Compare And Contrast Osama Gandhi

When one thinks of Mahatma Gandhi and Osama bin Laden, they might think of two people who would be considered polar opposites. By just scratching the surface of the history of these two historical figures, it may appear that they are completely different from each other. But, digging deeper shows that Mahatma and Osama have more in common than anyone could have imagined. Both Gandhi and bin Laden inspired people to follow them in their movements against their opposition and were powerful enough to be noticed worldwide. Their early adult lives both contained lots of rejection and failure that shaped them into the people that they became. However, many people believe these two were very contrasting in their methods of protest, one violent

Gandhi fathered the movement against British rule in India in the 1930’s, and coined the term “satyagraha”, which roughly means truth force (“Religion”). He stood for non-violent resistance, peace and equality for all mankind, which the people of India were easily attracted to. He fought against the British through several peaceful protests and demonstrations, and India eventually gained its independence in 1947. Gandhi had throngs of followers and most of India regarded him as a hero, but he was assassinated by a Hindu extremist the following year. Osama also sparked a powerful movement in the Middle East and gained several followers through his efforts. He created the terrorist group Al Qaeda to try and drive U.S forces out of Saudi Arabia and parts of Somalia. Osama felt that the Middle East was beginning to be too influenced by the U.S and Western culture, so he decided to counter that with violence and terror. He was able to gain enough followers to become a credible threat and was the mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York. Bin Laden became known around the world and was killed by a team of U.S SEALs in 2011. Although most people argue these two men used very different methods to accomplish their goals, they were both able to inspire people to follow them and created movements that

Gandhi was a firm believer of peace and using non-violence to protest the opposition. Mahatma devoted his life to non-violent protest, struggling against what he considered the three great evils afflicting India: British rule, Hindu and Muslim disunity and the discrimination against the lowest social class in India (Costly). Gandhi had expected Britain to grant India independence after World War I, but Britain refused. Mahatma responded with leading several strikes and non-violent protests to try and get Britain’s attention, who would sometimes respond with violence, but Gandhi insisted that Indians remain non-violent. He was arrested several times and once said, “In my humble opinion, non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good” (Costly). Mahatma continued to preach peace and non-violence until he was shot and killed in 1948 by a Hindu extremist. Osama, on the other hand, thought that violence and force were the answer to solving his problems. After being kicked out of his birth country, Saudi Arabia, for criticizing their involvement with the U.S, bin Laden moved around the Middle East. He was upset at the U.S and its ties to Saudi Arabia’s oil industry and felt that Western influence was starting to spread throughout the