In 1915, Gandhi returned to India where he became active in labor organisation and after the Amritsar massacre of 1919 he bacame directly involved in political protest. He became a dominant figure in the Indian National Congress, calling for unity between Hindus and Muslims.

His philosophy of non-violent mass movement made has caused him to be regarded as one of the most remarkable leaders the world has ever known - he has achieved a mythical status.

He led by example, wearing homespun clothes to weaken the British textile industry and he orchestrated a march to the sea, where demonstrators proceeded to make their own salt in protest against the British salt tax. While Gandhi was leading a largely Hindu movement, Mohammed Al Jinnah was organising the Muslim League. When independence was finally achieved in 1947, after negotiations in which he was a principal participant, Gandhi opposed the partition of the subcontinent with such intensity that he launched a mass movement against it. He was assassinated in Delhi on Jan. 30, 1948, by a Hindu fanatic who mistakenly thought his antipartition sentiment was both pro-Muslim and pro-Pakistan.