Friday, February 17, 2012
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Mahatma Gandhi, South Africa and Satyagraha
Mahatma Gandhi, South Africa and
Satyagraha
By E. S. Reddy
A century ago, on 10 January 1908, M. K. Gandhi, an attorney
with a lucrative practice in Johannesburg, appeared before the magistrate’s
court for defying an anti-Asiatic law and disobeying an order to leave the
Transvaal within 48 hours. He asked for the heaviest penalty – six months’
imprisonment with hard labour – for organising defiance of this “Black Act” by
the Indian community. The magistrate, however, sentenced him to two months
simple imprisonment.
Gandhi gladly went to prison to enjoy “free hospitality”
at “His Majesty’s hotel”, as did 150 other resisters.
That was the first of many imprisonments of Gandhi and the first
non-violent challenge to racist rule in South Africa. READ MORE…
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
Peace Approach : From Gandhi to Galtung and beyond
Peace Approach : From Gandhi to Galtung and beyond
By Dr. Anupama Kaushik
Associate Professor in Political Science, Banasthali University,
Rajasthan, India.
Peace can be defined as a two sided
concept. On the one hand it implies absence of violence and on the other the
presence of positive, harmonious, cooperative relationships. These two aspects
are referred to as negative and positive peace. Johan Galtung clarifies that
peace research is based on the assumption that peace is as consensual a value
as health…..
……The people who established peace studies in the west- Johan
Galtung and Kenneth Boulding were admirers of Gandhi.13 However
in west peace studies have taken a very different path to that of Gandhi.
Probably the reason was that Gandhian peace demands a great deal of sacrifice
from the practitioner. He calls it satyagraha i.e. ‘adherence to truth’ and
truth and non violence are the main planks of satyagraha. A person who resolves
to adhere to truth cannot remain silent at the sight of violence which is
negative of truth. Truth functions in form of non violence or love. While the
lover of truth ought to oppose violence such an opposition would mean ‘fight
the evil’ while ‘love the evil doer’. It is a dynamic soul force based on the
concept of self- suffering. As there are many forms of injustices there are
many forms of satyagaha too such as- non cooperation, civil disobedience,
fasting, hijrat, hartal, picketing, boycott, and renunciation of titles,
honours and positions.
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