Gandhi—Why Many Looked to Him
We live in a time of deepening crisis in the developing world. While the affluent societies of the West are suffering from social malaise, the whole world lies in the shadow of nuclear terror. Does Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolence hold the answer to this strife-torn world? This article, written by an Indian journalist, examines Gandhi and his ideals of nonviolence.
GANDHI. What does that name mean to you? If you are a lover of peace and yearn to see a nonviolent world, you may know that Gandhi has been called the father of nonviolence.
If you are one of over 730 million Indians, you will remember him as Bapu, or father, a tender image of a frail man with a spinning wheel who brought independence to India. If you are a Hindu, you consider him a spiritual leader and call him Mahatma, or “great soul.” But regardless of your origin or beliefs, you probably recognize Gandhi as a leader with unusual charisma.
He was a small man with a gaunt face and large eyes. A nose, too large for his face, propped up his round spectacles. His sunken cheeks were spanned by a toothless smile. Most pictures show him either sitting cross-legged with his spinning wheel or dressed in his loincloth and cotton shawl while greeting visitors.
Not long after World War I, Gandhi said: “I object to violence because, when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary, the evil it does is permanent.”
The world today is in even worse shape than when Gandhi was alive. Look at what is happening in South and Central America, Africa, the Middle East and even in Indian towns and villages. Violence as a means of solving problems has become a deeply ingrained habit. When pushed, most people push back. When pushed again, they fight back. The wealthier nations are not immune to this either. Nationalistic hatred, racial violence, crime, threat from nuclear warfare and environmental abuse are the norm. “Unless the world adopts non-violence, it will spell certain suicide for mankind,” Gandhi observed. Hatred can only be overcome by love, and nonviolence has to be practiced not only by nations and groups but by each individual, he expressed.
What, for example, motivates a man to hate his neighbour and do him violence just because his skin is of a different colour? Gandhi observed: “No man of God can consider another man as inferior to himself. He must consider every man his blood brother.” Sixty-three years after Gandhi said that, the world is still struggling with the basic concept of equality.
At a time when great leaders and thinkers are scarce, some look back to Gandhi for answers. But who was this man? What were his ideals? How were they shaped? In these precarious times, are Gandhi’s ways the answer?