From the Editor-in-Chief’s Desk
Dear Readers,
Greetings from Shanti Sahyog Centre for Nonviolence, India (CFN)!
As is well documented, on 6 and 9 August 1945, the United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki respectively. The aerial bombings together killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the only use of nuclear weapons in an armed conflict. It is, therefore, a significant symbol of hope and optimism that we launched our CFN e-Journal Global Gandhi, on 9 August 2023 – at an event commemorating Hiroshima & Nagasaki Days.
In our world of grief and anguish, joy and hope, especially of those who are poor and afflicted in any way, Global Gandhi, a bi-annual e-journal, is a small attempt to voice the Gandhian paradigm and approach, especially of ahimsa, to shed light on our journey of life, and, particularly, on the decisions of leaders to shape the destiny of the world and that of each country. Our vision is, ‘A WORLD BEYOND VIOLENCE & WAR.’ And the means to attain that vision is through the mission of, ‘PROMOTING GANDHI’s LEGACY OF NONVIOLENT CONFLICT RESOLUTION.‘ The events of history today point to the fact of the existence of violence, even violence in its most crude form, what Gandhi called, “Brute force”, is shaping our style of life in its individual as well as structural aspects. Hence the necessity of continuously unearthing peaceful patterns of coexistence. Gandhi has proposed means and mechanisms for the same. Global Gandhi is an attempt at thematising his thoughts.
The Global Gandhi Editorial Team envisions a world where individuals, communities and nations are ruled by kindness, compassion and trust. A world where all humans strive towards unconditional love and nonviolence in every aspect of their lives, through mindful, conscious living. CFN invites like-minded persons to join our Team, so we can together work to empower communities and nation-states, to adopt the Political Legitimization of Nonviolent Conflict Resolution as the norm – ultimately resulting in the realisation of our Vision: A WORLD BEYOND VIOLENCE & WAR. Presently, all of us, adults, living in democracies have Politically Legitimized Violent Conflict Resolution; i.e., WAR. We invest (or rather waste?) huge financial resources in teaching how to go to war: the Annual Global Military Expenditure in 2022 was USD 2.2 trillion (SIPRI). We do not even spend USD 1 on teaching how to use nonviolence to resolve conflict. How can we expect it to succeed? This is why CFN has initiated an international initiative to politically legitimise nonviolent conflict resolution through the introduction of nonviolent defense systems worldwide. This initiative is based on Gandhi’s firm conviction that, nonviolence is a science, not a feeling, sentiment or emotion) and so has to be adequately learnt as a systematic body of knowledge and then applied with success.
We invite you to use the Global Gandhi platform to contribute your articles, perspectives, book reviews, podcasts, etc and give feedback through your suggestions and comments. You are also welcome to enlist in our various CFN initiatives, projects, workshops, drives, engaging activities, and an online education forum to GIVE NONVIOLENCE A CHANCE!
I would like to thank all those who conceptualised and helped in various ways to launch this journal. Particularly, the Editorial Board, without whose visionary and continued support, Global Gandhi would not be a dream that has come true! I am also grateful to the authors for their contributions to the e-Journal. My gratitude to our Advisory Board, whose encouragement and advice helped in shaping this e-Journal. And last but not least, I thank my Office Staff & Interns for their help in producing Global Gandhi.
So, dear Readers, I sign off with the hope that this e-journal responds to the signs of the times in a meaningful way, to bring forth the change our current world truly deserves, and so do you!
