India’s Unique Way of fighting Injustice

Written 18 December 2011

Violent conflict is engulfing many countries of the world as a wave of unrest spreads. Rising food prices, corruption, unemployment and dictatorial regimes are the cause of this confrontation. India, the world’s largest democracy too is facing turmoil mainly from a population which is fed up with scams in which huge amounts of money is syphoned of from a host of projects. Those involved in such scams hope that the public will forget after a few weeks of outrage. As a rapidly growing economic power Indian’s know what they are capable of and increasingly cannot tolerate the corruption which is eating away at the country’s hard earned gains. Indian’s however have a unique way of challenging those in power. This form of protest which was so successfully used by Mahatma Gandhi is known as Satyagrah. Rather than confronting the adversary with violence and a uprising the aggrieved party never indulges in any violence. This concept has its roots in the Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Buddhist belief of Ahimsa-non violence. The Dalai Lama has also steadfastly followed this form of resistance. Martin Luther King very successfully deployed non violent resistance. Nelson Mandela and other South Afrcan leaders too were influenced by this methodology and it was probably the cause of the success of the Truth and Reconciliation committee. This is not to say that violent confrontations are not going on in parts of India. They are but they invariably fail in achieving their objectives. As a last resort the leaders of the non violent protest movement begin a fast unto death. Anna Hazare a Gandhian recently started a fast to bring about an independent ombudsman which would investigate all corruption cases and which would have access to everyone from the prime minister downwards. Public sympathy for Anna grew rapidly and the government was obliged to give in to the demand for the ombudsman. Though the precise details of the workings of the ombudsman has got bogged down, the process itself is unstoppable. More recently the massively popular Yoga guru Swami Ram Dev undertook a fast along with almost 25,000 people. His demand is that the billions of pounds of black money deposited by Indian’s in Switzerland be brought back. The protest was violently broken by Delhi police but the Guru has won a crucial moral victory. This will surely reflect in the next general election. Non violent resistance is all about means justifying the end rather then end justifying the means. Civil wars in which people of the same country turn against each other leave a lasting impact on the citizens and divide the nation forever. The non violent agitation in its pure  form does not seek to humiliate the adversary it only seeks justice. With so much conflict and violence going on in many parts of the world the ahimsa model could be the answer.

Nitin Mehta