An International Quarterly e-Journal
of Shanti Sahyog Centre for Nonviolence, India
Global Gandhi is an initiative, in an international quarterly e-journal format, to translate into reality the belief that it is possible to adopt Mahatma Gandhi’s ethical and nonviolent approach, grounded in satya and ahimsa, to address the issues facing contemporary society. The hope is to create a process of dialogue, with all people of goodwill, coming from diverse nationalities, cultures and religions, to fashion and sustain a world order, founded on truth, built on justice and cemented by love in order to bring about peace, progress and harmony. Thus, Global Gandhi aims to provide an interactive platform, where persons who believe in Gandhian values, can find a voice to offer nonviolent solutions, in a world torn by conflicts and wars.
Opines Gandhi:
“What kind of victory is it when someone is left defeated? What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy. What is a war criminal? Was not war itself a crime against God and humanity, and, therefore, were not all those who sanctioned, engineered and conducted wars, war criminals? The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. Non-cooperation with evil is a sacred duty.”
Source: Non-Violence in Peace and War (1942) vol. 1, p. 142.
Shanti Sahyog Centre for Nonviolence – a unit of Shanti Sahyog – (formerly known as Shanti Sahyog Centre for Peace & Conflict Resolution, started in 2018) is a developing think tank, research and advocacy organization, that strives to realize Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of a Nonviolent World Order. The aim is to create global awareness about nonviolence as essential to human survival. We work towards and promote Nonviolent Conflict Resolution, A World Beyond Violence & War, Peace Education, Citizen Diplomacy and & Peace Programs in India & Abroad. This is in line with UN SDG 16.
Once Rabindranath Tagore asked Gandhi,
Gandhiji, are you so unromantic? When in the early dawn the morning sun rises, does it not fill your heart with joy to see its reddish glow? When the birds sing does not your heart thrill with its divine music? When the rose opens its petals and blooms in the garden does its sight not bring cheer to your heart? ‘
The Mahatma replied:
Gurudev, I am not so dumb or insensitive, as not to be moved by the beauty of the rose or the morning rays of the sun or the divine music of the birds. But what can I do? My one desire, my one anxiety, my one ambition is, when shall I see the red tint of the rose on the cheeks of hungry naked millions of my people? When shall I hear the sweet and melodious song of the birds in the place of their agonizing sighs? When will such music come out of their soul and when will that day come when the light of the morning sun will illumine the heart of the common man in India? When will I see its lustre and brightness on his face?”
(As quoted by V.R.Krishna Iyer, ” Defend Our Vintage Values from Assaults of Moneyicracy,” Mainstream. April 6,1996)
2. “I work for an India, in which the poorest shall feel that it is their country in whose making they have an effective voice; an India in which there shall be no high class and low class of people; an India in which all communities shall live in perfect harmony. There can be no room in such an India for the curse of untouchability or the curse of intoxicating drinks and drugs. Women will enjoy the same rights as men, since we shall be at peace with all the rest of the world, neither exploiting, nor being exploited. We shall have the smallest army imaginable. All interests not in conflict with the interests of the dumb millions will be scrupulously respected, whether foreign or indigenous…. This is the India of my dreams.”
(Young India, Sept. 10,1931.)
3. “I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and weakest man you have seen, and ask yourself if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him. Will he gain anything by it? Will it restore to him control over his own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to Swaraj for the hungry and spiritually starving millions?”
(Raghawan IYER (ed.), The Moral and Political Writings of Mahatma Gandhi, Oxford: Clarendon Press 1987, Vol.III, p.609.)
Gandhi’s Vision of Society is not hierarchical but portrayed as an oceanic circle of life and world order with the self- sacrificing or nonviolent individual at the centre. To quote him:
“In this Structure… there will be ever-widening, never-ascending circles. Life will not be a pyramid with the apex sustained by the bottom. But it will be an oceanic circle whose centre will be the individual always ready to perish for the village, the latter ready to perish for the circle of villages, till at last the whole becomes one life composed of individuals, never aggressive in their arrogance but ever humble, sharing the majesty of the oceanic circle of which are integral units. Therefore the outermost circumference will not wield the power to crush the inner circle but will give strength to all within derive its own strength from it… no one… (will) be the first and none the last.”17
Source: R.K. Prabhu & U.R. Rao (eds), The Mind of Mahatma Gandhi, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedbad, 1967, p.252.
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