The Power of Peace

The Power of Peace 1919, without their goal having been achieved. That was the year that Mahatma Gandhi (1869 – 1938) entered the freedom struggle. After studying the situation, he decided to reverse the course of action. He declared that they would continue their freedom struggle, but that it would be by a strictly peaceful method. He pointed out that where the previous leaders had been using bombs, i.e. violence, against the British, they would now use the ‘bomb of peace’ to achieve the same end. This declaration by Mahatma Gandhi changed the whole scenario; it paralyzed the whole machinery of the British Empire. Puzzled by this announcement, one British collector sent a telegraphic message to his secretariat, worded as follows: “Wire instruction how to kill a tiger non-violently.” The violent method gives your opponents justification for violent retaliation, but if you adopt peaceful methods, the opposite party has no grounds for using force against you. This was the logic of Gandhian peace, which ultimately led India to freedom. This formula for peace is of a broad-ranging nature, that is, it is applicable at both individual and national levels. Adopt a peaceful course of action, and your success will be guaranteed. The violent method is a highly risky affair. That it will entail losses is almost certain, while its benefits are indeed doubtful. But in the case of the peaceful method, which entails no risk, success can be taken very much for granted. Why is the peaceful method so effective? The reason is that the peaceful method hits a man’s conscience.