by Jeannie Kontos
Is the idea of world peace a dream? In my lifetime, I may never know the answer. What I do know is that there have been many great men and women throughout our history who have had the courage to make a difference by standing up for their beliefs. Their actions have brought us one step closer to that dream. As long as our world has been in existence, there have been prejudices. Mahatma Gandhi is one of those great men who selflessly dedicated his life and sacrificed so much in search of justice, peace and equality for all men and women regardless of race, religion, or social status.
Born in India in 1869, Gandhi resided in Porbander, India, until the age of 18 when he left to pursue law at the University College, London. Upon graduation, he returned to India to practice law, but soon accepted a position with an Indian firm in South Africa. Gandhi's time in South Africa may have been the single most important life changing event, which defined who he would become in the future. South Africa showed Gandhi the true evils of prejudice. Discrimination was a common practice in South Africa, and both Blacks and Indians found themselves living their lives as third class citizens. It was seeing firsthand these injustices against his fellow Indians in South Africa that caused Gandhi to question the status of his people. He saw through his own eyes the prejudices they were forced to live with. It was during this yearlong employment in South Africa that Gandhi first engaged in actions of peaceful civil disobedience as he struggled to gain civil rights for the Indian community in South Africa. Over the years, Gandhi dedicated his entire life to leading campaigns in an effort to, among other causes, stop apartheid, protest oppressive taxation, end poverty, liberate women, and even gain Indian independence from the foreign rule of Britain.
Peaceful civil disobedience is the refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and orders of a government without ever using physical violence to protest. In essence, civil disobedience is a respectful and peaceful way to disagree. Gandhi outlined several rules, which were incorporated into civil disobedience. These rules were put in place as a means to ensure that all protests remained peaceful and respectful. Throughout history, civil disobedience has been used in non-violent movements in India, South Africa, and even in America to fight apartheid, gain independence, and achieve equality worldwide.
It is Gandhi's belief that a non-violent oppressive society will still not be peaceful as long as oppression is present. In other words, in order to have peace, in addition to non-violence, there must also be justice. Martin Luther King Jr and the civil rights movement also led many activities intended at ending segregation and racial discrimination in the late American 1950s and 1960s. Although the Blacks and Whites were not literally fighting in the streets, there was most definitely an unfair system present within the United States government that clearly deprived Blacks of equal rights. It was during this time that Martin Luther King stated, "True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice."
Throughout his life, Gandhi was committed to seeking truth, justice, and equality by using a non-violent approach, even in extreme situations. Gandhi lived in a very simple manner, even choosing to make his own clothes. He fasted for long periods of time to purify his body and even used fasting as a tool in protest. Gandhi's life and his non-violent teachings inspired many other peaceful activists such as Martin Luther King Jr. Gandhi has been a great inspiration for the entire world, and he has been recognized for this inspiration by being nominated to receive the Nobel Peace Prize five times between 1937 and 1948. Mahatma Gandhi should have received the Prize in 1948; however, he was assassinated the same year.
I do not believe that one person can cause world peace, nor do I believe an individual country can create equality and end prejudice. There will not be a time that every individual in the world will unite and share the same thought process with regard to race, power, social status and religion. Even though we have made, and are still making, great strides to eliminate prejudices, it will take many more years and more great, influential men and women like Gandhi and Martin Luther King to make a further impact on world peace and world equality.
Last modified: Sunday, May 27, 2007 at 07:58 PM