By Dr Jeanette Pinto –
“The cry for peace will be a cry in the wilderness, so long as the spirit of nonviolence does not dominate millions of men and women”
“….. We must keep nonviolence as our goal and make strong progress towards it.” – Mahatma Gandhi.
Mahatma Gandhi the Father of the Indian Nation was shot dead on January 30, 1948 at 17:17 hours as he headed towards a multi-faith prayer meeting. He was assassinated by fundamentalist forces opposed to his idea of Swaraj promoting nation-building on the principles of equality of all citizens and communal harmony. Gandhi’s Swaraj focused on the composite nature of Indian nationalism, aiming at a culture of life, or simply being pro-life.
Mahatma Gandhi was born in a middle class orthodox Hindu family of Gujarat at Rajkot. He received his early education in India and then went to London where he qualified himself at a barrister- at- law. He came on this earth with his message of truth and non-violence (ahimsa) at a time when the forces of aggression and violence reigned supreme on earth. Mahatma Gandhi taught us what Christ and Buddha had desired to teach long ago. He became an immortal spirit who guided us through the path of peace and non-violence.
What is Non-violence? It is the personal practice of being harmless to self and others under every condition. It comes from the belief that hurting people, animals or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and refers to a general philosophy of abstention from violence. It simply means to protect promote, preserve and defend not only human but all life or being pro-life. This may be based on moral, religious or spiritual principles or purely for strategic reasons.
The freedom movement under Gandhi’s leadership successfully mobilized and drew people into the struggle for independence against colonial rule. Men and women, people from all faiths, regions, speaking different languages, belonging to varied castes, traditions, customs, cultures, beliefs and inhabitants of both rural and urban areas. He dreamt of an India where people lived together and respected each other’s differences; where interactions, protest and negotiations would be shaped by the principle of non-violence/ahimsa.
Force or violence, according to Gandhi is madness which cannot sustain life; it will ultimately bow down before non-violence. He not only fought British imperialism, but also declared war on the forces of unrighteousness, untruth and injustice all the world over. He was constantly conscious of the preciousness of God’s gift of human life to mankind.
Briefly summarised from the Harijan 5/9/1936 is his Essence of Nonviolence:
‘Non-violence is the law of the human race and is infinitely greater than and superior to brute force. It affords the fullest protection to one’s self-respect and sense of honour, but not always to possession of land or movable property, though its habitual practice does not prove a better bulwark than the possession of armed men to defend them. Non-violence is in the very nature of things, is of no assistance, the defence of ill-gotten gains and immoral acts. Non-violence is a power which can be wielded equally by all children, young men and women or grown up people, provided they have a living faith in the God of Love and have therefore equal love for all mankind. It is a profound error to suppose that whilst the law is good enough for individuals it is not for masses of mankind’.
Mahatma Gandhi changed the fight for Freedom into a mass-organization, in which peasants began to take an active part. He wanted all his followers to always maintain truth and integrity. The principles of Ahimsa were practiced in all of the independence movements launched by him. The Non-cooperation movement got massive support and became the popular nonviolent movement. Indians were requested to avoid using imported goods. The Civil disobedience movement was a non-violent resistance against the British tax regime. All this may be construed as being passive in nature, but there is a definite energy and power in this pro-life approach.
Today sadly, even after 70 years of India’s independence, we witness hatred and prejudices based on religion, caste, gender, sexuality, region and class. Society is becoming increasingly intolerant and violent. Communal violence, caste based violence, lynching and hate crimes are on the rise. Farmers, students, Dalits, Adivasi and all vulnerable groups are getting marginalized because of growing apathy. There is a prevalent culture of death in the air. Should we be mere silent spectators to this growing ill will, injustices and hatred?
Are you dear readers uncomfortable with the prevalent violence targeting innocent human beings? If it disturbs you, then you cannot be a silent spectator to merely hate crimes and violence. We must act and as Indians must come together to resist and confront this culture of intolerance and death; it is anti-life. It appears to be the new normal, but it is truly horrific!
In South Africa Gandhi came in contact with Christian Missionaries who were active champions of the Black Africans. He struck up a friendship with the English Protestant and Pastor, Charlie Andrews who brought him contact with the Gospel: ‘Love your enemies, do good to those that persecute you”… “If they strike you on one cheek show them the other.” This is what struck Gandhi and he followed it literally even unto his death. He also had the beautiful idea of naming the outcasts “HARIJANS” (Children of God) Indeed the message of Nonviolence is pro-life.
How do we wish to commemorate the 71st anniversary of Gandhi’s martyrdom? Is just by observing a minute’s silence enough? Perhaps let’s take a pledge for non-violence, a pro-life attitude and communal harmony. Maybe we should organize peace rallies, awareness programmes, public meetings, interactions in schools, colleges, or other educational institutions. One thing is certain lets refrain from spreading hate messages and be life giving to all peoples. We first need to create a peaceful atmosphere in our homes. Then we need to move out into the neighboring communities and spread the pro-life message of non-violence and peace.
Dr Jeanette Pinto, an educator for the past 5 decades, headed the Department of History was Vice Principal of St. Xavier’s College Mumbai, and retired as Principal of Sophia College, Mumbai. She is a counsellor and conductor of Personal Enrichment Programmes for students and teachers.
She set up the Human Life Committee in the Archdiocese of Bombay. As a sex educator she has given talks on Human Sexuality in India and abroad. In 2014 she received the Rachana Outstanding Woman of the Year for her Pro-life work presented by the Diocese of Mangalore. She has attended many National and International Pro-life conferences and given talks at other fora on various women’s issues.
She is author of a couple of books, her most recent ones are titled: I’m Pro-Life Are you? & Sex Talk: Parent to Child. She has also written a number of articles on a variety of themes and subjects, which have been published in research journals, The Examiner and other Catholic publications.