The Culture of Peace

The Culture of Peace that firing on people is a cognizable offence. And so, if you fire on them, the police will immediately arrive, and of course you can’t fight with the police!’ ‘You should also know,’ I added, ‘that there is a fundamental difference between your having a gun and the police having guns. Despite having a gun, you do not have the legal right to use it to shoot anyone. But the police do have this right. Fighting with another community may seem like two equal parties fighting each other, but it is an entirely different thing if you fight with the police. In the event of such a confrontation, the two parties in the confrontation would be completely unequal. In such a situation, for you to use your gun would, in terms of results, be like inviting an angry bull to attack you. Obviously, then, this sort of step is no protection at all. Rather, from the point of view of its results, it will only cause your devastation.’ Conscience, the Best Judge Once, a Muslim man built a new house for himself. Then, he fenced in an adjacent bit of land and included it in his garden. His neighbour was a Hindu contractor. This Hindu contractor claimed that the land belonged to him. And so, he instigated some Hindus of the town to take action against him. A crowd of Hindus gathered on the road outside the Muslim man’s house and started shouting slogans. The Muslim man had two guns with him, but he did not use them. Instead, he came out of his house all alone and emptyhanded. He did not say a word to the slogan-raising crowd except to ask them who their leader was. A man stepped out of the crowd, saying that he was their leader and asked him what he wanted. The Muslim man turned to the crowd and requested them to remain where they were. Then, he took their leader into his