ARTICLES : Peace, Nonviolence, Conflict Resolution

Read articles written by very well-known personalities and eminent authors about their views on Gandhi, Gandhi's works, Gandhian philosophy of Peace, Nonviolence and Conflict Resolution.


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ARTICLES


Peace, Nonviolence, Conflict Resolution

  1. Nonviolence and Multilateral Diplomacy
  2. Ahimsa: Its Theory and Practice in Gandhism
  3. Non-violent Resistance and Satyagraha as Alternatives to War - The Nazi Case
  4. Thanatos, Terror and Tolerance: An Analysis of Terror Management Theory and a Possible Contribution by Gandhi
  5. Yoga as a Tool in Peace Education
  6. Forgiveness and Conflict Resolution
  7. Gandhi's Philosophy of Nonviolence
  8. Global Nonviolence Network
  9. Violence And Its Dimensions
  10. Youth, Nonviolence And Gandhi
  11. Nonviolent Action: Some Dilemmas
  12. The Meaning of Nonviolence
  13. India And The Anglo-Boer War
  14. Gandhi's Vision of Peace
  15. Gandhi's Greatest Weapon
  16. Conflict Resolution: The Gandhian Approach
  17. Kingian Nonviolence : A Practical Application in Policing
  18. Pilgrimage To Nonviolence
  19. Peace Paradigms: Five Approaches To Peace
  20. Interpersonal Conflict
  21. Moral Equivalent of War As A Conflict Resolution
  22. Conflict, Violence And Education
  23. The Emerging Role of NGOs in Conflict Resolution
  24. Role of Academics in Conflict Resolution
  25. The Role of Civil Society in Conflict Resolution
  26. Martin Luther King's Nonviolent Struggle And Its Relevance To Asia
  27. Terrorism: Counter Violence is Not the Answer
  28. Gandhi's Vision and Technique of Conflict Resolution
  29. Three Case Studies of Nonviolence
  30. How Nonviolence Works
  31. The Courage of Nonviolence
  32. Conflict Resolution and Peace Possibilities in the Gandhian Perspective
  33. An Approach To Conflict Resolution
  34. Non-violence: Neither A Beginning Nor An End
  35. Peacemaking According To Rev. Dr.Martin Luther King Jr.
  36. The Truth About Truth Force
  37. The Development of A Culture of Peace Through Elementary Schools in Canada
  38. Gandhi, Christianity And Ahimsa
  39. Issues In Culture of Peace And Non-violence
  40. Solution of Violence Through Love
  41. Developing A Culture of Peace And Non-Violence Through Education
  42. Nonviolence And Western Sociological And Political Thought
  43. Gandhi After 9/11: Terrorism, Violence And The Other
  44. Conflict Resolution & Peace: A Gandhian Perspective
  45. A Gandhian Approach To International Security
  46. Address To the Nation: Mahatma Gandhi Writes on 26 January 2009
  47. Truth & Non-violence: Gandhiji's Tenets for Passive Resistance
  48. The Experiments of Gandhi: Nonviolence in the Nuclear Age
  49. Terrorism And Gandhian Non-violence
  50. Reborn in Riyadh
  51. Satyagraha As A Peaceful Method of Conflict Resolution
  52. Non-violence : A Force for Radical Change
  53. Peace Approach : From Gandhi to Galtung and Beyond
  54. Gandhian Approach to Peace and Non-violence
  55. Locating Education for Peace in Gandhian Thought

Further Reading

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Extrernal Links


Truth & Non-violence: Gandhiji's Tenets for Passive Resistance

By Jay Subramanyam, Lucknow

Gandhiji had said during his lifetime, ‘What I have done shall endure, not what I have said or written—my life is my message’, which propounded never to despise the enemy but foster goodwill amidst disorder and never to dither from one’s faith in the Almighty even in the face of death. Such thoughts may appear a tad anachronous today when violence and strife have exceeded all limits of reason and logic.
A Hindu fanatic was led by the belief that Gandhiji’s acts were prejudicial & detrimental to the interests of the Hindu community and hence his existence had to be brought to an end. This was symptomatic of the kind of communal frenzy that had been whipped up in the aftermath of the country’s vivisection. The truth however, was that Gandhiji was a staunch follower of Hinduism from which emanated an all-pervading and all-encompassing creed of religious tolerance; that led its followers not merely to respect all other religions but to admire and assimilate whatever may be good in other faiths. He essentially felt that Hinduism propagated the search for truth through non-violent means, an element that was lost on his detractors, one of whom took him away from our midst at a time when the country needed him the most.
Whatever may have been the mode of his mass-movements, none of them were borne out of spontaneity but supported by practical wisdom. Whether it was the non-cooperation movement, which he launched as a protest against an unwitting and unwilling perpetration of evil, in other words, to curb the powers of the evil-doers by withdrawing all co-operation from them or the Civil Disobedience movement, which pre-supposed a law-abiding spirit combined with self-restraint, they all tugged the spirit of the nation because if anything, they challenged the might of imperialism, with the abstention of any and every form of violence.
It was Gandhiji’s firm belief that thoughts alone do not constitute anything unless they are put into practice. Whatever his belief, his thought, he used to first experiment its impact on himself and then propound it, which in many ways turned into an axiomatic truth for the world. His fasts were a mode of passive resistance, to secure peace and amity through personal suffering. Gandhiji believed that fasting for the sake of purifying the spirit was a discipline that was absolutely necessary at some stage in the evolution of an individual. For him the crucifixion of flesh was quite meaningless unless one voluntarily went through the pangs of hunger. Importantly, for him, fasting should be inspired by what he propounded throughout his lifetime—perfect truth and perfect non-violence and the call for it should come from within without being imitative. It was Gandhiji’s rationale that the less the violence a religion permits, more is the truth contained in it. A follower of non-violence should not succumb meekly to the will of the enemy but suffer punishment for disobeying the enemy’s will until he is won over. Herein lay the quintessential spirit of his passive resistance.
Pandit Nehru put it so succinctly at the time of Gandhiji’s tragic demise—‘The light that has illumined this country for these many years will illumine this country for many more years, and a thousand years later, that light will be seen in this country and the world will see it and it will give solace to innumerable hearts’. Prophetic words indeed! For a moment let us pause and cogitate over our beloved Bapu’s creed that in a non-violent conflict no rancour should surface as anger and intolerance are twin enemies of correct understanding; non-violence demands that we seek every opportunity to win over our opponents. Thus, a person who can express non-violence in life exercises a power superior to all forces of brutality. Is our society geared up to this test of fortitude? Following this cult in spirit and emotion may well be difficult, even painful but not impossible, though.