They knew it and they used it else they wd have left much earlier. Britishers always used Gandhi for prolonging their stay in India. Karamchand also served for British Army while in SA and received honorary award which very few know. Karamchand was on wrong side knowingly that SA were on right side. With so pwerful media still like current leaders manages the media the then very little media was managed by powershots like Gandhi, Nehru, British, etc. Search wikipedia.
