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Syracuse Arrest / Readings in NonViolent Action (Gandhi)
From: Webmaster (webmaster@kids-right.org)
This is a message from a mailing list, members@kids-right.org http://www.kids-right.org/ To unsubscribe from this list at anytime, send email to Majordomo@kids-right.org with the following 1 line in the BODY of the message (Subject is ignored). unsubscribe members ====================================================================== Good People, This message contains information on: 1. Readings in NonViolent Action - Gandhi 2. Syracuse Update - arrested again. 1. Readings in NonViolent Action - Gandhi ----------------------------------------- [ In the next few weeks we will share some excerpts from excellent biographies of Civil Right's Leaders. The following is taken from: Louis Fischer, "The Life of Mahatma Gandhi" As you read what follows we can all find hope from the determination and sacrifice these people were willing to endure. Demonstrating Faith, Love, and Personal Sacrifice can "catch on." -----] Born in India, 1869. From a well-to-do family. His father was a high official in the local province, a man of principal. Gandhi was the forth child of his fourth wife (the other three having died). His warmest affection went to his mother, he remembered her "saintliness" and "deeply religious nature", she kept here vows and commitments. Growing up he stole and lied to his family, but his convictions always prompted him to confess and ask forgiveness. He remembered that sincere repentance and confession induced by love, rather than fear, had won him his father's forgiveness and affection. He was not unfamiliar with emotion or perfect. At a young age Gandhi (16) was caring for his father in the home, now on his death bed. His strong feelings of "lust" toward his new wife (child marriage) caused him to leave his father in the night, go to their room, and wakeup his wife for intercourse, even though she was pregnant and near delivery. A few moments later a servant urgently knocked at the door and summoned Gandhi -- by the time he got to the sick room, his father was dead. The child that was delivered also died a few days after birth, and again he blamed himself -- his sense of guilt doubled! At the ages of sixty, he still wrote, "shame of my carnal desire at the critical moment of my father's death . . . is a blot I have never been able to efface or forget." While attending law school in England he began to read the Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu text similar in importance to the Moslem Koran or Christian Bible. Orthodox Hindu's saw the Gita as the historic account of a battle in which one leader tried to avoid bloodshed, but when reminded by God of his duty, agreed to commit violent acts. Gandhi, a proponent of nonviolence saw the book as an allegory, and saw the "combat" as the duel which continually goes on within a person's heart; however, he did agree with the Gita's clear condemnation of inaction, and he used to guide him in also avoiding the evil associated with action. "He who is brooding over result often loses nerve in the performance of duty. He becomes impatient and then gives vent to anger . . . he jumps from action to action, never remaining faithful to any. He who broods over results . . . is every distracted, he says good-bye to all scruples, everything is right in his estimation and he therefore resorts to means fair & foul to attain his end. Not focusing on 'results' gives one the inner peace to achieve final goals, this is renunciation." The first books of the Christian Old Testament bored him, but the New Testament "went straight to my heart." The ideas of "turning the other cheek, and love for enemies" struck a chord within him. At the age of 24, a new lawyer, he went to South Africa. A society which was sharply divided by color, religion, and profession -- with strong jealousy between all groups. He bought a first-class ticket for a train, but was told by a conductor that all Indians rode in third -- Gandhi refused to leave. A policeman was called and he was thrown off the train along with his luggage. He chose to remain off the train, it was night, he was cold and afraid --- all night he brooded. Should he return to India? He decided to fight. Other Indians told him about similar experiences, that is how it is here, "you cannot strike your head against a stone wall." He became an informal leader, he urged the Indians to be honest in all things (including business), forget religious differences, and learn English. He wrote to the railroad to arrange for first-class passage for "well dressed" Indians. It was an incident that affected him strongly for the rest of his life. NonViolent Action - Satyagraha ----------------------------- Gandhi disliked the words and idea of "passive resistance". The term Satyagraha, is a combination of satya (truth-love) and agraha(firmness/force). It is the "the vindication of truth not by infliction of suffering on the opponent but on one's self ." Satyagraha is peaceful, opponents must be converted by a demonstration of purity, humility, and honesty. They are to be converted -- not annihilated. Violence and anger create bitterness in the victim, and brutality in the attacker. Appealing to the common sense and morality of his adversary was key. "It has always been a mystery to me how men can feel themselves honored by humiliation of their fellow human beings." Satyagraha assumes there is a constant dialogue between the opponents with a view to ultimate reconciliation. Insults, threats, and propaganda only serve to obstruct the goal. Jail ---- A law was being proposed to deny Indians the right to vote for members of the legislature. It required them to "register" and always carry an ID card. Those not complying would face arrest and possible deportation. The Indian community was outraged and at a meeting many swore by God they would never comply! Gandhi addressed them, "The government has taken leave of all sense of decency. We will be be betraying our unworthiness and cowardice if we cannot stake our all ...." He told them they might be jailed; they might be beaten and insulted in jail. They might lose their jobs, their wealth. "But I can declare with certainty," Gandhi exclaimed, "that so long as there is even a handful of men true to their pledge, there can be only one end to the struggle -- and that is victory." It was not an easy road. Government punitive measures caused many to abandon the movement. Some resisters were deported to India with loss of property. At one time, of the 13,000 Indians living in the Transvaal, 2,500 were in jail and 6,000 had fled the province. Some resisters served five prison terms in quick succession, courting a new jail sentence the moment they finished the old one. Some people were treated cruelly by authorities, some were killed. News of these events was cabled to India and England. There was strong resentment and the authorities grew alarmed. Plans were made for a mass march -- when in a completely separate event, white railroad employees went on strike over other issues. Gandhi immediately called off the march. It was not part of Satyagraha to destroy, hurt, humble, or embitter the adversary. Resisters hope, by sincerity, chivalry, and self-suffering, to convince the opponents brain and conquer his heart. They never take advantage of the government's difficulty or form unnatural alliances. Many, many people appreciated this gesture. Conversion ---------- The government slowly began to change it's tune. "You can't put 20,000 Indians into jail." General Smuts declared in defense of his new, conciliatory attitude. The laws were changed. Over 30 years later, Smuts would recall, "It was my fate to be an antagonist of a man for whom even then I had the highest respect... He never forgot the human background of the situation, never lost his temper or succumbed to hate, and preserved his gentle humor even in the most trying situations. His manner and spirit even then, as well as later, contrasted markedly with the ruthless and brutal forcefullness which is the vogue in our day... His method was deliberately to break the law, and to organize his followers into a mass movement ...large numbers of Indians had to be imprisoned for lawless behavior..." A beautiful summary by Professor Gilburt Murray of Oxford: "Be careful in dealing with a man who cares nothing for sensual pleasures, nothing for comfort or praise or promotion, but is simply determined to do what he believes to be right. He is a dangerous and uncomfortable enemy because his body, which you can always conquer, gives so little purchase over his soul." 2. Syracuse Update - arrested again. ----------------------------------- John Murtari returned to the Syracuse Federal Building today to continue his peaceful walk inside the building. But unlike his earlier attempt, this time he was arrested ================================================================== To unsubscribe from this list at anytime, send email to Majordomo@kids-right.org with the following 1 line in the BODY of the message (Subject is ignored). unsubscribe members
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