Mahatma Gandhi is the most influential and revered of all the leaders who participated in the freedom struggle of India. In January 1915, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi returned to India after spending two decades in South Africa. It was in South Africa he first focused on the distinctive techniques of non -violent protestprotests known as Satyagraha and Promotedpromoted harmony between religions. His first major public appearance was at the opening of the Banaras Hindu University in February 1916. Here, in his speech, Gandhiji Chargedcharged the Indian elite with a lack of concern for the laboring poor. In 1919 Gandhiji called for a century wide campaign against the "Rowlatt Act". In 1920, Afterafter the Jalianwala Bagh Massacre he called for a campaign of non-cooperation with British Rule and joined hands with the Khilafat movement. The British Raj was shaken to its foundations for the first time since the Revolt of 1857. In 1928 Gandhiji began to think of reenteringre-entering politics. After the failure of the Simon Commission in its annual session at Lahore, Congress demanded Purna Swaraj and decided to observeobserve the 26th January 1930 as Independence Day.