24-05-2025
In refusing to glorify the use of fear, violence, we may tap hidden strengths
Nonviolence is currently more unpopular than usual. The reasoning goes something like this — nonviolence equals Gandhi equals 'turn-the-other-cheek' equals impotence equals defeat. When innocents have been killed, many people are drawn to this way of thinking. Then there are those who have been brought up to accept this reasoning as an incontrovertible truth and see it as a cultural feature that has handicapped India.
It is imperative to set the record straight. One, nonviolence as an ideal arises from ancient India. There are scholarly disputes on the precise origins of 'ahimsa parmo dharma' but no disagreement on its pervasiveness for about 2,500-3,000 years on this Subcontinent.
Two, nonviolence is indeed central to M K Gandhi's strivings but it is not limited to the Mahatma's thought and action. The theory and practice of nonviolence has grown globally in variety and sophistication in the eight decades following Gandhi's assassination.
Three, 'turn the other cheek' is not how most contemporary practitioners of nonviolence define themselves. From Gandhi to Martin Luther King Jr — it is clear that allowing a violent injustice to persist can never be equated with nonviolence. Four, the worst forms of impotence are a consequence of rage, not nonviolence. The essence of how contemporary practitioners understand 'ahimsa parmo dharma' is: If you act from a higher level of awareness, drawing on finer human emotions, you can work out effective, refined strategies to overcome injustice.
Five, if victory is defined as demolishing or getting rid of the 'other', then the human cost of doing so may well amount to a defeat. Nonviolence defines victory as standing firm in your strength and having the willingness to co-exist, co-thrive with the 'other'.
All these have one pre-condition — the absence of fear and hatred. This is the crux of why it is easier to dismiss nonviolence. This easier path is more compelling when the immediate issue is violence against innocent people. How can a repeat offender be approached with compassion and dialogue?
There is no simple answer. Yet there is a wealth of experience, at the individual and collective level. David Hartsough, veteran American peace activist, was a teenager when he participated in the anti-racism struggle in the southern US. Near-death experiences in that struggle led Hartsough to later found the Nonviolent Peaceforce, a global civilian protection agency that works on the principles of the Shanti Sena — which were developed by the Sarvodaya Movement in India in the 1950s and 1960s. The tragedy of our times is that on a global scale, efforts like the Peaceforce remain marginal. In India, the idea of a Shanti Sena has more or less vanished.
Opponents of nonviolence would say this proves its unviability at an institutional scale, particularly when faced with repeat offenders like terrorist groups. There are situations in which dialogue and humane interface seem impossible. But such situations don't alter a basic truth — that violence and nonviolence are on a spectrum; it is not a binary divide. The reality of the human condition is that we struggle to find our place in that spectrum — knowing that there is no 'arrival', no final rest.
It was fitting that a story from the Ramcharitmanas was brought up at a media briefing on May 12. The reference was to that moment when Lord Ram asks the sea to make way so his army can proceed to Lanka. When the sea does not respond, Lord Ram has an uncharacteristic moment of rage and shoots a fire arrow — causing the oceans to get so heated that all aquatic life is threatened.
According to the popular telling of the story, as happened at the briefing, Samudradev, the sea god, appears and begs forgiveness and allows Ram's army to pass through. This incomplete version leaves out the most crucial element. What the god of the seas says to Ram is that the laws of creation do not allow the sea to part or dry up — not even at the command of Lord Vishnu himself. If you are changing the laws of nature that is another matter, says Samudradev. This reminder about the cosmic dharma evaporates Ram's anger. He withdraws the weapon. Samudradev informs Ram that two of the people in his army, Nal and Neel, have a divine gift — whatever they touch will float on water. That is how the bridge becomes possible.
In the spectrum of himsa and ahimsa, we are free to look at the whole story. The reward may not be complete freedom from fear, but in refusing to glorify the use of fear, we may tap hidden strengths.
The writer is the founder of the YouTube channel Ahimsa Conversations
