Gandhis Satyagraha and World Peace

Pankaj Kumar Sharma* Gandhis Satyagraha is a technique to resolve conflicts and to establish world peace. Peace does not mean mere absence of conflict, violence or war among nations but a situation in which inherent causes of conflicts will have been resolved, disappeared or minimized. But the state of affairs is quite different. We are today witnessing over-growing sectarian, ethnic and other conflicts, corrupt dictatorships protected by major powers, international terrorism, fear generated by the amassing of arms, proliferations of nuclear technology and weapons of mass destructions are getting in the wrong hands. In many parts of the globe, societies are in discord and nations are at war which endangers human life. Corruption, greed, hunger, mass poverty, killer diseases, exploding world population, climate change, ecological degradation and diminishing natural resources are worrying the nations. No one person or nation or an organization can alone bring peace in the world. It needs collective effort to institute peace. We can take Gandhis teachings and apply to our world of today which is characterized by globalization. As such, we are living in an interdependent and interconnected world. We should strive to find out the way to produce the power of peace to solve these problems and to establish uninterrupted peace. Gandhian approach could be an option to resolve all these problems and to realize world peace. Gandhi advocated Satyagraha not as a new religion but as a superior means for attaining social harmony and human advancement for peace. The people are following the path of the Mahatma to fight social evils and injustices.1 To quote Gandhi, The world will live in peace only when the individuals composing it make up their minds to do so.2 The weapon of Satyagraha has been successfully implemented not only during Indian freedom struggle but in other countries as well. It was the most effective tool that ensured political freedom of India from the British imperialism. Throughout the twentieth century, several world leaders and peoples movements used Satyagraha to fight against apartheid, racism, colonialism and injustices. Many countries have witnessed popular movements for freedom, equality and peace, which drew inspiration from the life and methods of Gandhi. Civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King Jr. in the United States, anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa under leadership of Nelson *Pankaj Kumar Sharma, UGC, Senior Research Fellow, Department of Political Science, University of Jammu, Jammu (J&K).

Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi movement in Myanmar vindicate the application of Gandhis technique of Satyagraha and philosophy in resolving or transforming conflicts in the twenty-first century. Even in contemporary India, movements like J.P movement, Chipko Andolan, Narmada Bachao Andolan, Anna Hazare movement against corruption are largely based on Gandhian strategy. Peace movements are gaining momentum throughout the world. Moreover eighth goal of the Millennium Development Goals also demands, from the nation states, mutual cooperation and global peace. The total renunciation of violence to life and property as a means for solving conflicts between nations has become more pressing than ever before. The discovery of atomic power and the testing and use of nuclear weapons have proved to be a threat to human civilization itself. So the necessity to find an alternative to war and violence is of major significance as finding a way for saving humanity from self-destruction. Can Satyagraha, as evolved, preached and practiced by Gandhi, or any modification thereof, help humanity in this crisis? He often declared that Satyagraha is a sovereign remedy against all evils, of course including the major evil of war. As early as 1914 Gandhi wrote: Satyagraha is a force which, if it becomes universal, would revolutionize social ideas and do away with despotism and the ever-growing militarism under which the nations of the West are groaning and are being almost crushed to death, and which fairly promises to overwhelm even the nations of the East. Satyagraha was evolved by Gandhi as an effective substitute for violent and destructive ways of fighting evil in the form of injustice, oppression and all kinds of exploitation. Gandhis technique and philosophy of Satyagraha has apparently rendered the violence as meaningless. He used this method for resolving conflicts of interests and outlook, whether between individuals or groups. He used the Satyagraha technique in all spheres of life.3 Satyagraha aims at moralization of politics, fighting injustice and tyranny, settling social, political and economic disputes, establishing effective democracy, laying the foundations of new social order based on justice and equality, paving the way for world peace.4 According to Diwakar, the word Satyagraha, of Sanskrit origin, is a compound word formed from Satya, which means truth, and Agraha, meaning holding fast, adherence, or insistence. As such, Diwakar observed, it has come to denote the meanings of clinging to truth, holding fast to truth, or insistence on truth. The term Satya itself is derived from Sat, which means being or that which exists. Thus, the word Satya, Diwakar suggested, has come to entail that

which is in accordance with Sat or being, that is truth, therefore, that which is in accordance with truth.5 Satyagraha was to entail truth-force, soul-force, and a firm grasp upon Truth, Insistence on Truth or the Vindication of Truth, as the power of the soul, which fights for what is true in the search for justice, peace, and love.6 Therefore, Gandhi developed the philosophy of Satyagraha as fearless defiance of unjust laws, with a willingness to suffer and adherence to non-violence in thought and deed. O.P. Goyal defines it as the vindication of truth, not by the infliction or suffering on the opponent but on ones own self.7 It is therefore relentless urge for truth and a determination to reach truth. The concept of Satyagraha gives practical expression to religious and ethical ideals of truth and non-violence. But Gandhis choice of the term Satyagraha did more than that: it forged bond between his actions and his basic beliefs concerning the nature of man and the nature of reality.8 The importance of Satyagraha hinges upon the fact that it is based on truth and love and it was made to conquer ills such as injustice and violence. Consequently, it is also a weapon of justice and nonviolence.9 It is method to resist and fight any kind of oppression or evil in all forms in actual life.10 Satyagraha is a behavioral component of Ahimsa. It is a technique to practice ahimsa. Thus Satyagraha comprises of three component, truth, ahimsa and self-sacrifice. For Gandhi, Satyagraha is not a weapon of weak but weapon of strong. A person who has conquered fear and is ready to sacrifice can practice Satyagraha.

Origin of concept of Technique of Satyagraha

Gandhi developed his technique of Satyagraha during his stay in South Africa. It was in the year 1906, when he put his concept of Satyagraha in practice and opened the path for non violent mass movement against even the mightiest empire of the world11. Initially, Gandhi calls this technique as Passive Resistance, which he had borrowed from Tolstoy. Later, Gandhi found that the term Passive Resistance was too narrowly construed and it failed to convey all that Gandhi meant by his movement. His search to find suitable name for his movement ended when one of the readers of his paper Indian Opinion suggested the word Sadagraha which means firmness in a good cause12. Gandhi corrected it to Satyagraha and gave up the use of the Passive resistance. 13 Passive resistance is inability to use violence. It carries the feeling of harming the enemy while

Satyagraha is total renunciation of violence in thoughts as well as deeds. The means adopted by a satyagrahi must be nonviolent and peace promoting rather than violent. Satyagrahi never aims to inflict injury as evil doer. Satyagraha is directed against evil and not against evil doer. It is not a means to avoid conflict but means to uproot evil. Passive resistance can be practiced even by possessing the weapon whereas a satyagrahi has only one weapon of moral force. Gandhi regarded Satyagraha as a way of life. Gandhis earliest satyagraha in South Africa was a campaign of civil disobedience against an unjust government and its discriminatory laws.14 During the freedom struggle of India, Satyagraha was used as a weapon to resist the authority of the state and to bring various measures for the general welfare of the people. In India Gandhi led many Satyagrahas like those of Champaran, Ahemdabad, Bardoli and Kheda. Satyagraha has been adopted and served as a guiding spirit to some notable personalities around the world in their struggles to resist social injustice and oppression. Gandhi used it in India to win independence from the Britishers. The Reverend Martin Luther King used it in the United States to oppose segregation and Nelson Mandela used it in South Africa to end apartheid. Nelson Mandela, who had become the symbol of resistance even while imprisoned for more than 27 years, said in the 1990s: The values of tolerance, mutual respect and unity for which he (Gandhi) stood and acted had a profound influence on our own liberation movement and on my own thinking. Gandhian philosophy, he said, had enabled them to mobilise millions of people in the defiance campaign. It contributed in no small measure to bringing about a peaceful transformation in South Africa and in healing destructive human divisions that had been spawned by the abhorrent practice of apartheid. It continued to inspire South Africans in their efforts for reconciliation and nation-building.15

Satyagraha and Women

Gandhis technique of Satyagraha has been adopted by New Women's Rights Movement of the twentieth and twenty-first century, particularly with the purpose of promoting peace, communal-harmony, sustainable development and environmental safety.16 Gandhi regards that women are embodiment of universal love and boundless suffering. As he writes: If she is weak in striking, she is strong in suffering. I have described woman as the embodiment of sacrifice and ahimsa.17 The patriarchal family represents for Gandhi an excuse for the sexual

violation of women.18 Mahatma Gandhi believed that Satyagraha was the most powerful weapon in a non-violent struggle as it involves defiance. It involves the willful, peaceful, breaking of laws that are unjust.19 Womens are the most non-violent and ardent lovers of peace, therefore, it could be sharpened and extended as a weapon in women's struggles for justice and equality. To him the ultimate ahimsa and Satyagraha was when women (irrespective of nationality), in vast numbers, rose up to put an end to the destructive aspects of male dominance in society. The women of all nations should fight for their rights especially reproductive rights and Satyagraha can act as a instrument or mean to achieve that. In the contemporary times, the population explosion can be considered as one of the cause of violence and war. If this has to be controlled and to bring peace, the women should have the reproductive right.

A non-violent and peaceful world must have the world order which has to be based on truthfulness and justice and non-coercive and genuine convictions and freedom of self or of nations and communities. Since today our world lacks all this and violence has become all pervasive around us either in the form of aggressive violence of one country or nation against another country or nation or reactive violence of resistance groups, freedom fighters or even of terrorists. Its relevance depends of course on truth, justice and freedom from coercion. Since these attributes are lacking in the contemporary world, how can we have a violence-free world? These attributes are prerequisite and despite everyone talking of Gandhian non-violence, violence remains all pervasive.20 The Culture of Violence has resulted in the erosion of relationships across the board. Everyone has become selfish and self-centered. If we have no relationships based on mutual respect, understanding and appreciation there will be no harmony. And, if there is no harmony in a home, office, neighbourhood, society or a nation there cannot be peace. When Gandhiji said: Peace begins with you, he did not mean the selfish peace that we seek through sadhana or meditation but the peace that we need to bring about through love and respect for all living creatures - whatever their economic, social or political standing in life.21 Gandhi saw that human life is one and cannot be divided into different compartments, social, economic, political and international. Therefore he sought the solution of its troubles on a moral and ideological plane. He held that the same rules of morality that guide individuals in their social conduct must also guide groups and nations in their mutual intercourse. It should be as

immoral and sinful for nations to cheat, deceive and injure each other as it is for individuals to do so in their civil life. Murder does not cease to be a crime and a sin if it is committed in the interest of the self, the family or the nation. It must be remembered that the nation is only a big family. If an administrator cannot take bribes to support his family, he cannot also engage in acts of doubtful morality to serve what he considers would be in the best interests of the nation. Evil is evil, whatever the apparent interest served. Means, as in civil life, must not be subordinated to the ends, which should be pure, whether for individuals, groups or nations.22 In this connection Gandhi says: If the recognised leaders of mankind, who have control over the engines of destruction, were wholly to renounce their use, with full knowledge of its implications, permanent peace can be obtained. This is clearly impossible without the Great Powers of the earth renouncing their imperialistic designs. This again seems impossible without great nations ceasing to believe in souldestroying competition and to desire to multiply wants and, therefore, increase their material possessions.23

War, Peace and Satyagraha

War tends to become more and more destructive now a days. War, when it breaks, inevitably becomes global. This was realized by Gandhi when he called war an unmitigated evil24 and an unmixed evil25. He had been an opponent of all warfare. Even he held the state as evil owing to its reliance on violence.26 Satyagraha would be a viable alternative to other methods for the peaceful resolution of disputes and conflicts. And in all walks of life, wherever there is scope for conflict and disharmony, the practice of the principles of truth and non-violence in the smallest way possible, would definitely make a great contribution in bringing about peace and harmony. Gandhi condemned international ideologies of imperialism, communism and fascism and their economic, political and military practices, because they lead to interstate conflicts and threaten world peace.27 Peace is threatened generally by three kinds of national or international conflicts. The first and most destructive is the arms race, carrying with it the possibility of nuclear confrontation; the second is that of conventional wars between the states for territory, resources, honour, or ideological supremacy; and the third is a consequence of totalitarian or authoritarian rule resulting in oppression and denial of equality, freedom, and justice to the whole population of

a state or to distinguishable groups within it. The wars of national liberation in Latin America and Africa are instances of the third type. The second and third kinds of threats can become intertwined, as evidenced in such wars as the one between Ethiopia and Somalia in the late 1970s or the disputes between India and Pakistan over the territory of Kashmir. The conflict between Arab states and Israel is similarly multilayered. It is about territory, the rights of the Palestinians for a homeland, and Israel's right to exist as a state. 28 The purpose of United Nations (U.N) was to bring peace in the world to create an environment of nonviolent civil societies and nations. It was great and the most sought purpose and mission after World War II. However, U.N. has not been able to deliver world peace. There are many excuses but none would help us to understand why U.N. has failed to achieve peace. Had U.N. made Gandhis teachings as its primary mission, it is possible that our world would have been much safer, peaceful and prosperous. The fundamental problem for the whole world today is the achieving of peace. Gandhi considers that it is impossible to achieve peace by means of war. Violence can not destroy violence. The wars of national independence have time and again proven the impotency of superior force when matched against massive grassroots violent and non-violent resistance. Thus, there is no reason to believe that force and violence will invariably intimidate others and achieve the ends desired of them. Satyagraha can be a counterpart to violent war. Satyagraha is the moral equivalent or rather moral counterpart to war, which makes war unnecessary and ineffective.29 Non-violence is not applicable in every situation of potential conflict, although Gandhi and his supporters claimed that it was. Gandhis doctrine of non-violence or Satyagraha techniques of social action was intended not only to solve national problems of injustice but also international conflicts and wars. The abolition of wars and establishment of a peaceful world social order, however, was possible, according to Gandhi, through the positive philosophy of non-violence. 30 Hence the Gandhian quest for peace rests on the foundation of non-violence, Satyagraha as a way of life and as a nonviolent instrument of conflict resolution and Satyagraha against incurable violence. The only fair and rational approach to resolve conflicts was through dialogue, failing which, by resort to such non-violent means of persuasion as Satyagraha, fasts, hartals, non-cooperation and civil disobedience.31 In the present era, all political institutions have merely become the instrument for the pursuit of power directly or indirectly. The competition among different nations of the world to

be more and more powerful has made this world a miserable one. The show of strength has become the standard of showing ones superiority. In the international arena, the attempts by the nations to acquire nuclear power and to control space are intended to dominate others with lever of extra power. Gandhi had been an outspoken critic of Nuclear weapons after the American atomic bombing of Japan in 1945. He condemned the supreme tragedy of the bomb and refused to accept the argument that possession of Nuclear weapons acts as a deterrent against war, on the grounds that there can be no lasting, durable or moral peace through such means. 32 Gandhis ideas demand a move towards nuclear weapons free and non-violent world order. Satyagraha can be one of the possibilities in a struggle against the nuclear arms. The Gandhian framework can be an important guide for negotiations on disarmament. Indeed, even conventional diplomacy recognizes the need for confidence building measures and reciprocity. Nor can negotiations be successful unless both sides are convinced of the sincerity of their opponents. To draw the parallel with the struggle for peace, first of all, mass movements for war resistance and disarmament, cooperating across national lines, are essential. It should, however, be very clearly understood that there cannot be nonviolent action only by a single nation or its people. It has to be an international mass movement on the basis of Peace workers of the world unite. Otherwise there is danger of subjugation by armed neighbours, which is worse than violence in defence of ones freedom.33 States in its dealings with its own subjects or with its neighbours occasionally use methods which are in their externals somewhat similar to those of a satyagrahi such as persuasion, negotiation, compromise and so on. However, nonviolent methods are used by States as being expedient or less costly but never as a principle of action or as the final sanction. Self-suffering, for instance, has no place at all in a States policy. A State guides its steps mainly along the line of immediate as well as ultimate self interest. The military way has already been tried by the nations but it has failed to give the world the benefit of long lasting peace34. States should depart from such an attitude and have to think in terms of the principles of Satyagraha so as to establish and live in a peaceful world. Gandhis principle of Satyagraha is an effective weapon that can be employed for settling todays world problem and laying down peace. The people do not only dislike war but definitely want peace. Satyagraha was and can be used as a method to resolve conflict and to manage oneself in the face of opposition. Gandhi expounded the philosophy of Satyagraha more than hundred years back. The need of the hour is to understand his philosophy of Satyagraha so that we can resolve

conflict and manage ourselves in better manner. The vital activity of Satyagraha is a search for justice to which the ethic of non-violence is invited. The need is to find creative inspiration from Gandhian methods to evolve a Satyagraha appropriate to our times.

Ajay Shanker Rai, Gandhian Satyagraha: An Analytical and Critical Approach, Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi, 2000, p. 48. 2 S.C.Gangal, The Gandhian Way To World Peace, Vora & Co. Publishers, Bombay, 1960, p. 71. 3 R.R. Diwakar, The True Spirit of Satyagraha, in G. Ramachandran (ed.), Gandhi: His Relevance for Our Times, Vidya Bharti Bhavan, Bombay, 1967, p. 341. 4 Ajay Shanker Rai, n. 1, pp. 48-49. 5 R. R. Diwakar, SATYAGRAHA: The Power of Truth, Henry Regnery Company, Chicago, 1948, p. 1. 6 J.K. Mathews, The Matchless Weapon: Satyagraha, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay, 1989, p. 67. 7 O.P. Goyal, Studies in Modern Indian Political Thought- Gandhi an Interpretation, Delhi, Kitab Mahal, 1964, p. 20. 8 Namita Nimbalkar, Satyagraha as the Gandhian solution to Resolve Conflict, National Seminar on Indian Philosophy: Its Relevance in the 21st Century, Vidya Prasarak Mandals, Joshi-Bedekar College, Thane, January 18-19, 2008, p. 56. See http://www.scribd.com/doc/61303938/Mrs-Namita-Nimbalkar 9 R. R. Diwakar, n. 5, p. 1. 10 Dipty Moyee Das, Gandhis Doctrine of Truth and Non-violence- A Critical Study, Dominant Publishers, New Delhi, 2008, p. 81. 11 R.P. Misra, Rediscovering Gandhi, vol. III, Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi, 2008, p. 114. 12 Dipty Moyee Das, n. 10, p. 82. 13 O.P. Goyal, n. 7, pp. 20-21. 14 S.C.Gangal, n. 2, p. 132. 15 http://www.mkgandhi.org/articles/gsouthafrica_satyagraha.htm 16 http://www.mkgandhi.org/articles/peacefulmethod.htm 17 Ram Kripal Sinha, M K Gandhi : Sources, Ideas And Actions, Ocean Books, New Delhi, 2008, p. 190. 18 Leela Gandhi, Concerning Violence: The Limits and Circulations of Gandhian "Ahisma" or Passive Resistance, Cultural Critique, No. 35 (Winter, 1996-1997), p. 110. URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1354573 19 http://www.mkgandhi.org/articles/peacefulmethod.htm 20 http://www.mkgandhi.org/articles/css.htm 21 http://www.indiaeducation.net/articles/the-relevance-of-mahatma-gandhi-today-627.html 22 J.B. Kripalani, The Gandhian Approach to World Peace, in G. Ramachandran (ed.), n. 3, p. 241. 23 Ibid., p. 245. 24 Mahadev Desai, Non-violence in Peace and War, Vol.I, Navijivan Publishing House, Ahemdabad, 1960, p. 73. 25 Ibid., p. 80. 26 S.S.Gill, Gandhi A Sublime Failure, Rupa, New Delhi, 2003, p. 93. 27 K.C. Chacko, Metaphysical Implications of Gandhian Thought, Mittal Publications, Delhi, 1986, p. 127.
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Unto Tahtinen, The Core of Gandhiss Philosophy, Abhinav Publications, New Delhi, 1979, p. 95. M.P. Mathai et al. (ed.), Meditations on Gandhi: A Ravindra Varma Festschrift, Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi, 2002, p. 174. 31 S.S.Gill, n. 26, p. 86. 32 B.N.Ray, Gandhigiri- Satyagraha After Hundred Years, Kaveri Books, New Delhi, 2008, pp. 278-279. 33 R.R. Diwakar, The True Spirit of Satyagraha, in G. Ramachandran (ed.), n. 3, p. 347. 34 S.C.Gangal, n. 2, p. 60.