Mahatma Gandhi as a Practicing Global Citizen: A Hero for Our Times

Mahatma Gandhi’s example demonstrates that global citizens can connect to humanity worldwide while retaining their natural roots: national, racial, regional. Such an understanding of global citizenship seems imperative in a world beset with conflicts, hatred, prejudice, and environmental, economic and military issues demanding global solutions. In fact, a sense of global-belonging must precede the notion of global citizenship. After dealing with his sense of global belonging, the author reflects on Gandhi’s life and vision as that of a global citizen. The way he worked hard to uplift people from all ways of life, his spirit of embracing the good in every religion, his openness to diverse political views or opinions, and his ability to reach out to his enemies and rivals make him a hero of global citizenship. Though he was rooted in his tradition, culture and religion, he truly belonged to the world. As an inspirational icon for global citizenship, Gandhi’s life and message is a call to become aware of the global challenges we face. His ideals and way of life - ahimsa and satyagraha - tell us that we have the cultural, religious and human resources to deal with the life-threatening crisis facing us.