Orissa Review * January - 2009 Mahatma Gandhi and World Peace Prof. Brahmananda Satapathy The context is the 'Global Peace' in the modern degradation in the forms of abuse and overuse of world and the text is 'Gandhian philosophy for its nature and pollution and growing paucity of attainment. The broad hypothesis is :" World resources, denial of human rights, gender bias and peace can only be realized through non-violence. injustice, crisis in the field of energy, mounting There is no alternative to non-violence". insecurity and violence, terrorism, war and The objectives of this paper are as conflicts, drug trafficking, AIDs. Besides, there following: are corruption, communalism, unemployment, regionalism, problems of language, ethical and (i) to state the problems/ crises of the modern moral degradation in private and public life. All world ; these together pose a grave challenge to the (ii) to analyse the multi-dimension of Gandhi's world. Peace is far away so long as these concepts of Non-violence and Truth; problems exist. (iii) to examine Gandhi's views on state and his II vision of democracy ; Among the various political ideologies, (iv) to present Gandhi's interpretation and democratic governance appears to be best contribution to the formulation of India's because it is this very system which provides foreign policy and world-views ; and maximum opportunities of public progress and (v) to establish an organic relationship between development. People can themselves decide the Gandhian principle and world peace. mode of their welfare. But, is the democratic system of governance free from above problems ? The modern world is facing a multi- Therefore Gandhian Philosophy is very much dimensional crisis; a crisis that poses challenge to contextual today on this accord. each and every aspect of our life. Among the outstanding aspects of this crisis are; over- Mahatma Gandhi treated his individual life militarization, nuclear proliferation and global reach in accordance with his ideas. He said "my life is of arms, overdevelopment and underdevelopment my message". Therefore Gandhism is a mixture resulting in mal-development, a vast number of of Gandhi's concepts and practices. The basic people suffering from poverty, hunger and groundship happens to be "Non-violence". He marginalization. Added to these are environmental practiced and prescribed non-violence as a 5 Orissa Review * January - 2009 remedy against all social evils. It is the most ancient body and mind. It is the voice of God, the voice eternal values and culture of India. He said on of Truth within us. this account, " I have nothing new to teach you« Both are two sides of the same coin. Both Truth and non-violence are as old as hill." Non- have same value. Difference consists in approach violence and Truth are two sides of a same coin. only. The derivation is that Truth stays with A. Non-violence permanence and that Truth is permanent. Non- violence on account of being permanently present Total non-violence consists in not hurting stays to be true. Non-violence is both a means some other one's intellect, speech or action per and an end in itself. own thought, utterance or deeds and not to deprive some one of his life." In essence, (D) Non-Violence is the strongest weapon. abstinence in toto from violence is non violence. It is not a weapon of the weak. It has no In this context Gandhi clarified in an edition of place for cowardice. It is an active force. Non- young India. violence is impossible without bravery / courage/ "..... to hurt someone, to think of some evil fearlessness. Doing at any cost something that one unto some one or to snatch one's life under anger ought to do. The courage of dying without killing. or selfishness, is violence. In contrast, purest non- Having decided upon the rightness of a situation, violence is an epitome in having a tendency and Gandhi would not like one to be passive spectator presuming towards spiritual or physical benefit to evil. This is the essence of Non-Alignments unto everyone without selfishness and with pure which is different from neutrality. "When freedom thought after cool and clear deliberations« The is menaced or justice is threatened or where ultimate yardstick of violence or non-violence is aggression takes place we can not and shall not the spirit behind the action." be neutral." B. Non-Violence is perpetual. (E) Non-Violence has individual and social aspects too. It fosters co-operation and From beginning unto now man has been cooperative progress. Progress is difficult to ultimately treading path of non-violence. It came achieve without co-operation. Co-operation is into existence along with man. It is co-terminus possible only when there is no violence. To him, with life. In case, it has not with man from the regulation of mutual relations in society is through very beginning, there might have been self-dom non-violence to considerable extent. He wished by man. Besides there has been gradual it to be developed on large scale. He called upon enhancement in development and proximity in the people to continue to develop it in practice spite of presence of various obstacles and hurdles. throughout life as the basis of life. (C) Non-violence and Truth both are (F) Non-Violence is not utilitarianism. complementary to each other. It is more appropriate to say " Truth is God," rather than It is all - timely and all welfaristic. A non- saying "God is Truth". He equated God with violent is always ready to face punishment for the Absolute Truth as ultimate reality , Soul is the maximum benefit of all whereas a utilitarian is not. spark of this God of Truth. It is the moral, The (G) Complete unity and integrity of body, mind spiritual force, the divine spirit which regulates our and soul are in the individual human being. The 6 Orissa Review * January - 2009 body should be controlled by mind and the mind across the world and seems to be having no by the soul - a harmony among three. But this respite. control is not to be achieved by despising or Gandhi is certainly a staunch supporter of neglecting either the body or mind or soul. democracy. He believed that state is best which (H) Means are at least as important as, and governs least and this is his second best ideal. He often more important than, ends. It is, of course, held the view that there are certain things which desirable that ends should be good and cannot be done without political powers, even reasonable. They give direction to life while the though there are numerous other things which do means adopted constitute life itself. The means not at all depend upon political power. While in confirm to the test of truth and no-violence, even ideal society, there is no room for the military and mistakes, errors, and failures aid the growth of police, yet in the actual state there is provision for the individual. We can not get a rose by planting it according to the moral level of its citizens. a noxious weed. There is an inviolable connection Democracy should be intermingled with non- between the means and end as there is between violence in even manner and governmental the seed and tree. The relationship between the interference is minimum. The present democratic two is organic. There must be purity of means. systems can overcome the problems most Those who grow out of violence, they will end in importantly "violence and terrorism" only when violence. This is what makes Gandhi distinctly non-violence is accorded supreme status in different form Kautilya, Machiavelli, Bentham, practice as well as in principle and at social as well as individual plane. Only such a democracy Karl Marx, Lenin, Trotsky and others. can be successful in its real goal. The existing III democratic deficit can be overcome by Examination of Gandhi's view on State may, incorporating "Gandhism in democracy". Violence perhaps, lead to a better understanding of his vision is not sacred, pure or welfaristic from any point of democracy. Sometimes a confusion is made of view. Whatever is gained on the basis of it is between the acts of the individuals and those of impure and temporary. Democracy and violence the State, and it is expected tht Gandhi's State is can never be mutual. The basis of democracy is to be non-violent. But how is the State act non- non-violence in toto. In it, people will grow violently, when it represents violence in a accustomed spontaneously to observe their social concentrated and organized form ? Indeed a non- obligations without the operation of the State The violent state is a contradiction in terms. It could more the individuals have imbibed the spirit of non-violence, the less the necessity of state. This only be called a non-violent stateless society. This is the implication of Gandhi's concept of Swaraj. is the ideal for Gandhi. Non-existence of State as " The attempt to win Swaraj is Swaraj itself. It is cherished by Gandhi is impossible instantly or in a developing ideal and is "better than the best". near future. At the level of imperfect nature of Gandhi calls it "indefinable". Whatever political man, among the existing states, democratic institutions Gandhi accepted, he did so as a governance appears to be best. transitional device, to be transcended by better But the paradox is that being theoretically ones. No institutional device is final. They must the best system of government, there is tidal waves involve with the evolution of the individuals. The of violence and other related problems sweeping state should work in the direction of development 7 Orissa Review * January - 2009 of non-violence at individual, community, social that if need be the whole of the country may die and national levels.