Update (02 June 2022):
Another post with an image of Gandhi is being widely shared with the same narrative that M.K.Gandhi who preached nonviolence was a Sergeant-Major in the British Army and inspired large number of Indians to join the British Army. But as explained below, Gandhi was awarded with a temporary rank of Sergeant Major for raising voluntary ambulance corps service to render medical aid to the British troops. The ambulance corps volunteers are non-combatants and were not deployed in on-ground combats. Mahatma Gandhi was never employed in British Army.
Published (29 May 2022):
An image is being shared on social media claiming it is a group photo taken when Mahatma Gandhi served as a Sergeant Major for the British army. This post claims that the British Government has awarded him two gold medals for his service in the British army. Let’s verify the claim made in the post. the ambulance corps volunteers are non-combatants and are they were not deployed in on-ground combats.
Claim: A group photo of Mahatma Gandhi when he served as a Sergeant Major of the British army.
Fact: The image shared in the post shows Mahatma Gandhi posing along with the Passive Resistors Football Club players and staff in South Africa, in 1913. During his two-decade stay in South Africa, Mahatma Gandhi started two football clubs with the name ‘Passive Resistors’. Mahatma Gandhi started these football clubs to use sports venues as a platform to campaign his non-violent political views and issues related to racial discrimination. During the second Boer war in South Africa, Gandhi raised a voluntary ambulance corps service to render medical aid to the British troops. But the ambulance corps volunteers are non-combatants and they were not deployed in on-ground combats. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
On reverse image search of the photo shared in the post, the same photo was found on the ‘Alamy’ website. The description of the photo states, “Mahatma Gandhi, standing back row sixth from left with Secretary Miss Sonia Schlesin with Passive Resisters Soccer Club, Johannesburg, South Africa, 1913”. This image was credited to ‘Dinodia Photos’. ‘Dinodia Photos’ published a colour version of the same photo with a description, “Pretoria vs Johannesburg Passive Resisters Johannesburg South Africa 1913”.
When we searched for further details using these keywords, we found the same photo in an article published by the ‘Live Mint’. According to the details provided in the article, during his two-decade stay in South Africa, Mahatma Gandhi started two football clubs in Johannesburg and Pretoria. Both these football clubs are named ‘Passive Resistors’. Mahatma Gandhi started these football clubs with the objective of using the sports venues as a platform to campaign his non-violent political views and issues related to racial discrimination. Several other news websites have also published this photo with a similar description. They can be seen here and here.
During the 1899-1902 Boer war in South Africa, Gandhi raised a voluntary ambulance corps to render medical aid to the injured British troops. The volunteers of the ambulance corps are non-combatants, and they were deployed only to provide medical aid. A group picture of Mahatma Gandhi along with his ambulance corps volunteers can be seen here. Mahatma Gandhi continued his Ambulance Corps service during the Zulu rebellion in 1906 and the First World War. During the Zulu rebellion, felicitating the work of Mahatma Gandhi, a Chief Medical Officer designated Gandhi with a temporary rank of Sergeant Major. The work of the corps was appreciated, and the leaders were awarded the War Medal.
The British Army did not award him two gold medals for his service as Sergeant Major. Mahatma Gandhi was never employed in British Army. From all these, it can be concluded that the photo shared in the post has nothing to do with Gandhi’s service as voluntary ambulance corps.
To sum it up, this photo shows Mahatma Gandhi posing along with the players and the staff of Passive Resisters soccer club, not with the British Army.
