indian National Liberation Movement.

On his 150th birth anniversary, not only India but the landmarks across the globe also paid tribute to the 'Father of the Nation' who is considered an icon around the world.

From Dubai's Burj Khalifa to China's picturesque Chaoyang park Gandhi Jayanti was celebrated remembering Gandhi everywhere. Amid political differences between India and China at present, China never forgets to celebrate Gandhi Jayanti every year. China remembered Gandhi's famous lines on this day, "China and India are fellow travellers sharing weal and woe in a common journey."

The massive celebration took place globally on the occasion of Gandhi's 150 birth anniversary. Such a gesture around the world shows that Gandhi is above politics. And how his ideology and philosophy have influenced people across the globe.

Many historians believe, Gandhi has shown the world that how a man has the power to take on an empire, using ethics, intelligence and above all non-violence. Some other peaceful resisters such as Martin Luther King Jr during the 1960s civil rights movement and the Buddhist monk Dalai Lama have emulated his ideologies in world politics in the process.

Gandhi did get his start in politics as a lawyer in South Africa, where he supported the local Indian community's struggle for civil rights.

And after returning to India in 1915, he carried over his desire to improve the station of the lower classes. His non-violence methods- non-cooperation movement, Dandi March, leave India movement brought India its Independence. He calmly fasted in prison, believing that his death would embarrass the British enough to spur independence, which had become the focus of his politics by 1920.

Today, Indians and other anti-war protestors across the globe celebrate Gandhi as a preeminent figure. Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence made him globally famed even after so many years of his death.