2nd October is Gandhi Jayanti (birth date of Mahatma Gandhi), on that day many people all over the world pay tribute to this great leader from India who played a key role in India's Independence struggle. The unique feature of his movement was the role that non-violence (अहिंसा) played in it and he is remembered as the ultimate icon who demonstrated the power of non-violence to fight against injustice or violence. Violence or armed struggle played a major role in most of the freedom struggles or revolutions all over the world, till now we fought two world wars where millions of people died which is why Gandhiji's movement is considered unique and its success is still a point of discussion and debate. Many people around the world were inspired by the success of his movement and implemented it in their own movements some of the more recent examples are Dr. Nelson Mandela from South Africa and Suu Kyi from Myanmar.
This does not mean that non-violence is a very popular method for protest or fight against injustice violence is very much there but I think more people are using this method over violent options. Unfortunately, it's not happening on the scale on which it should happen. I hope it happens in the near future but it doesn't look like it will, still, there is a huge majority in the world that believes a violent path is the only way to achieve their targets, it's unfortunate and sad but it's true. Gandhi's name is somehow associated with non-violence and anyone advocating non-violence philosophy is branded as a believer in Gandhian philosophy. Gandhi had many beliefs one of them was the power of non-violence as an effective tool to fight against injustice. His book 'My Experiments With Truth' gives a general idea about the principles he believed in and one can realize that non-violence was just one of them for which he became world famous. I am quite impressed by his personality, I love his conviction and beliefs in his own ideas and principles but I am not his blind follower. I know that Gandhi was a politician and a lawyer also and above all he was also a human like us, full of great qualities and some not so great. He played a major role in achieving India's freedom from the British by using non-violent protest as an effective tool. He was instrumental in motivating masses of India who were not part of the freedom struggle before he entered Indian politics. One has to give him credit for taking this freedom struggle movement to the masses and making them believe that they could also fight with the powerful British empire.
Non-violence doesn't mean total surrender and it's definitely not a sign of weakness. A person who tolerates violence in any form because he/she can not fight or is scared to fight is definitely not following non-violence. Such a person is forced to follow it because of a lack of options or courage, but when a person chooses a non-violent path over other options available then only it can be said that he/she is following it truly. Non-violence works only when it is followed by choice, not because of lack of options. Many people make fun of non-violence philosophy and say it won't work everywhere, they cite many examples to prove their point. Indeed, it may not work everywhere but there is nothing that is guaranteed to work everywhere. Everyone is aware of the power of violence, no one can deny it but the problem is that it also doesn't work everywhere and I think there are ample examples around us to demonstrate this fact. The problem with violence is, once it starts it becomes uncontrollable, and even if it works it leaves a lot of negative emotions and damage behind. It leaves a permanent scar on the minds of the people involved. There are no winners or losers in violence but that's the not case with non-violence, it may not work always but it won't lead to mass destruction or riots.
It's not that we need to wait for Gandhi Jayanti every year to pay tribute to Gandhiji and remember the power of non-violence. I think people should make this philosophy an integral part of their lives, let's try to choose non-violence over violence wherever it is possible. I am not talking only about physical violence here but violence in any form, for example, even thinking bad about someone or verbal abuse, racial or gender discrimination, are some sort of acts of violence. I know it's not that easy for many of us. We are one of the animal species on this planet and will always have that animal instinct in us. So, I know that it will be difficult to totally irradiate violence from our lives. But as humans, we know that we are very different than other animals of this universe, we have created such a beautiful world around us and only our violent acts can destroy it from our side, so let's try to control it as much as possible. Remember, an eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.
Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.
This does not mean that non-violence is a very popular method for protest or fight against injustice violence is very much there but I think more people are using this method over violent options. Unfortunately, it's not happening on the scale on which it should happen. I hope it happens in the near future but it doesn't look like it will, still, there is a huge majority in the world that believes a violent path is the only way to achieve their targets, it's unfortunate and sad but it's true. Gandhi's name is somehow associated with non-violence and anyone advocating non-violence philosophy is branded as a believer in Gandhian philosophy. Gandhi had many beliefs one of them was the power of non-violence as an effective tool to fight against injustice. His book 'My Experiments With Truth' gives a general idea about the principles he believed in and one can realize that non-violence was just one of them for which he became world famous. I am quite impressed by his personality, I love his conviction and beliefs in his own ideas and principles but I am not his blind follower. I know that Gandhi was a politician and a lawyer also and above all he was also a human like us, full of great qualities and some not so great. He played a major role in achieving India's freedom from the British by using non-violent protest as an effective tool. He was instrumental in motivating masses of India who were not part of the freedom struggle before he entered Indian politics. One has to give him credit for taking this freedom struggle movement to the masses and making them believe that they could also fight with the powerful British empire.
Non-violence doesn't mean total surrender and it's definitely not a sign of weakness. A person who tolerates violence in any form because he/she can not fight or is scared to fight is definitely not following non-violence. Such a person is forced to follow it because of a lack of options or courage, but when a person chooses a non-violent path over other options available then only it can be said that he/she is following it truly. Non-violence works only when it is followed by choice, not because of lack of options. Many people make fun of non-violence philosophy and say it won't work everywhere, they cite many examples to prove their point. Indeed, it may not work everywhere but there is nothing that is guaranteed to work everywhere. Everyone is aware of the power of violence, no one can deny it but the problem is that it also doesn't work everywhere and I think there are ample examples around us to demonstrate this fact. The problem with violence is, once it starts it becomes uncontrollable, and even if it works it leaves a lot of negative emotions and damage behind. It leaves a permanent scar on the minds of the people involved. There are no winners or losers in violence but that's the not case with non-violence, it may not work always but it won't lead to mass destruction or riots.
It's not that we need to wait for Gandhi Jayanti every year to pay tribute to Gandhiji and remember the power of non-violence. I think people should make this philosophy an integral part of their lives, let's try to choose non-violence over violence wherever it is possible. I am not talking only about physical violence here but violence in any form, for example, even thinking bad about someone or verbal abuse, racial or gender discrimination, are some sort of acts of violence. I know it's not that easy for many of us. We are one of the animal species on this planet and will always have that animal instinct in us. So, I know that it will be difficult to totally irradiate violence from our lives. But as humans, we know that we are very different than other animals of this universe, we have created such a beautiful world around us and only our violent acts can destroy it from our side, so let's try to control it as much as possible. Remember, an eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.
Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.
(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)
No comments:
Post a Comment