Gandhi Journal Article-III ( August 2016 ) - Forgiveness and Conflict Resolution

Gandhi Journal Article-III ( August 2016 )

Forgiveness and Conflict Resolution

By John Moolakkattu 

Conflict resolution deals with how people resolve their disagreements, often emanating from mutually incompatible goals. Such disagreements entail not only fights, but also negative emotions that persist. The resolution of conflicts through various rational strategies such as negotiations, mediation and facilitation might yield positive outcomes. But conflict resolution focused on the issues that give rise to conflict cannot often address the rupture in human relations that takes place. Failure to deal with this rupture might increase the likelihood of future conflict. Hence forgiveness can play a role in conflict resolution when the parties accept that the conflict is a relational phenomenon and is the result of failed interaction, that both sides have a role in reconstructing the relationships, and in so doing, reconstructing their identities, which results in the restoration of humanity of both. At an interpersonal level forgiveness is seen as a very useful virtue and it has led to the resolution of conflicts between those in intimate relationships such as married couples. But many would have reservations when this idea is applied to address group conflict.

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Gandhi Journal Article-II ( August 2016 ) - Community of Ark: Hind Swaraj Perspectives in Practice

Gandhi Journal Article-II ( August 2016 )

Community of Ark: Hind Swaraj Perspectives in Practice

By Siby K. Joseph 

It is a befitting tribute to Gandhi to reflect on his work Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule and its practical applications during its centenary year. One who scrutinises Gandhi's philosophy and methods will see their seeds in his work Hind Swaraj.¹ That is why this booklet is often hailed as Gandhi's ‘seminal work'. Though Gandhi wrote this book keeping in mind mainly the Indians, his concept of Swaraj is not confined to the Swaraj of India alone. In fact, the ideas presented in this book constitute the foundation of Gandhi's philosophy of life. It may be said that it is on the foundation of Hind Swaraj that the whole edifice of Gandhi's theory of life is built. The values presented in this booklet are eternal and transcend geographical boundaries. Also, while this booklet is a severe condemnation of modern western civilization and its institutions, it also presents Gandhi's concept of an alternative way of life based on moral values, and spirituality.

Records show that Hind Swaraj gave rise to a lot of controversies. Discussions and debates were aplenty at the theoretical level. It is to be noted that several experiments were also undertaken by people of idealistic orientation to put the Hind Swaraj insights into practice. The Community of Ark in Southern France, for example, is an attempt to apply the Hind Swaraj perspectives on nonviolence as a way of alternative living.

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Gandhi Journal Article-II ( July 2016 ) - Jamnalal Bajaj: Business Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility and Trusteeship

Gandhi Journal Article-II ( July 2016 )

Jamnalal Bajaj: Business Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility and Trusteeship

Gandhi's concept of trusteeship provides an alternative system of management of wealth and resources by creating a fine balance between individual initiative and societal commonweal. The practical application of this concept in the field of business involves running business on the basis of ethical maxims and devoting the fair earnings from the business for the welfare of the society. The life and practice of Jamnalal Bajaj was an earnest attempt to actualise Gandhi's idea of trusteeship in letter and spirit. This paper analyses how Jamnalal fine-tuned his life to literally adapt Gandhian idea of trusteeship and in that process how he went much beyond the present idea of Corporate Social Responsibility.

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Gandhi Journal Article-I ( July 2016 ) - Gandhi is alive and still relevant

Gandhi Journal Article-I ( July 2016 ) 

Gandhi is alive and still relevant

By Dr. Kumarpal Desai 

Mahatma Gandhi had given a talisman or mantra to Nehru. It was really a yardstick to use before making any decision. He told Nehru that before starting any work, think of the poorest man and keeping him in view, think whether your actions are going to benefit him in anyway.

This idea of Gandhi to help the poorest of the poor has brought about a peaceful revolution in the world. He has shown a way to this extremely materialistic, acquisitive, narrow-minded and selfish world. Today Gandhi may not be among us, but he manifests himself through many individuals in our society. Organisations like the Radical Party or the Greenpeace Party openly acknowledge that Mahatma Gandhi is their guide and they follow his path. Their policies are based on Gandhian principles.

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Gandhi Journal Article-II (May 2016) - Gandhi's Champaran Mission : Its Context and Implications

Gandhi Journal Article-II (May 2016)

Gandhi's Champaran Mission : Its Context and Implications 

When GANDHI WAS in Santiniketan after returning from South Africa in 1915, at the enquiry of C.F. Andrews about whether there was any possibility for him to start satyagraha in India, Gandhi replied that such a possibility would not arise for another five years. Little did he think at that time that his first encounter with the British authorities in India would come within two years in Champaran in Bihar. The situation in Champaran was not a creation of Gandhi but his mission there initiated a process that shaped the destiny of the nation and the destiny of his own.

The encounter came in the form of passive resistance. Passive resistance of Gandhi came out of his concept of authority. To him, force was the basis of the state authority. The authority based on force could not have moral sanction. In this matter the positions of Thoreau and Gandhi were identical. Thoreau said: "The authority of Government... is still an impure one: to be strictly just, it must have the sanction and consent of the governed."¹ Both Thoreau and Gandhi believed in the moral authority which stood above the legal authority. The man-made laws were not necessarily binding on the people. Gandhi said: "So long as the superstition that man should obey unjust laws exists, so long will their slavery exist."² Thoreau wrote: "Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavour to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?"³ As a philosophical anarchist, Gandhi thought that moral authority came from the people because it was the people who resisted the immoral authority. But the people were inordinate force. So, finally, he wanted to be much more definite and felt the need of building the Congress as an active moral body which will act as an effective Countervailing force on the British government. 

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Gandhi Journal Article-I (May 2016) - Mahatma Gandhi : The Japanese Connection

Gandhi Journal Article-I (May 2016) 

Mahatma Gandhi : The Japanese Connection

By Thomas Weber and Akira Hayashi 

At Gandhi's Sevagram Ashram prayers still commence with the Japanese Nichiren Buddhist mantra of "Nammyo ho renge kyo." This raises questions about the connection between Gandhi and the Japanese. Gandhi admired Japanese self-respect, unity and patriotism which were demonstrated with Japan's defeat of Russia in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5. Later he became concerned by Japanese imperialism in China, the swamping of India with cheap Japanese cloth, and the prospect of a Japanese invasion of India during the Second World War. His open letter to the Japanese complaining of their brutal imperialism was quoted very selectively in Japanese papers so as to provide justification for the policies that he had condemned. Other Japanese writings about him played down his political activism making him useful for propaganda purposes rather than as a model for political activism. However, Gandhi's most important connection with Japan came through the various Japanese visitors to his ashrams, especially the Nichiren monks who stayed with him and left a lasting impression. The legacy of these monks continued in fostering understanding between the two countries in the early decades after Indian independence.

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Gandhi Journal Article-III (May2016) - Gandhi on and in cinema

Gandhi Journal Article-III ( May 2016 ) 

Gandhi on and in cinema

By Akul Tripathi 

Today, 68 years after his death, what are the visuals that hit our mind when we hear the name Gandhi? How is it that we picture him? That very familiar figure with round spectacles and a smiling face at peace with himself and the world, clad in a loin cloth and a furious gait with the lathi (stick), trying hard to keep pace is an image well known through photographs, chromolithographs, his statues and the face on the bank note. Yet, in our moving world of colour, the picture of him and his mannerisms that most people would associate him with or picture him to be is that which one has seen on screen - in movies, in cinema. My personal mirage of Gandhi is undoubtedly that of the monumental 1982 biopic - Gandhi - where Ben Kingsley plays the role of a life time in a multiple Oscar winning movie directed by Richard Attenborough, that is perhaps the most comprehensive depiction of Gandhi's role in the Indian freedom movement.

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Gandhi Journal Article-I (May 2016) : And then Gandhi came

Gandhi Journal Article-I (May 2016)

And then Gandhi came

By Dr. Savita Singh 

9 January 2015 marked the centenary of Mahatma Gandhi's return to India after his 21 years sojourn in South Africa. The day is now celebrated as the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas under the auspices of the Ministry of External Affairs.

Thus 9 January came to assume special significance after 11 September 2006 when Satyagraha, the most potent weapon discovered by Mahatma Gandhi completed its hundredth anniversary. It is a tribute not only to Mahatma Gandhi's leadership in India's struggle for independence but also to the contributions made by immigrant Indian in the country of their adoption and helped built bridges between the country of their origin and the country of their adoption. 9 January 2015, therefore, calls for special commemorative programmes appropriate for the historic occasion.

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Gandhi Journal Article-III (April 2016) - Reinterpreting Gandhi's Notion of "Dharma": An Entanglement of Duty, Religion, and Ethics

Gandhi Journal Article-III (April 2016)

Reinterpreting Gandhi's Notion of "Dharma": An Entanglement of Duty, Religion, and Ethics

The term 'dharma' is an enigmatic term. It is one of the purusarthas of Hindu tradition. Scholars belonging to classical age have described 'dharma' variously: faith in God(s), recognition of the quality of an object, and understanding the laws of the cosmos. These descriptions are found in classical manuscripts such as Mahabhrata, Ramayana, Bhagavad-Gita, Upanishads, Vedas, and Manusmruti. But there has been a gradual change in the interpretation of 'dharma' with time. In modern times, 'dharma' is interpreted as 'duty', 'ethics', and 'religion'. This paper examines the modern interpretations of 'dharma' from the Gandhian perspective and critically evaluates Gandhi's view on 'dharma' in relation to purusdrthas. It discusses why 'dharma' must be given highest priority among the purusarthas. Finally, it attempts to answer how dharma is associated with duty, religion, and ethics.

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Gandhi Journal Article-II (April 2016) - Salt Satyagraha and Dandi March

Gandhi Journal Article-II (April 2016)

Salt Satyagraha and Dandi March

 

In all the stirring annals of our Freedom Movement, few events are as dramatic, inspiring and significant as the historic Dandi March led by the Father of our Nation-Mahatma Gandhi.

On one level, the March was intended to protest against the nefarious provisions of the Salt Tax imposed by the British. But there was another level that had deeper, more profound implications and gave the event a unique significance. The March, in effect, was the spark that ignited the flames of the Freedom Movement and caused the idea of mass civil disobedience to spread like wildfire across the nation.

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Gandhi Journal Article-I (April 2016) : Under the shadow of peace personified

Gandhi Journal Article-I (April 2016) : Under the shadow of peace personified

By B. B. Borkar  

When I read Vinobaji’s writings for the first time, I had concluded that this man was a great saint. I was impressed with his depth of knowledge, introspection, and the wisdom that he conveyed with minimal words. Even then, his discourses, though being impressive, had not completely won me over due to the strong language which somewhat scared me.

I went to Wardha for the first time in 1946 where I had the benefit of the paternal affection of my host, Pu. Kakasaheb. One day in a happy mood he said, “Come, I shall take you to Vinobaji”. My quick reaction was, “But I don’t want to go”. Kakasaheb was taken aback with my response. He must have thought that when such big personalities eagerly wait their turn to meet Vinobaji, why is this weird poet, when there is such an opportunity, behaving in such a strange manner.

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Gandhi Journal Article-III (March 2016) : Gandhi's Philosophy of Nonviolence

Gandhi Journal Article-III (March 2016) :

Gandhi's Philosophy of Nonviolence

With Gandhi, the notion of nonviolence attained a special status. He not only theorized on it, he adopted nonviolence as a philosophy and an ideal way of life. He made us understand that the philosophy of nonviolence is not a weapon of the weak; it is a weapon which can be tried by all.

Nonviolence was not Gandhi’s invention. He is however called the father of nonviolence because according to Mark Shepard, “He raised nonviolent action to a level never before achieved.” ¹ Krishna Kripalani again asserts “Gandhi was the first in Human history to extend the principle of nonviolence from the individual to social and political plane.”² While scholars were talking about an idea without a name or a movement, Gandhi is the person who came up with the name and brought together different related ideas under one concept: Satyagraha.

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Gandhi Journal Article-II (March 2016) - Gandhian Revalution of Values

Gandhi Journal Article-II (March 2016)

Gandhian Revalution of Values

By J. B. Kripalani

Gandhi kept his new philosophy and technique of Satyagraha, that is, resistance to tyranny through truth and nonviolence, before the nation for its fight against British imperial domination, for its freedom, recon­struction and advancement, some twenty-five years before Independence. It is now more than thirty years since we achieved our Independence. No new ideas have emerged since then for the country's reconstruction and advancement. However, people are wondering, after these fifty- five years, whether Gandhi's ideas and techniques of Satyagraha have any relevance at the present time and hereafter. It is true that they are now better known and received by the learned than they were before. This may be due to the fact that the Janata Government has declared its adherence to Gandhi's basic principles, ideas, and main programmes for the reconstruction and progress of the country. In India, it is even now a fact that whatever the rulers approve of is accepted by the people, including the so-called intellectuals.

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Gandhi Journal Article-I (February 2016) : Relevance of Satyagraha as a Weapon of Conflict Resolution

Gandhi Journal Article-I (February 2016)

Relevance of Satyagraha as a Weapon of Conflict Resolution

By Anil K Ojha  

Satyagraha is the most important contribution of Gandhi to social philosophy and movement. It emerged as a weapon of conflict resolution. The concept of satyagraha could be understood in the broader context of Gandhian socio-political thought that developed out of actions, which he called 'Experiments with Truth'. It was aimed not merely at political change, but at the complete social, political, economic and cultural transformation. So far as its contemporary relevance as a means for attainment of justice and conflict resolution is concerned, diverse worldwide social movements drew and continue to draw inspiration from the Gandhian Way.

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Gandhi Journal Article-III (January 2016) A man who lives without money

Gandhi Journal Article-III (January 2016)

A man who lives without money

Think you couldn’t live without money? Irishman Mark Boyle challenged this notion and here’s how he finds life with no financial income, bank balance, and no spending.

“If someone told me seven years ago, in my final year of a business and economics degree, that I’d now be living without money, I’d have probably choked on my microwaved ready meal.”According to Boyle, the plan back then was to ‘get a good job’, make as much money as possible, and buy the stuff that would show society he was successful.
 

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