The
manner in which Gandhi strategized
the Champaran Satyagraha a hundred years
ago reveals astonishing aspects about Gandhi’s gift of fight .It also reveals
among many other aspects Gandhi’s conviction that in any conflict management
efforts one has to strive for a win-win situation to the stakeholders and peace
and justice can be achieved only through peaceful means.The Champaran
Satyagraha is a classic and monumental example of how the soul-force can be
pitted against brute force and victory can be achieved without hurting those in
whom a change of heart was sought.
Humanity has witnessed
several wars and revolutions. Occasionally it has also seen great
changes being effected through gentle and peaceful means. Gandhi
demonstrated the irresistible power of Ahimsa (Nonviolence) as an
alternative to war and violence as well as an effective
tool to tackle the menace of injustice
of various kinds.
The power of nonviolence as a moral and political
weapon and instrument of liberation was emphasized and
successfully demonstrated by Mahatma Gandhi in his various
campaigns both in South Africa during the close of the nineteenth
century, and later in India during the early decades of the
twentieth century. Since then, it has made its mark on the world and
has come to stay as an effective weapon and strategy in the hands of those who
believe in the supremacy of soul-force and moral law.
It
may be noted that the general contemporary interest in nonviolence is largely
due to Gandhi’s relentless fight for the adoption of nonviolent methods as a workable alternative.
The successful Champaran initiative was preceded by persistent and heroic
sharpening of nonviolence as a weapon that would not hurt but would lead to
change of heart. The twenty one years of Gandhi’s work in South Africa and the
various campaigns he led heralded indeed a new era in human history.
Gandhi
never claimed that he was the progenitor of all that goes along with the concept and practice of nonviolence. On
the contrary,the history of the idea of nonviolence as a religious
or philosophical doctrine can be traced
to the ancient Upanishads, the hoary Indian pearls of philosophical insights and
intuitions. The
Chandogya Upanishad as well as the Chinese Tao- Te-Chim of the sixth
century B.C. glorified nonviolence both as personal virtue and as a desirable societal goal. The New Testament of the Bible also upholds
the virtue of nonviolence for
the edification of mankind. Gauthama Buddha, who was a rebel against the gory and corrupt practices of religion,
was an apostle of gentleness, nonviolence
and compassion' and he laid the
foundation for a modern outlook and emphasized the need for developing social
awareness based on respect for all living beings.
Gandhi as a
trend-setter
Plato had advocated
truth and goodness; and he gave a vague sort of advice to overcome evil by good deeds. But with Gandhi
(and later with Martin Luther King Jr.) nonviolence became a creative, challenging and eloquent force symbolizing
man's inalienable right to live in
peace and harmony and to help himself and
his fellow beings to reach out towards their Maker.
The tragedy of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki, the rampant colonial exploitation which was no less dehumanizing than the reality of
mass murder, and the capitalist injustice prevalent all around has now brought nonviolence to the center stage. Those
who apparently control human destiny
may still find it as an inconvenient irritant that would go against
their selfish worldly interests,
particularly the economics of exploitation that they have developed.
The Gandhian perspective of
nonviolent human transformation is slowly but steadily receiving extensive attention in varying degrees in
almost all parts of the world. A considerable number of social activists, freedom
fighters, human rights activists, thinkers, political leaders and even to some
extent those
to whom acceptance of nonviolence would hurt their national economics, which are based on
military hardware, and those who encourage
and engineer troubles and conflicts globally so that their armaments could be
sold - have demonstrated their conviction
that the non-violent option as advocated by Gandhi needs serious attention. Thanks to this positive
development, humanity is assured of a
re-examination of the Bismarckian approach
of treating war as a wholesome therapy that strengthens human nature when civilization becomes too soft
and frail.
The protagonists of the Bismarckian notion
had propagated the obnoxious theory that aggressiveness is healthier than gentleness, waging
war invigorates mankind and it is genuinely positive to be vigorous and offensive.
At
one stroke, Gandhi demolished this myth -
though the significance of the Gandhian initiative was not immediately understood all around. Let it be
remembered that at first the industrialized West as well as the developing world did not take Gandhi seriously,
though they were aware of what he
was advocating. At that time, the difference in the cultural context in which Gandhi worked and the difficulty of
many leaders to see beyond their noses were important factors which prevented
the international community from realizing the supreme importance of the
Gandhian strategy. But gradually the situation
changed.
Humanity learnt a few lessons from the experience of the
World Wars. Thereafter Martin Luther King proclaimed the efficacy of the Gandhian
strategy of nonviolent resistance in these words: "... The Christian
doctrine of Love, operating through the Gandhian method of nonviolence is
perhaps, one of the most potent weapons available to the oppressed
people in their struggle
for freedom."
But, still, the
international community took the Gandhian initiative as expounded by Martin Luther King
as a freak development for some more time.
Effectiveness of nonviolence as a strategy
A
few major developments stand out as one thinks of
nonviolence as a effective strategy not only
to counter violence but to bring about
peace in human
lives as we grapple the complex problems of the twenty first century .A noticeable development is in all
continents and in almost all the countries, several motivated groups of individuals who firmly believe
nonviolence offers a
healthy vision of life have sprung up. However it has not yet become a mainstream strategy.
The pace of
non-violent collective action along Gandhian lines initiated by Martin
Luther King, was continued with conviction and courage by various activists of civil
liberty movements all over the world. Kenneth Kaunda, Albert Luthuli, Desmond
Tutu, Julius
Nyerere, Nelson Mandela, Ho Chi Min, Aung San Suu Kyi and Maired Maguire are only a few of the most
illustrious names which come to mind in this context.
The acceptance of
Gandhian tactics for nonviolent transformation by "the Greens",
notably by Petra Kelly, has led to the propagation of a new dimension of
ecological and sustainable developmental model as envisioned by Gandhi to various
countries of
Eastern Europe. 'The Quakers' then adopted Gandhian nonviolence as their
ideology. This was another hopeful sign and it led to a resurgent collective action
for justice and freedom in many western nations. The impact of their initiatives
notably in the Latin American nations is quite substantial and extensive.
Several motivated
souls who developed strong faith in the efficacy of nonviolence in the service of
mankind such as Prof. Glenn
D. Paige, Gene Sharp and Johan Galtung through their dedicated efforts and sustained critical interest added new valuable inputs to the concept and practice of non-violence
as a strategy for human survival.
Professor Glenn D
Paige is one of those scholars who have been instrumental in bringing into the
scene a whole
generation of young researchers and peace activists by offering them an
appropriate framework to understand, scrutinize and analyze the various aspects
of nonviolence. The Herculean efforts of Professor Paige to develop a wholesome
critique of Nonviolent Political Science is an important phase of modern history.
Professor Paige has made a significant contribution in enthusing several young
scholars of international repute to adopt 'non-violent political action' as
their area of specialization.
Ahimsa as a moral
counterpart to wars
Can Ahimsa and Satyagraha be moral
counterparts to wars and other violent
conflicts that corrode human character and jeopardize human survival? It is
claimed by both Western and Indian
scholars that Ahimsa and Satyagraha can be resorted to in any given situation involving injustice. In
their view even in those situations
where armed resistance is impossible, Satyagraha and Ahimsa can be resorted to as ultimate instruments of justice. This assertion happens to be partially ambiguous.
Horsbough has stated
that the prospects of nonviolence in the
sphere of international conflict are brighter than what is commonly supposed
even though people still believe in the efficacy of Armed Force. As Gandhi had
advocated and demonstrated, a conscientious effort to make Ahimsa a way of life, and not
a curious
creed, is the need of the hour.
Gandhi says: "Man either progresses
towards Ahimsa, or rushes to his Doom". Analyzed against the background
of all that the great preachers and prophets of humanity and votaries of Ahimsa have instructed throughout the- centuries, Gandhi's contribution to the cause
is most outstanding and crucial. Incredible optimist that he was, Gandhi
believed in the essential goodness of all.
As
in Gandhi's own time, his concept of nonviolence continues to be diversely understood, interpreted and
discussed in different parts of the world. While to some it is an
ideal that all men should cherish, to an overwhelming number of others
it is a moral principle which can guide thought and action.
Many people view it as a
policy which can be adopted and made effective only in certain given circumstances. A large number of
people all over the world find in it a practical tool which
can be used in certain situations according to the
capabilities of the user. Some others view it as a
technique suggesting one range of actions which me at times be
supplemented be supplemented or
even substituted by other techniques
as and when the situation demands. Each one of these different interpretations is usually upheld with the
support of quotations from Gandhi's own
words and citing Gandhi's own actions.
Hubert Humphrey,
Rev. Jesse Jackson, Senator Diakno, Johan Galtung, Gene Sharp, Erik Erikson and Prof.
Richard Keyes, have found in Gandhi's concept of nonviolence a great opportunity for
humanity which enables mankind to take a fresh look at the various problems man has
created for man, disregarding
the Laws of Nature. France Huthchins and several others find Gandhi's approach towards non-violence as absolutist. To
them Gandhi's view of nonviolence explicitly or implicitly includes motive as well as action, so that ahimsa
or nonviolence is both psychic and
corporal.
Thomas Clark and
several others find great scope for the practical application of the principle
of non-violence. William Robert Miller, James E. Bristor, William Stuart Nelson,
A.J. Maste, Ted Duncan, Willock Michael, W. Sonneleitner, Glenn D. Paige and many
other scholars and pacifists find in Gandhian nonviolence a force and a method of
action that can well become the basis for the twenty-first century man to adopt and
practice. Dr.
Daisaku Ikeda, SGI President, and one of the most profound thinkers of our time regards Gandhian nonviolence
as a potent force and an effective
instrument to secure justice and peace.
Nonviolent struggles
after Gandhi
A cursory glance reveals
that during the last six decades since the assassination of Gandhi, a
considerable degree of intellectual efforts have gone into the appreciation and understanding of the
concept of non-violence in different parts of the world. This ranges from deep sociological analysis of
the dimension of the conflict to the policy
implications of the Gandhian mode.
Many see in the Gandhian nonviolence, clues to ways of dealing with national problems of tensions,
conflict, arms race and war. What most of the analysts,
critics, followers and admirers have seen in Gandhi is a 'challenge rather than a stereotype'.
It is natural that different levels of perception developed as the
Gandhian approach expanded globally. Since Gandhi represented a model value
system, it is quite natural that people viewed the Mahatma from different
social, political and territorial perspectives. Klaus Scuts, Mayor of Berlin,
was categorical in his assertion, "Nonviolence does not mean passivity or
political vegetarianism". It is an active attitude, it permits fight for
justice ,challenges the opponent to declare himself.
The Gandhian concept of nonviolence never visualized surrender to
evil or injustice, but pitting of one's soul against the will of the tyrant.
The philosophy of soul-force visualizes three kinds of persons. The first
category is that of the coward who supinely submits to injustice in order to
save his skin; while the second category is that of the brave man who is
eager to redeem justice by brute force - who is ready to kill and to get
killed. The third is the superior person, the Satyagrahi, the believer in and practitioner
of nonviolence, who in the fullness of his strength forgives the evil doer and attempts to
persuade to adopt right doing through
nonviolence and love.
Gandhi’s early laboratory
South
Africa was the laboratory of Mahatma Gandhi. The Twenty one years that
Gandhi spent in South Africa witnessed Great changes both
in his private life and public life. Much of what Gandhi did later in India had been tempered by the
South African experiments.
Gandhi’s ascetic ashram life had its beginning
in the Phoenix Ashram in South
Africa. Non-violent resistance, simple living, Charkha spinning, non-violent struggle, insistence on
simplicity and moderation-
all had their origin there. In fact
Gandhi was a Mahatma in the
making by the time he left South
Africa for India. His was a heroic struggle involving several millions of people over a long period.
Gandhi's influence on South Africa's fight against apartheid
The votaries of peace
and nonviolence all over the world would find it inspiring to realize that the
epoch-making changes in South Africa signaling the extinction of apartheid owe their
inspiration to Mahatma Gandhi's heroic struggles in that country. Nelson Mandela openly
acknowledges this truth. Mohandas Gandhi who proceeded to South Africa as a lawyer to fight a court
case, found on his arrival, a situation
highly mortifying and humiliating and too
harsh for any human being to tolerate. He was already aware of the inhuman segregation known as untouchability
which a section of Indians were
enduring back home in his own country. But
what Gandhi had to face in South Africa was beyond his understanding. The strange experience of man being
segregated in the name of the colour of his skin and getting his basic rights
denied came to him as a rude shock. In South Africa millions of the local black
population and the Indian settlers (most of them indentured labourers) were languishing in inhuman conditions. Gandhi
himself became a victim of this dehumanizing practice not once or twice but
several times. On June 7 of 1893, a few
months after his arrival in South
Africa, Gandhi while traveling by a
train in a first class compartment was thrown out of the train at the Petermauritzburg station. The charge
against Gandhi was only that he was
black in colour. The Blacks of South Africa were not permitted to travel in the first class compartment. On another occasion Gandhi was denied travel in a
coach along with white passengers.
Once he was denied hotel accommodation because
of his colour. Taking pity on him, a kind individual then offered him
accommodation in the hotel on the specific condition that he would not come down to the dining hall, but remain closeted
in his own room throughout his stay. On another occasion, he was pushed down by the guards for
having walked along a road
in the vicinity of the residence of a highly-placed White official. Later Gandhi came to know
that the Blacks and the coolies were not allowed to walk along that road. Gandhi also found that the children of the Blacks were not allowed to study in
schools along with the white children.
These were only some of the visible symptoms
of the dreaded practice of Apartheid which had many more humiliating aspects, the foundations of which
were too strongly entrenched and
defied all attempts of uprooting. The fact
that a satisfactory solution to this vexed issue was finally found in the year 1993 which marked the centenary
of the beginning of Gandhi's struggle
in South Africa, is a matter of rejoicing
for all Gandhian peace activists all over the world.
It is interesting to
note how the local Blacks responded to
Gandhi. By and large, Gandhi was fighting against the inhuman and
discriminatory laws enacted by the Pretoria regime. But he was equally opposing
a system that was perpetuating racial discrimination in the name of colour and
nationality. The general condition faced by the Blacks in South Africa was not much
different
from what the Indian settlers were confronting. It would he naive to believe that the Black
population was insensitive to what was
happening in South Africa under the leadership of Gandhi.
Though he was concentrating on the Indian
settlers there, the principle he was fighting
for had importance far beyond what the Indians in South Africa were endeavoring to secure. But it cannot be claimed that Gandhi had great influence
on them when the Gandhian struggle
was actually taking place in Natal, Pretoria and other places.
The law of nature teaches
us that the seeds always take time to sprout. In South Africa,
the Gandhian variety of non-violent struggle had to wait until
Nelson Mandela appeared on the scene. No one can deny that
the ANC was considerably
influenced by Gandhi. The ANC movement
got strength and vigour largely from
the inspiration of Gandhi. The basic
question that arises is whether it was the brute force of the white minority which kept the Blacks at bay or
whether the Blacks themselves by their
own quiet surrender were responsible for their plight. The fact remains that from their own experiences, they have developed a different notion of nonviolence
as a creed and a strategy. It was
conceived as creative and positive and in their own way the Black majority tried to give it a fair trial.
The ANC
leadership in general and Nelson Mandela in particular seemed to be familiar with and appreciative
of Gandhi's work and the success of his campaign. Mandela's speech after two days of his
release from jail on 11 February 1990 was significant, since apart from referring to
his indebtedness to Gandhi, he said.
Another
strand in the struggle against oppression began with the formation, right here
in Natal, of the Indian Congress founded in 1884, a tradition of extra
parliamentary protest that continues with the present. The next decade saw the
increasing radicalization of Indian politics under the leadership of Mahatma
Gandhi... In 1906 - when Bambatha led sections of Africans in a war to abolish
the poll tax -our brothers who descended from India, led by Mahatma Gandhi,
fought against the oppression of the British Government.
Mandela had quoted a
passage from Jawahar Lai Nehru before his arrest : "There is no easy walkover
to freedom anywhere and many of us will have to pass through the shadow again and
again before
we reach the mountain tops of our desires". This also indicates that
Mandela was always studying the Gandhian option carefully. Though the release from
jail of Mandela and the legalizing of ANC cannot be viewed as concessions, they
gave definite indication of the superior wisdom and discernment ol President
De Clerk which none of his predecessors had displayed
Of
course there were other ground realities which prompted De Clerk to adopt an
attitude of reconciliation ignoring the stout opposition
from the die-hard whites. There was resurgence in the people's movement despite
the imposition of emergency in 1985
and the banning of the UDF and other organizations. The upsurge of 1989
and the open defiance of the segregation laws, made it practically impossible for De Clark to govern South Africa which had almost become an untouchable among the
comity of nations. Further the
nation's economy was showing signs of a total collapse following the
strikes by COATSU and the mine workers. The
sanctions imposed by the international community also shattered the economy. The so-called military supremacy of South
Africa proved to be a myth when Angola gave a hard knock; its
military might. There were many hurdles to be crossed. Yet there was the silver lining as was revealed
from the manner in which both the
government and the ANC denounced criminality, and violence. Despite several
setbacks, the ANC and the government
moved closer. The lifting of emergency except in the Natal Province, also helped large number of refugees to return. The signing of the 'Pretoria Minutes' augured well
for the future. The repeal of
discriminatory legislations, the release of political prisoners
and the acceptance of the principle of 'one man one were very central to the transfer of power and the
restoration of peace. The deep scars
of Apartheid and the legacy of distrust, the clinical attempts made by the apologists of Apartheid,
the growing internecine war among the Blacks and the stridency of the Neo Nazi groups made the process of
change painfully slow .But the final victory as
reflected in the triumphal emergence of South Africa as a
free democratic nation under Nelson Mandela
recreated visions of non-violence as a matchless life
force. As the dismantling of apartheid
proclaimed the humanistic side of non -violence in political arena, the wisdom shown by Nelson Mandela in
the setting up of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission under the leadership of
Bishop Desmond Tutu revealed unparalleled creative non-violent leadership.
Their adherence to non-violence enabled the
new leaders to proclaim firmly that 'there is
no future without forgiveness'.
Gandhi's influence on
Martin Luther King (Jr.)
In his own way, Martin Luther King of USA added new dimensions to Gandhian
nonviolence in the nineteen sixties in order to make it an effective instrument of
this fight against evil. When the fight derives its strength from the moral and
spiritual caliber of the
Victim and depends on the quality of his suffering, it takes quite a long time to effect what we call the 'change of heart'
of the oppressor which is the goal of a non-violent struggle as opposed to
'victory. In an armed conflict victory is not assured to either of the parties involved.
The racial violence which broke out in Los
Angeles at the beginning of the new century and some other parts of the USA
speaks volumes
regarding how fragile our modern civilization is. It is actually an ominous
portent and a disturbing reminder of what has been simmering underneath the surging welter of modernity and progress.
These events also
reveal how skin-deep is our pretension of adherence to the equality of human
beings. It is surprising to see that such racial disturbance should occur in the land of Abraham Lincoln, Thoreau, Emerson, Walt Whitman, Kennedy
and Martin Luther King; and that too several decades after the eradication of
the demon of racial discrimination. It shows how far away still is the dream of Martin Luther King about the day when
the sons of former slaves and of the slave owners could sit down
together at the table of brotherhood on the
red hill of Georgia. No doubt the American
Blacks have won several rounds with remarkable success. But the Los Angeles violence shows that the dream of Dr. King that "my four children will one day
live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but
by the
content of their character", still remains unrealized. Gandhi warned humanity as early as 1909 when he
published his book, "Hind
swaraj", that a civilization bereft of human considerations is 'Satanic'.
Even from his school days Martin Luther
King was greatly influenced by the teachings
of Mahatma Gandhi. Therefore it was
only natural that he adopted the Gandhian doctrine of nonviolence as the most effective weapon at his
command to fight racial segregation in the US. He once said in explaining his philosophy: "I believe in a militant,
non-violent approach in which the
individual stands up against an unjust system, using sit-ins, legal
action, boycotts, votes and everything except violence or hate". Acknowledging his indebtedness to
Gandhi, Dr. King said: "... from
my background I gained Christian ideals; from Gandhi I learned my operational
technique".
In another context Dr. King acknowledged his debt to Mahatma Gandhi, while
explaining the Montgomery bus boycott programme as follows: "This is a protest
of passive resistance depending upon
moral and spiritual forces. We will return good for evil. Christ showed us the way and Mahatma Gandhi
showed us it could work". He declared
that the American Black will not resort
to “more radical ways to gain civil rights", because he has full
faith “that he can get justice within the frame work of the in democratic set-up."
It
is a fact that Gandhi continues to inspire a considerable section of American opinion
even today. E. Stanly Jones, himself a renowned pacifist, had this to say about Jesus Christ
and Mahatma Gandhi "1 bow to Mahatma Gandhi, but I kneel
at the feet of Christ and
give him my full and final allegiance." Referring to Mahatma Gandhi, Stanly Jones stated
that he "has taught me more of Christ than perhaps any other
man in East or West.”
Global influence of
Gandhi
There are quite a few among the liberal pacifists in the West who found in Gandhi the argument against the
inevitability of the deterministic
social order propagated by Darwin and Marx. Albert Einstein, Aldous Huxley,
Oswald Garrison Villard, Roger Balwin and
many others were able to see in Gandhi a reinstatement of the Renaissance faith of the perfectibility of
man. In contrast to this school,
there was the group of religious pacifists such as A.J.Maste, John Nevin, Haynes Holmens, Norman
Thomas who found in Gandhi "a
moral equivalent of war". There may not be a Martin Luther King now in USA; but the number of true votaries of non-violence both as a political strategy and as
a creed has substantially increased.
Several internationally famous pacifists such as Johan Galtung, Homer Jack, Dr. Glenn D. Paige, Gene Sharp, Dr. Lou Ann Guanson, Dr. Barnard
Laffeyette, Vance Engleman, Dr.
Richard Deats, Captain Charles Alphin and Richard N. Nagler are the ardent practitioners, exponents and champions of non-violence today.
The spilling of blood
in both the erstwhile Yugoslavia and former Czechoslovakia and the uncertainties
created by the events following the dismemberment of the USSR should be viewed
as the inescapable consequence of incongruities engendered by the die-hard
communist philosophy which by and large did not care about purity of means
in achieving laudable ends. The validity and relevance of the Gandhian insistence on
purity of means -something which the communist blocks had always scoffed at -became obvious now.
The Gandhian concept of nonviolence thereafter began to attract the attention of
the youth of Czechoslovakia. There arose a general belief that non-violence which is as old as the
hills and which is based on the primordial instinct of man to live happily and
to let others live comfortably would be an answer to the seething problems of the
nation.
Two decades earlier,
at the time of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, there was a
Gandhian protest efficiently organized by the Czech youth. From the youth the message gradually spread to
the elders also. The Czech people also organized extremely significant programmes during the Gandhi centenary. The Speaker of the National Assembly of Czechoslovakia
specifically stated in a message that "Gandhi's thought is of special significance". In the crossfire of the dismemberment of the USSR and the vaulting
ambition of the selfish political leaders of Czechoslovakia, the
helpless people looked up to the Gandhian
concept of non-violent social transformation
more than ever before. In Yugoslavia also the total collapse of the
monolithic communist structure encouraged the
people to think of a Gandhian alternative. The USSR, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia - the three main
pillars of communism in Europe -
faced very serious existential crisis, a crisis that called for a gentle humanitarian touch to get defused. Reports indicate that profound political thinkers
and leaders seriously considered the Gandhian alternatives in these
countries as means to prevent political extinction and to avoid
internecine killings.
There is no doubt that the present century has been a glorious on the
terms of man's continued conquest of nature including the outer space. Man has reached the very
zenith of material achievements. The rapid technological strides
that have changed the life style
of man also induced in him a new sense of
hope and also in insecurity. The hope lies in his
ability to rise like the phoenix
reconstruct life from its ruins and the indomitable spirit of ‘never to yield’.
The insecurity arises from the realization that unless worldly progress is
tempered with the elixir of spiritual values humanity will land
itself on the desert sands of crass materialism.
In former centuries,
Europe had overawed the rest of humanity with its superior military might and an
intelligent harnessing of the fruits of Science and Technology. Asia in the
meanwhile, was enveloped in
spiritual and philosophical pursuits. The appeal of the Buddha, despite the tidal wave of material progress, swept almost
the whole of South East Asia while the Indian civilization and the Chinese civilization made feverish attempts
to come to terms with the new
challenges. The Asian nations were condescendingly described as 'developing'
countries while the African region
with its infinite natural resources and tremendous manpower was described to be the 'dark' and
'underdeveloped' continent. The fact was that it suited the colonial exploiters
to keep it so. It did not escape the
notice of the impartial observers that Africa is only a 'sleeping giant' who
when awakened will be a formidable
force to reckon with. In spite of the hangover of the centuries and the traditional old colonial
exploitation which is still hampering
the different countries, there is no doubt that the rejuvenated African continent which would be self
confident of its inherent strength
will play a crucial role in the 21st century. Brushing aside these seething problems, Africa and
Asia - that have several common
features in between - would boldly challenge the West and, as and when this happens, it would mark a new phase in human history.
Johan Galtung points
out that Gandhi has become a part of the world political culture and Gandhian
thought is bound to influence the progress of the twenty first century. This
is made amply
clear by the steady onward march of the fast-spreading Soka Gakkai movement
under the presidentship of Dr. Daisaku Ikeda. Dr. Daisaku Ikeda, an unbelievably
energetic and creative leader, has always emphasized the supreme importance of the Gandhian method for achieving world peace.
The SGI leadership has shown remarkable
awareness of the value of Gandhian nonviolence
as is evident from the thrust SGI President Dr Ikeda gives to the propagation of Ahimsa as enunciated
by Gauthama Buddha. A world without
war which has become one of the cherished
goals of humanity can no longer be treated as a distant dream. A spiritual awakening supported by strong
cultural, educational and social
movements is the need of the hour.
What kind of basic
change are we hoping for? It cannot be anything other than a non-violent,
non-exploitative and just society where no man will die of hunger, where
everyone's self-respect will get prime consideration and where no one will be
segregated in the name of
caste, class, colour or sex. Are we just dreaming about an unattainable Utopia? Certainly not. Moreover even if it is a
dream, only dreams like this give hope and strength to the human race.
The tragedy of the
present times is that a large segment of our fellowmen is still denied the dreams,
hopes and opportunities of growth.
Denial of justice and
the widening gap between the rich North and the poor South
There can never be peace and happiness
on earth if humanity dues not address the basic problems that perpetrate
inequality. Let us look at the following
staggering facts provided by the World Watch Institute (State of the World 2002
New York, 3-
•
More than a
billion people on earth today lack access to adequate clean water
•
Nearly three
billion people do not have access to adequate sanitation facilities.
•
Nations have
long grappled with inequality; but never in history have the assets of the three
richest individuals matched the combined national economies of the poorest 48 nations
as is the case today
•
Inspite of
a of unprecedented economic growth that
has added over
ten trillion U.S. dollars every
year to the global economy, the number of people living in poverty (at the
rate of one US dollar a day remains more
than one billion, without any change.
A billion people are being added to the
human population every 15 years.
•
The
lack of democratic political representation and the concentration of economic
and political power in a few hands have created a fundamental instability in
many nations – an instability that has far-reaching consequences in the form of
large- scale human migration, illegal drug exports and increasing terrorism.
•
The
average American uses 19 times more paper than the average person in a
developing country, and most of it ends up as trash.
•
Some
27 per cent of the world's coral reefs have now been irredeemably lost (whereas
it was only ten per cent in 1992). Coral reefs are second only to forests in
biological wealth, and such an extensive loss of the reefs inevitably takes a
great toll on many aquatic species of living beings. The goods and services
obtained from reefs were valued at 375 billion U.S. dollars in 1997.
•
Global
emissions of carbon have grown by an additional 400 million tones during the
ten years it has taken to arrive at an agreement for a modest climate protocol.
•
Twenty
known communicable diseases - including tuberculosis (TB), malaria and cholera
- which had been effectively controlled re-emerged virulently and spread widely
in the last quarter of the twentieth century. At least thirty previously
unknown deadly new diseases - including HIV, Hepatitis C and Ebola – have also
surfaced in the same period.
•
After
sixty years of near-continuous decline in deaths from infectious diseases in
the United States, the trend reversed in 1980 and death rates have nearly
doubled since then
•
A
pharmacological study made in 1999 reported that only 13 out of 1,223 medicines commercialized by
multinational drug companies between 1975 and 1997 were designed to treat
life-threatening tropical diseases..
•
The
market for drugs meant to cure minor ailments like toenail fungus, obesity,
baldness, face wrinkles and impotence runs into billions of dollars.
•
A
third of all adults are overweight in Europe; the figure stands at 61 per cent
in the United States. Obesity (the extreme condition of overweight) rose
dramatically in the 1990s - by ten to forty per cent in most European countries
and by fifty per cent in the United States.
Champaran Satyagraha and its relevance
today to ensure social justice
Social justice and human rights have been
the two key areas of Gandhi's concern both in South Africa and India. Gandhi
predicted that unless expeditious
corrective measures are taken, humanity will see more mega-death weapons proliferating
among nations and there will be population explosion, more pollution and
poverty, reducing our planet's life-supporting capabilities.
Gandhi insisted that social justice,
distributive justice and communicative justice have to be woven into the matrix
of social, political and community life. Commutative justice is based on the
dignity and equality of all persons while distributive justice guarantees the
right of all men and women to have equal share of essential goods and services,
material comforts and social security.Social justice should encourage citizens
to engage themselves in the creation of just social and political structures which
constitute inline democracy. Truth will be the
guiding principle in all of them. In the Gandhian concept the way of peace is
the way of truth. What Jaime L Cardinal Sin
pointed out in the annual lecture series United Nations University (1985), aptly
sums up the frightening scenario:
Poverty in the third world or anywhere else is
an indication of our collective failure. But the subject and agent of this
failure are not the poor themselves; rather, they are the victims of this
failed human and technical enterprise. The responsible agents of poverty are
the rich and the powerful. The agents of poverty are the economic planners who
choose to import capital-intensive technologies and whose victims are the
jobless industrial workers. The technocrats of poverty are the educators who
promoted school systems that are replicas of foreign universities. Their
victims are the youth who became alienated from their own people and culture.
The merchants of poverty are those unscrupulous industrialists who manipulate fragile
economies and destroy their self-reliant foundations. The innumerable victims
are the small farmers, fishermen and entrepreneurs whose labour and produce are
brought cheaply and whose daily rice depend on market decisions made in Chicago
or Geneva. The poor are poorer because they must contend not only with the
exploitative powers of local groups, but with those of an international network
as well.
The eloquent lessons that arise out of Gandhi’s heroic efforts in
Champaran a hundred years ago is that
nonviolence, which is an attribute of the soul is also a matchless weapon which has eternal relevance. Gandhi demonstrated this with
convincing success when he took on the vulgar face of the colonial arrogance
and exploitation and the abysmal helplessness of a fear-stricken segment
of poor indigo laborers of Champaran who
were crushed both physically and psychologically.
