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Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement. A pioneer of satyagraha, or resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience a philosophy firmly founded upon ahimsa, or total nonviolence - Gandhi led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. Gandhi's secularism and openness to all kinds of theological and philosophical schools is well-known. It was through an assimilation of various concepts and philosophical tenets that Gandhi arrived at his own understanding of non-violence. Gandhi first employed non-violent civil disobedience as an expatriate lawyer in South Africa, in the resident Indian community's struggle for civil rights. Gandhi's championing of the cause of non-violence as the tool of India's freedom struggle was not without its share of criticism. That was, however, expected considering the fact that Gandhi entered the political scenario soon after the ascendancy of the extremists in the history of India's freedom struggle.