4. Gandhi presents a contrasting view of the role of violence and the goals of the struggle. Explain.
The opening of this text contains the following quotation
from Gandhi about nonviolence: “Power is of two kinds. One is obtained by fear
of punishment and the other by acts of love. Power based on love is a thousand
times move effective…” Gandhi’s teachings and practices abide by the related
ideas of satyagraha, the power of
nonviolence, and swaraj, the concept
of freedom. While he believed that every country has a right to self-governance,
he asserts that in the struggle for swaraj,
the fundamental concern should be centered around ending the culture of
oppression that both the colonists and colonizers are caught up in. A famous
example demonstrating this conflict is the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919,
in which hundreds of nonviolent protestors were without warning fired upon by
British troops. This event shocked the British and Indians alike. Gandhi
suggests that both parties seek liberation from the cycle of oppression and
being oppressed, and the role of nonviolence in swaraj is to free oneself from
the fears or insecurities that prevent us from confronting and dismantling the
system of oppression. He explains “my creed is non-violence under all
circumstances. My method is conversion, not coercion; it is self-suffering, not
the suffering of the tyrant” (p.99). The concept of self-suffering for Gandhi
is the pursuit of seeking internal freedom in addition to external freedom. He
often practiced, and encouraged he followers to as well, fasting and sexual abstinence
to develop The power in satyagraha is
in its gentleness, void of harmful or negative thoughts towards the oppressor
and to understand them. Violent protest builds aggressive attitudes and
distrust, and does not provide the opportunity to make peace with the other
party, and it so works against satyagraha
and swaraj. Gandhi also believed that
the struggle for swaraj should not be oriented just around the goal of forcing
the British to leave, rather the goal should be for individuals to work toward
social reforms that would establish a culture of social activism and civic
responsibility that would provide it with a purpose to be politically
independent. He refers to this work towards creating social reform as the Hindu
principle of dharma, or duty.
His approach towards civil disobedience is influential worldwide
to this day. Even at Columbia, where we pride ourselves in our activist
culture, students and student organizations regularly assemble peaceful
protests and work with different branches of administration to implement small
policy changes that contribute to making the university more representation of
the student population.
Moreover, Gandhi was very cognizant of the values and structure of government that Indians may assume after the British were to leave. He believed that a movement whose sole end was to make the British leave may in fact be successful with violence, but it would leave behind a new state that was founded on the ideals of violence and aggression -- a concept that Gandhi strongly condemned. In that light, reorienting the goal toward self-sufficiency of the colonized peoples and civil disobedience against the colonizing power would non-violently foster the growth of a new state and de-necessitate the British imperialist control. Gandhi has after all asked, how would a newly independent Indian state founded on violence be any better than the colonized state, for both rely on oppression and harm. Whereas his contemporaries saw independence itself as the end goal, Gandhi looked ahead to the state formed in its aftermath. Some today argue that whereas Gandhi's nonviolent ideology was strategic and politically symbolic, the freedom movement simply could not have succeeded without violent attacks on the British from Indian freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh. It is important for us to recognize that Gandhi and his efforts alone did not bring India to independence -- historians today still disagree on how effective his movements really were in the grander freedom movement.
ReplyDeletePlaying Devil's Advocate, in previous literature, Gandhi has mentioned that, "[He] would rather have India resort to arms in order to defend her honour than that she should, in a cowardly manner, become or remain a helpless witness to her own dishonor." From a spiritual and emotional standpoint Gandhi recognizes that nonviolence and forgiveness go beyond the sheer brutality and overall perspective of violence. These conditions allow one to connect to the pure human individuality which make nonviolence and satyagraha so powerful. These passionate standpoints, he proclaims, irrespective of the methods, trump cowardice and fear which he has no respect for.
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