Explain Gandhi's views on the problem of communal unity and the approach he adopted to deal with it.

Gandhi believed that India's struggle for independence was inhibited by a lack of communal unity. What he called Satyagraha meaning 'truth force' was the desire to discover truth, insist on truth, and abandon everything in which denies truth could only be achieved when all are united for the same cause. In other words, if communal unity did not exist among the Indian people social, spiritual, and political independence of India would never come to fruition. In an effort to unite a nation steeped in the caste system, Gandhi advocated that all Indians from the elite to the masses boycott British clothing and begin spinning their own cloth. According to Gandhi's philosophy this action would effect the British economy, create self-sufficiency as well as help to foster a communal unity among the Indian people. He believed that socio-cultural unity was key in India's political struggle for independence. Not until the Indian people realized  the perpetuation of the outdated caste system was an obstacle on their path towards independence would India ever gain that independence.