Gandhi’s
Truth: Ending Human Violence One Commitment at a
Time
By Robert J.
Burrowes
September 27,
2017 "Information
Clearing House"
- Gandhi Jayanti – 2 October, the date of Mohandas
K. Gandhi’s birth in 1869 and the International Day
of Nonviolence – offers an opportunity to reflect on
human violence and to ponder ways to end it. There
may be a fast way to end human violence but, if
there is, Gandhi did not know it. Nor do I. Nor does
anyone else that I have read or asked either. But
this does not mean there is no way to end human
violence.
Human violence
has a cause. See ‘Why
Violence?’
and
‘Fearless
Psychology and Fearful Psychology: Principles and
Practice’.
It has many manifestations. And it can be
ended. But if this is to happen, then many of us
must make the commitment to work towards that end.
This is because, as Gandhi noted: ‘The future
depends on what we do in the present.’
In other
words, if human violence is to end, it will happen
because individuals and organizations commit
themselves to joining the effort to do so. Here is a
sample of individuals around the world who have made
that commitment, each in their own unique way. You
are invited to join them.
HRH Prince
Simbwa Joseph was born to a Ugandan Royal Family in
Kampala. He abhors violence and is involved in many
charities for helping those in need, as well as
human rights organisations. He is currently manager
of Nsambu and Company Advocates – a law firm and one
of the oldest legal chambers in Uganda and East
Africa, having been established in 1970. Among other
engagements, he is also president of the African
Federation Association in Uganda, which is a member
of the World Federalist Movement Institute for
Global policy. Following negotiations with Prince
Simbwa as project manager in 2014, and involving the
Ugandan Vice-President in launching the project, the
World Sustainability Fund and its partners agreed to
provide €1.5m to launch the AFA-WFM permanent office
in Kampala in support of efforts to assist Uganda to
achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals. In
Prince Simbwa’s words: ‘Today the world is on
tension due to so many things in social, economic,
political disparities and pending nuclear wars. We
are concerned as global citizens because if violence
or war escalates those whom we call “Nalumanya ne
Salumanya” in our local Luganda language (literally
meaning “those concerned and less concerned”) shall
be trapped equally.... Anti-apartheid icon Nelson
Mandela and elder statesman appealed to the world
during his lifetime to reinvent Indian freedom
fighter Mahatma Gandhi’s nonviolent approach to
solving conflicts.’
Lily Thapa is
the inspirational founder president, in 1994, of
Women for Human Rights, single women group (WHR) in
Nepal. WHR is an NGO ‘dedicated to creating an
active network of single women on a regional,
national and international level. By working
exclusively with and for them, WHR is dedicated to
addressing the rights of single women and creating a
just and equitable society where the lives of single
women are strengthened and empowered.’ Rejecting the
label ‘widow’, WHR ‘issued a national declaration to
use the term “single women” instead of “widow”. The
word “widow” (“Bidhwa” in Nepali) carries negativity
and disdainful societal views which leaves many
single women feeling humiliated and distressed.’
Working to empower women economically, politically,
socially and culturally in order to live dignified
lives and enjoy the value of human rights, WHR works
at the grassroots, district, regional, national,
South Asian and international levels. Lily has
pointed out that there are ‘285 million single women
in the world, among them 115 million fall below the
poverty line and 38 million conflict-affected single
women have no access to justice; these women are
last.’ You can read more about Lily and WHR’s
monumental efforts on their
website.
Recently, Lily was awarded the South Asian ‘Dayawati
Modi Stree Shakti Samman’, which is ‘presented
annually to a woman who has dared to dream and has
the capability to translate that dream into
reality’.
John McKenna’s
commitment is to end discrimination in all of its
forms against those with disabilities. In one recent
article, the Australian surveyed the value of recent
disability-mitigating technologies becoming
available. In his thoughtful article
‘What’s App?’
he assessed the value of technologies that, for
example, assist people who are blind, people who
have problems with speech, and people with
disabilities who are getting older.
In a
nonviolent action to draw attention to the horror of
drone murders, US grandmother Joy First was one of
four nonviolent activists arrested at the Wisconsin
Air National Guard Base (Volk Field) during one of
the monthly vigils (held for over five years now) by
Wisconsin Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the
Wars. Volk Field is a critical component of the
drone warfare program being conducted by the US
government in a number of countries in the Middle
East and Africa. At Volk Field personnel are trained
to operate the RQ-7 Shadow Drone, which has been
used for reconnaissance, surveillance, and target
acquisition. You can read more about drone warfare
and resistance to it in Joy’s highly informative
article
‘Four Citizen Activists Arrested at
Volk Field as they Attempt to Identify the Base as a
Crime Scene’.
No
Advertising
- No
Government
Grants -
This Is
Independent
Media
Father Nithiya
is the National Programme Coordinator of the
Association of Franciscan Families of India (AFFI).
Their inspirational work is focused on two
campaigns: the Violence of Extreme poverty and
hunger and the Right to Food Campaign, as well as
the National Campaign to Stop Violence Against
Women. In relation to the latter campaign, AFFI has
released a DVD and a booklet as a result of a four
day intensive national consultation and training
organised by them in 2016. Through their vast
network of educational, social and medical
ministries, AFFI has committed itself to stopping
violence against women using various strategies all
over the country, especially through their schools
and colleges. Identifying ten types of violence
against women – gender selection, female foeticide,
child marriage, child abuse, harassment at work,
prostitution and trafficking, domestic violence and
Eve teasing, child labour, effects of alcoholism of
men, and unemployment and underemployment of women –
the DVD and booklet include analytical data,
information about the legal framework and redress
mechanisms. The aim is to empower women for their
safety and security. Fr. Nithiya has given seminars
to teachers and students to raise awareness of how
they can stop any form of violence against women in
their personal life, in their families, communities
and society at large. The aim is to make these AFFI
resources available in various Indian languages.
In one of her
many engagements, Nobel Peace laureate Mairead
Maguire from Northern Ireland continues her ongoing
solidarity work in support of the Rohingya, the
ethnic group in Burma currently suffering the
genocidal assault of the Burmese government and its
military forces, the Tatmadaw. In a recent evocative
appeal to their fellow laureate Aung San Suu Kyi,
signed by Mairead and four other laureates, they
asked ‘How many Rohingya have to die; how many
Rohingya women will be raped; how many communities
will be razed before you raise your voice in defence
of those who have no voice? Your silence is not in
line with the vision of “democracy” for your country
that you outlined to us, and for which we all
supported you over the years.’ See
‘Five Nobel Laureates urge Aung San
Suu Kyi to defend Rohingya Muslims’.
So if you
would like to join the individuals above, as well as
those individuals and organizations in 101 countries
who have made the commitment to work to end human
violence, you can do so by signing the online pledge
of
‘The People’s Charter to Create a
Nonviolent World’
which, thanks to Antonio Gutiérrez Rodero in
Venezuela, is also available in
Spanish.
If you also
subscribe to Gandhi’s belief that ‘Earth provides
enough to satisfy every [person’s] needs, but not
every [person’s] greed’, then you might consider
participating in
‘The Flame Tree Project to Save Life
on Earth’
which he inspired as well.
And if you
wish to use nonviolence, as Gandhi developed and
employed it, for your campaign or liberation
struggle, you will be given clear guidance on how to
do so on these websites that draw heavily on his
work:
Nonviolent Campaign Strategy
and
Nonviolent Defense/Liberation
Strategy.
Will enough
people make the commitment to end human violence?
Will you? As Gandhi warns us, fear of inadequate
outcomes is no excuse for inaction: ‘You may never
know what results come of your actions, but if you
do nothing there will be no results.’
Robert J.
Burrowes has a lifetime commitment to understanding
and ending human violence. He has done extensive
research since 1966 in an effort to understand why
human beings are violent and has been a nonviolent
activist since 1981. He is the author of
‘Why Violence?’
His email address is
flametree@riseup.net
and his website is
here.
Your support has
kept ICH free on the Web since 2002.
Do
you agree or disagree with the article? -
Please
read our Comment Policy
before posting - It is unacceptable to slander, smear or engage in personal attacks on
other ICH community members or authors of articles posted on
this website. Click here to comment on our Facebook page
In accordance
with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material
is distributed without profit to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving the
included information for research and educational
purposes. Information Clearing House has no
affiliation whatsoever with the originator of
this article nor is Information ClearingHouse
endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)