Detailed Fact-check:
The claim that Gandhi was secretly a British agent has been circulating in conspiracy theories for decades but lacks any factual basis. Mahatma Gandhi’s political career is well-documented, with a focus on leading India’s independence movement through nonviolent resistance (Satyagraha). His opposition to British rule was unwavering from the time he returned to India from South Africa in 1915 until India gained independence in 1947.

Gandhi’s methods of nonviolence and civil disobedience posed a serious challenge to British colonial power. His leadership in the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920), the Salt March (1930), and the Quit India Movement (1942) were pivotal in mobilizing millions of Indians against British imperialism. Far from being a British collaborator, Gandhi endured multiple imprisonments for his protests against colonial rule, including several long sentences in British jails.

While some people critique Gandhi for being too accommodating in certain negotiations, especially during the Round Table Conferences or in his attempts to secure dominion status for India, these critiques stem from ideological differences and not from any evidence of him being an agent for the British.

Notes and References:

• Ramachandra Guha, Gandhi: The Years That Changed the World, 1914-1948, (Penguin Books, 2018), pp. 478-486.
• Judith Brown, Gandhi and Civil Disobedience: The Mahatma in Indian Politics 1928-1934, (Cambridge University Press, 1977), pp. 112-118.
• D.G. Tendulkar, Mahatma: Life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Vol. 6, (Delhi: Publications Division, Government of India, 1961), pp. 195-200.

CWMG, Vol. 64, pp. 85-90.