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Today, October 2nd, marks the 156th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. He played a crucial role in achieving independence for the country. Our country gained independence on the night of August 15th, 1947, but at the same time, our country was also divided, and a new country, Pakistan, was born. This country was created in the name of Islam. Many people also believe that Mahatma Gandhi was responsible for the partition of the country. Radical right-wingers believe that Mahatma Gandhi accepted Jinnah's demand to appease Muslims. Mahatma Gandhi wanted to settle in a neighboring country, but why? According to media reports, Mahatma Gandhi himself wanted to go to Pakistan during the independence movement. It is true that Gandhi wanted to settle in our neighboring country after independence. But there are many reasons behind his desire. Former Union Minister M.J. Akbar's book, "Gandhi's Hinduism: The Struggle Against Jinnah's Islam," states that Mahatma Gandhi wanted to spend the first day of independence, August 15, 1947, in Pakistan. His reason for doing so was not his support for Pakistan, created in the name of Islam. It is also said that the leaders of the time paid no attention to Mahatma Gandhi's announcements of a visit to Pakistan. Gandhi Did Not Believe in Partition According to the book, Mahatma Gandhi did not believe in the division of India and the creation of a single border. He was a Hindu and believed that all religions should coexist in India. He also described the partition of India as a short-lived madness. In his 1990 book, Hind Swaraj, Mahatma Gandhi said, "If Hindus believe that they will live in a place where only Hindus live, they are living in a dream world. All Hindus, Muslims, Parsis, and Christians who made India their country are compatriots." One nationality and one religion are not synonymous in any part of the world, nor have they ever been in India. Jinnah wanted a country in the name of religion On one hand, Mahatma Gandhi, with his Hindu ideology, believed that people of all religions could live together in India. On the other hand, when the country gained independence, Mohammad Ali Jinnah demanded the creation of a new country in the name of Islam. Under the Indian Independence Act of 1947, two modern nations were created: one India and the other Pakistan. This was in line with the vision of a Muslim nation. The partition of India at that time also did not proceed peacefully. There were widespread riots in Pakistan and India, in which a large number of both Hindus and Muslims lost their lives. Why did Mahatma Gandhi want to go to Pakistan? Now let's learn why Mahatma Gandhi wanted to go to Pakistan. According to M.J. Akbar's book, after independence, Mahatma Gandhi was concerned about the minorities in both countries. Hindus were a minority in Pakistan, and Muslims in India. Gandhi visited many violence-affected areas. The book states, "Gandhi wanted to live in Noakhali in East Pakistan, where Hindus had suffered the most atrocities during the 1946 riots. He wanted to go there to prevent a repeat of this." The book states that on May 31, 1947, Gandhi told Pathan leader Abdul Ghaffar Khan (popularly known as Frontier Gandhi) that he wanted to visit the Western Frontier and settle in Pakistan after independence. According to the book, Mahatma Gandhi said, "I do not accept the partition of the country. I am not going to seek permission from anyone. If they kill me for this, I will embrace death smiling. If Pakistan is formed, I would like to go there and see what they do to me."