Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi wanted independence for India, but he did not want the British to leave as enemies. He thought Britain was a great historical nation and that India could learn a lot from it.
The British response? The London County Council’s blue plaque says “Mahatma Gandhi, 1869–1948, stayed here“.  They could have used his full name but instead they chose Mahatma. This was an honorific conferred on Gandhi in India. In essence, it was also the word which  brought about, after the Second World War , the end of the British empire - and, therefore, the French and Dutch empires. - AB.