That boy was Gene Sharp, one of the leading apostles of non-violence, whose work has influenced peaceful revolutions throughout the world. The conversation then moved along at a dizzying pace. I took some notes, took some pictures, and tried to tweet some of the more concise points to allow people around the world to get a sense of the proceedings. I also worried about what I would say, scrawling additions to my handwritten page of notes, taking solace in seeing distinguished historians whose books I greatly admired nervously doing the same.
Sushma Iyengar, who created a dynamic organization in Gujarat state to help rural women become self-dependent, spoke of violence against women, how all too often we legitimize violence by remaining silent. She said we have to create a hierarchy of causes, where some forms of violence have become more important than others. We all too often legitimize sexual harassment and even rape, but if the woman responds and resists, we delegitimize and criminalize that response.
Gandhi has always been critical of violence as a response to violence. Despite the overwhelming cruelty and oppression of the British Raj, a structural form of violence of the state against his people, he was still critical of the 1857 mutiny. When people started killing each other after the Great Calcutta Killings and in the 1946 Bihar riots, Gandhi fasted until they stopped, a fast he was prepared to take to his death if they did not.
Anil Naurtiya, the author of a fascinating book on “The African Element in Gandhi,” spoke about this structural form of violence in the context of South Africa, the system of apartheid, a cruel violence against an entire race, and the decisions of leaders such as Mandela to meet force with force. Mandela, of course, was a disciple of Gandhi as were many other leaders in Africa.
A continual debate Gandhi had with his followers was whether, in the face of unbending intransigence, some violence was necessary. Nelson Mandela wrote that as he studied the words of Gandhi, he came to the conclusion that while they must do more than simple protest, they should choose a different kind of violence, opting for sabotage in order to minimize loss of life.
Ela Bhatt, the creator of the Self-Employed Women’s Association, an association of 1.3 million women, spoke next. She said that peace is an aspirational goal. It does not matter if we have ever achieved it or ever will, we must strive for it because the darkness does not bear repeating.
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