People associated with Mahatma Gandhi

 

C.F. (Charlie) Andrews : English Anglican priest who became close friend and supporter of Gandhi, first in South Africa and then in India . He worked with Gandhi until 1935, when Gandhi asked sympathetic British to leave, leaving the struggle for freedom to Indians themselves. { Gandhi actor: Ian Charleson}

 

Margaret Bourke-White : Famous Life magazine photographer. She spent time with Gandhi and produced probably the most famous photograph of him. {Gandhi actor: Candice Bergen}

 

Judge Broomfield : Presiding judge in famous trial in Ahmedabad. Gandhi pleaded guilty to the charge of sedition, and the judge reluctantly sentenced Gandhi to six years in prison. (Gandhi was released for medical reasons in less than two years.) {Gandhi actor: Trevor Howard}

 

Lord Chelmsford : Viceroy of India 1916-1921. He promoted reforms that granted limited self-government to Indians, which were criticized by Indians as not going far enough and by conservative British as going to far. {Gandhi actor: John Mills}

 

General Reginald Dyer (1864-1927). “The Butcher of Amritsar” responsible for the deaths of around 1,000 unarmed Indians in 1919. See “Amritsrar Massacre.” {Gandhi actor: Edward Fox}

 

Kasturba Gandhi : Gandhi’s wife and fellow activist. {Gandhi actor: Rohini Hattangadi}

 

Lord Irwin ( Edward Frederick Lindley Wood; 1881-1959): Viceroy of India from 1926-1931, including during the famous salt march of 1930. { Gandhi actor: John Gielgud}

 

Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948): Leader of the All India Muslim League who worked with, and then against, Gandhi. He was a prominent member of the Indian Congress Party along with Gandhi and Nehru, but quit and started the movement to partition post-colonial India into two countries, including a Muslim-based Pakistan. He became the “father of Pakistan” upon independence in 1947, but died the next year. {Gandhi actor: Alyque Padamsee}

 

Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1890-1988): Prominent Muslim leader in the independence movement. He founded the political organization Khudai Khidmatgar , a Muslim-based nonviolent activist group. He remained a staunch supporter of Gandhi and a unified India, in contrast to Jinnah.

 

Webb Miller (identified as New York Times reporter Vince Walker in the film): American UPI correspondent who accompanied Gandhi on the Great Salt March and was the only correspondence at the beatings at the Dharasana salt works. He reported Gandhi’s moral force and British atrocities to the world {Gandhi actor: Martin Sheen}

 

Lord Mountbatten : Appointed as the last Viceroy of India and given the task of guiding the transition to independence. An admirer of Gandhi. {Gandhi actor: Peter Harlowe}

 

Jawaharlal (Pandit) Nehru (1889-1964): Gandhi’s faithful associate who became the first Prime Minister of independent India. He became a principal leader of the “non-aligned nations” after the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union became entrenched. {Gandhi actor: Roshan Seth}

 

Sardar Valabhhai Patel (1875-1950): Prominent leader in the Indian National Congress and political activist who was arrested several times. Close friend and admirer of Gandhi, he became the first Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of independent India . {Gandhi actor: Saeed Jaffrey}

 

General Jan Christiaan Smuts : Military leader in South Africa during Gandhi’s stay there, who later became Prime Minister. Despite his conflicts with Gandhi, he would later oppose segregation and help found both the League of Nations and the United Nations. {Gandhi actor: Athol Fugard}

 

 

 

 

 

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Last updated: March 14, 2007