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Coretta Scott King's Gandhian ideals

Shelia M. Poole

CORETTA SCOTT King sometimes referred to Mahatma Gandhi as "Gandhiji." By placing "ji" after Gandhi's name, she followed the traditional Indian practice of showing reverence.

It showed that "she admired Gandhi and his strength," said Subash Razdan, acting chairman of the Atlanta-based Gandhi Foundation of the U.S., which promotes the legacies of Gandhi and King.

Coretta Scott King, and her husband, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., were followers of the Indian leader's philosophy of non-violent resistance. Gandhi applied non-violence to India's struggle for independence from the British, and the Kings embraced the concept in their fight for civil rights.

Her death means the loss of a good friend to the Indian community, said Mr. Razdan, an India-born civil and environmental engineer who emigrated to the U.S. in 1976. Ironically, Coretta Scott King died on January 30, the 58th anniversary of Gandhi's assassination.

Mr. Razdan first met Coretta Scott King in the late 1980s, to discuss items to be displayed in a Gandhi Room at the King Center. "She was very supportive of our causes, and there was a desire to carry on the message of Gandhi."

Giriraj Rao, the foundation's executive director said Coretta Scott King was instrumental in helping the group erect a statue of Gandhi at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site. "It was Mrs. King, in my opinion, who truly created awareness of Gandhi in the State of Georgia," he said. At the time, the Indian community was smaller than it is today, he said. Events such as Gandhi's birthday were observed, but in a very isolated way, he said. Coretta Scott King aided in opening it up to the entire community.

"A pacifist"

Clayborne Carson, director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Papers Project at Stanford University, said Coretta Scott King was a pacifist and involved in the peace movement long before she met her husband. He said she brought much of her political commitment into the couple's relationship.

"I think that background helped confirm Martin Luther King's own commitment to Gandhian principles," he said.

In the early days of the Montgomery bus boycott, he said, the King family received numerous threats. Martin Luther King wanted to get a gun permit for the family bodyguard even though he believed in non-violence. She said that she did not feel he was doing her a favour by having a gun in the house and persuaded him not to seek the permit.

Later the couple made what Martin Luther King Jr. often referred to as a pilgrimage to India.

In the book, My Life with Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta Scott King writes about the March 1959 trip to India the couple made at the invitation of the Gandhi Peace Foundation. She recalled a lengthy conversation between her husband and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru during which they discussed Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence and its use in the civil rights struggle.

Coretta Scott King wrote that she wanted to discuss the role of women in the independence movement. "We knew that Gandhi had involved the women of India in the struggle for independence and that many of them had gone to jail like the men. Gandhi also worked to liberate women from the bondage of Hindu and Muslim traditions."

While in India, Coretta Scott King was also impressed by the dedication of some of Gandhi's followers. She mentions attending a religious service conducted as Gandhi had done when he was alive. "Before several hundred people sitting cross-legged on the ground in off-white robes, prayers were read from Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Jewish, and Buddhist holy books."

She also writes that the visit had a profound impact on her husband. "Martin returned from India more devoted than ever to Gandhian ideals of non-violence and simplicity of living. He constantly pondered how to apply them in America. His great problem was the enormous difference between the mechanised complexity of our way of living and theirs. He even considered the idea of changing his style of dress to a simpler one, but he decided that since his main purpose was to attract people to the Cause, unusual dress might even tend to alienate followers."

Ronen Sen, India's Ambassador to the U.S., was a young man preparing to enter the university when the Kings made their Indian trek. He remembers being amazed by the crowds that would gather wherever they went, "It's not just Indian-Americans mourning but India," Mr. Sen said. "The spiritual bond between Gandhi and Martin Luther King — two of the greatest men in history — contributed tremendously to the goodwill between the people in India and the U.S."

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