Operation Gandhi was a pacifist group in Britain that carried out the country’s first nonviolent direct action protests in 1952.
In 1949 the pacifist Peace Pledge Union (PPU) responded to its relative inertia and to calls for more action by holding a conference on 5 November.
The PPU had been interested in the teachings of Gandhi and the possibility of translating them into actions in the United Kingdom.
At the end of 1951 Hugh Brock, who subsequently became editor of Peace News, proposed the formation of Operation Gandhi, for which he had already drawn up a plan of action.
Following principles of nonviolence, the protesters did not resist arrest, and in court pleaded guilty to charges of obstructing the police.