Peace and co-existence, who really deserves it
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: August 24 2011 -

This country's independence was achieved through non-violent means which Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi had armed the nation to fight British colonial rule.

Let's now have a look into the effectiveness of non-violence and the response of our leaders who praise Gandhi's ideology while giving tribute to the father of the nation every year on his death anniversary.

Irom Sharmila has been on an indefinite fast since November 2000 to protest the killing of innocent people by security forces in Manipur.

She has been arrested innumerable times and is being forcefully nasal fed, and the young woman has continued her protest to demand the repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, a controversial law promulgated to curb insurgency. She has been inspired by the tenets set by Gandhi, satyagraha, non-violence, and truth. Her act is only one instance.

There are many instances where people have chosen to demand for justice through non-violent means and which have been countered by acts of violence and atrocities meted out by state and non-state actors. For example, government authority prefers to use police forces to quell sit-in-protests. This is strange considering the fact that this country still champions Gandhi's ideology.

The tenets of Gandhism refers to the practice of the ideals of Mohandas Gandhi, a summarisation of the philosophy of the man. Gandhi had noted on the term, Satyagraha, "Its root meaning is holding on to truth, hence truth-force. I have also called it Love-force or Soul-force.

In the application of Satyagraha I discovered in the earliest stages that pursuit of truth did not admit of violence being inflicted on one's opponent but that he must be weaned from error by patience and sympathy. For what appears to be truth to the one may appear to be error to the other. And patience means self-suffering. So the doctrine came to mean vindication of truth not by infliction of suffering on the opponent but on one's self."

Theories of the meaning of satyagarha may vary. Some have suggested that this concept is only a simplification of Gandhi's "lofty ideals" and conveying them in contemporary, colloquial language.

In India, farmers staged a protest with flowers in the Vidharbha region, and the same was it when people organized a protest in Lucknow. They used roses to convey their message. These were nonviolent protests. There were positive reactions to these events.

However, it seems we have forgotten that Gandhi stood for certain basic values – values like simplicity, non-violence and the determination to stand up for justice. In this context our obsession with Gandhism and the efforts to link it with all aspects of life is quite peculiar.

After all Americans are not that obsessed with Lincoln or the British about Churchill or the Russians about Lenin. All of them were great leaders who gave their respective countries certain values.

Let good sense prevail. If we are really interested in spreading the message of Gandhi, let us stop indulging in violence at the slightest pretext, let our leaders lead simple lives, let them be truthful and accountable to the people who elect them to power.

The show of affluence, the rampant corruption in all walks of life, the helpless judiciary, and the police who are controlled by leaders with doubtful characters – none of these would have been approved but would have been glared down by Gandhi.

And let Anna Hazare ask himself whether he would have been accepted by Mohandas.