Relevance of gandhism in the 21st century naga society
Answers
Answer:
“Generations to come, it may well be, will scarce believe that such a man as this one ever in flesh and blood walked upon this Earth.” Albert Einstein
This famous quote by Albert Einstein on Mahatma Gandhi was said on Gandhiji’s 70th birthday. Indeed, he inspired millions of lives, and his contribution to the 20th century is very well known. He not only contributed to the struggle against colonialism but blazed a new trail that insists that struggles for justice and truth should be based on non-violence.
In addition, it proved to be an inspiration for many others including Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela for the struggles against injustice in other parts of the world.
Mandela while the unveiling of Gandhi Memorial in South Africa once said, “The Mahatma is an integral part of our history because it is here that he first experimented with truth; here that he demonstrated his characteristic firmness in pursuit of justice; here that he developed Satyagraha as a philosophy and a method of struggle.”
Gandhi was a staunch believer in truth. In fact, the very naming of his autobiography, “My Experiments with Truth” reflects his life-long observance and experimentation with the truth. Another important philosophy he promoted was that of Non- violence. His full political strategy was based on this. He was completely against the use of violence in achieving one’s goal. This is an important principle put forward by Gandhi as it helped to avoid bloodshed in various pursuits. Mahatma Gandhi’s five pillars of nonviolence: respect, understanding, acceptance, appreciation, and compassion are basic to our existence.
But coming to the present times, does the Gandhian message still has or could have the actuality in managing our century’s real-life challenges?
Today, world problems are not limited to internal conflicts and matters. Issues like border management, environmental problems, nuclear issues, or the deepening moral crisis of humanity, etc. We are living in a world that is divided increasingly day by day by global unrest, fear, anger, hatred, discontent, despair, immorality, etc., and the number and intensity of ethnic and religious conflicts seem to grow, gaining higher and higher intensity all around the world. Past examples have proved that war and violent ways to resolve such conflicts are not always a good idea. It will lead to bloodshed and a loss of human life and resources and slow down the process of our development.
During the Second World War, Gandhi declared that Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini will demonstrate once again the emptiness of violence, which means in his perception that all the violence used by the above-mentioned people has an immediate effect, which is, as a matter of fact, transitory and will leave behind hatred and devastation. From his point of view, only the “effects of Buddha’s non-violent action persist and are likely to grow with age.”
There will always be conflicts, great and small, in human affairs. Total war can no longer settle conflicts. And clearly, no conflict can be ended in its inner reality by the alleged deterrence from the possession of nuclear weapons. In such a stalemate the possibility of using nonviolent resistance might be worth examining. At first mention, the term “nonviolent resistance” seems self-contradictory. How can any resistance be effective in this modern world unless it has in it and backing it up, great strength, power, and if need be, weapons?
Prof. N. Radhakrishnan (Non-violence activist, Educator) explained it well–
Since Gandhi was assassinated and there are all kinds of discussions both in India and abroad on what Gandhi left for humanity and whether his teachings would survive the test of time.
What even the passionate critic of Gandhi cannot miss is the string of activities along Gandhian lines one can see in almost all countries of the world now. If not in very significant measure, there are very few countries in the world where something or other in the name of Gandhi is not being organized. In short, there is a global nonviolent awakening after Gandhi.
Explanation:
Answer:
- Gandhi has frequently been referred to as the 21st-century prophet.
- His non-violent ways of conflict settlement are a significant subject of study in the field of peace studies.
- He put forward concepts like Sarvodaya, which can be attained by speaking the truth and avoiding violence.
Explanation:
Abstract:
- This article examines Mahatma Gandhi's influence on the ethnic Nagas in honour of his 150th birthday.
- Due to their unusual position in Indian history and society, the Nagas hardly ever came into contact with Gandhi.
- However, when some Naga leaders did encounter Gandhi, they were already engaged in a political movement for self-determination that in the years following independence turned into an armed conflict.
- Has Gandhi had any influence on contemporary Naga society? This article, which chronicles the lives of some of the major figures in the Naga political movement, aims to comprehend their political activism and ideological stance in the context of Gandhi's philosophy and teachings.
- Gaidinliu Pamei (January 26, 1915–February 17, 1993) belonged to the Rongmei tribe of the broader Zeliangrong Naga population, which resided in settlements throughout the modern-day states of Assam, Nagaland, and Manipur.
- She joined the Heraka religious movement when she was barely 13 years old.
- Her cousin Haipou Jadonang was working to codify indigenous Naga beliefs at a period when Vaishnavism and Christianity were expanding into Naga territory.
- Later, the movement changed into a Gandhian-inspired uprising against British authority in India.
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