MK Gandhi and Non Violence : Relevance Today

Submitted By-

SM0117018

Faculty in Charge

Dr. Mayengbam Nandakishwor Singh

NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, ASSAM

GUWAHATI

23 APRIL, 2018
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1.Research Questions
1.2.Literature Review
1.3.Scope and Objective
1.4.Research Methodology

2. A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE FATHER OF NATION

3. IDEOLOGIES OF M. K. GANDHI

4. MAJOR CONTRIBUTION OF M. K. GANDHI’S NON-VIOLENCE IN THE

FREEDOM STRUGGLE.

5. PRINCIPLES OF NON-VIOLENCE IN PRESENT ERA

6. CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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 CHAPTER – 1

INTRODUCTION

This project is an attempt to analyze the modernization of Indian tradition and the process of
modernization in India from a systematical sociological perspective. Tradition by which we
means, themes that contain the entire sociological system of India prior to the beginning of
modernization was mainly based on hierarchy, continuity, transcendence, and holism. These four
were deeply interlocked with other elements of Indian social structure like caste system and sub
caste stratification, religion, etc. Like hierarchy is engrained with caste system, in holism
community had the precedence or “sangha” not the individual.

Social structure in sociology means the distinctive and stable arrangement of institution in which
humans in a society live together and interact with each other. Social structure is often treated
with the concept of social change which deals with the change the social structure and the
organization of society. The social structure and tradition cover the entire gamut of Indian social
realities like their social phenomena. Modernization in these sources begins either from the
emergent and the endogenous sources or through contact with forces outside the system.

Emphasis on social structure has led us to survey the uneven process of social change. It is
important to bring difference between social change and modernization to evaluate changes in
the traditional society. In traditional India there were continual instances of social change
without implying modernization. Social change refers to alteration and modification which take
place in the life pattern in society whereas modernization is the process of social change and
development with reference to economic development in whole.

This project also makes an attempt to study the changes that had happened in the traditions, such
as the by the process of sanskritization, where the vertical mobility of caste can be seen.
Sanskritization process can be seen in Indian society from a very long time ago but the
westernization in Indian society started from the British rule where people want to spend their
lives in a modern way instead of a traditional way.

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 CHAPTER – 1.1

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

CHAPTER – 1.2

LITERATURE REVIEW

CHAPTER 1.3

SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES

SCOPE:
The

.OBJECTIVES:

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The objectives of this project are as follow:

 To study about Modernization

 To

CHAPTER – 1.4

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

In this project, the researcher has adopted Doctrinal research. Doctrinal research is essentially
a library-based study, which means that the materials needed by a researcher may be available
in libraries, archives, and other data-bases. Various types of books were used to get the
adequate data essential for this project. The researcher also used computer laboratory to get
important data related to this topic. The researcher also found several good websites which
were very useful to better understand this topic.

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 CHAPTER – 2
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE FATHER OF NATION

The period from 1920 to 1947 had been described as the Gandhian Era in Indian Politics. During
the period, Gandhi spoke the final word on behalf of the Indian National Congress in negotiating
with the British Government for constitutional reforms, and for chalking out a programme for the
national movement.
Mahatma Gandhi led the national freedom struggle against the British rule. The most unique
thing about this struggle was that it was completely nonviolent.
Mohan Das Karamchand Gandhi was born on 2nd October, 1869 at Porbandar in Gujarat. After
finishing his early education in India, he sailed to England in 1891 and qualified as Barrister. In
1894, Gandhi went to South Africa in connection with a law suit.
The political career of Gandhi started in South Africa where he launched a Civil Disobedience
Movement against the maltreatment meted out to Asian settlers. In 1916, he returned to India and
took up the leadership of National Freedom Struggle.
After the death of freedom fighter and congress leader Bal Gangadhar Tilak on August, 1920,
Gandhi became virtually the sole navigator of the ship of the congress. Gandhi had whole
heartedly supported the British during the 1st World War (1914-1919). The end of war, however,
did not bring the promised freedom for India. So Gandhiji launched many movements to force
the British to concede India its Independence. The well known being: Non Co-operation
Movement (1920), Civil Disobedience Movement (1930) and Quit India Movement (1942).
The British passed the Rowlett Act in 1919 to deal with the revolutionaries. Gandhi made the
Rowlett Act an issue and appealed to the people to observe peaceful demonstration on April 6,
1919. Gandhi's call for peaceful demonstration met with tremendous response. It led to mass
demonstrations in Punjab and Delhi. The Jallianwala Massacre (1919) was a sequel of this
agitation. The Indian people were shocked by the way the British conducted themselves. Gandhi
them launched a non-co-operation in 1920 against the British rule. On 12th March 1930, Gandhi
started his Civil Disobedience with his famous 'Dandi March' to break the salt laws. Many
leaders and persons courted arrest. Then followed the Gandhi-Irwin Pact for the participation of
the congress in the Second Round Table Conference in 1931. On March 1942, Sir Stafford
Cripps came to India with his proposals which were rejected by all political parties. The failure

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of the Cripps Mission led to unprecedented disturbances. Disillusioned and disappointed, the
congress passed at Bombay the Quit India Resolution (August 8, 1942). The British were asked
to leave India forthwith. The moving spirit behind the resolution was Gandhiji. The Quit India
Movement was the greatest challenge to the British empire.
Gandhi was a great leader, a saint and a great social reformer. He was pious, truthful and
religious. He believed in simple living and high thinking. Every body who came in contact with
him were so deeply influenced by his personality. He was a Champion of democracy and was
deadly opposed to dictatorial rule. Gandhi showed India and the World the path of truth and non-
violence. He believed that it was truth alone that prevailed in the end. Gandhi believed that real
India lived in more than five lakhs villages uplift. According to him India's real emancipation
depended on Swadeshi i.e. boycott of foreign goods, use of khadi encouragement to village and
cottage industries.
Gandhi began to work day and night for the freedom of his country. He and his brave followers
went to jail again and again, and suffered terrible hardships. Thousands of them were starved,
beaten, ill treated and killed, but they remained true to their master. At last his noble efforts bore
fruit and on August 15,1947, India became free and independent. Gandhi defeated the mighty
British empire not with swords or guns , but by means of strange and utterly new weapons of
truth and Ahimsa. He worked all through his life for Hindu- Muslim Unity and the abolition of
untouchability. Gandhi worked hard for the upliftment of the Harijans, the name given by him to
the untouchables. Gandhi declared untouchability a sin against God and Man.
Gandhi wrote his famous autobiography under the title 'My Experiments with Truth'. Gandhi
always stood for communal harmony, but he himself was shot dead by a religious fanatic
Nathuram Godse on 30th January, 1948. The whole World mourned his death.
Concluding Remarks: Some one had quipped: "If they had not thrown Gandhi out of the train in
South Africa, the English would not have too much trouble from him." Gandhi, the young
Attorney, vowed to oppose such unfair treatment- through non-co-operation and other nonviolent
means.
Gandhi's ultimate search was for righteous conduct. The means are more important than the end,
he maintained; with the right means, desired ends will follow. In time, he was proven right-
almost always. His struggles and actions were but external manifestations of his struggle to

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evolve his own value system. Mahatma Gandhi better known as the father of Nation because it
was he who got freedom for us. He was the maker of Modern India.

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 CHAPTER – 3
IDEOLOGIES OF M. K. GANDHI

Gandhism is a body of ideas that describes the inspiration, vision and the life work
of Mohandas Gandhi. It is particularly associated with his contributions to the idea
of nonviolent resistance, sometimes also called civil resistance. The two pillars of Gandhism
are truth and non-violence.

The term "Gandhism" also encompasses what Gandhi's ideas, words and actions mean to
people around the world, and how they used them for guidance in building their own future.
Gandhism also permeates into the realm of the individual human being, non-political and
non-social

1. Truth:

Truth is the most cardinal principle of Gandhism. Mahatma Gandhi was a worshipper of truth.
He believed that there is no good higher than truth. "Truth is God and God is Truth." He
searched for truth throughout his life. He named his auto-biography, 'My Experiments with
Truth'. He achieved many successes by following the path of truth. He did not give up the path of
truth even in times of failures.

He had to bear many sufferings for truth.

He was of the opinion that a truthful person will not harm his opponents but will make them
friends. He always considered truth as the ideal, and continuously strived for its achievement. He
firmly believed that only a society based on truth can become an ideal society. Truth and truthful
living constitute the guiding principle of Gandhism philosophy.

2. Non-violence:

Next to truth, Mahatma Gandhi expressed full faith in non-violence. Infact, non-violence and
truth were to him two sides of the same coin. A seeker of truth always follows the path of non-
violence. Non-violence means not to harm any person, not even to one's opponent in any way.
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Gandhiji was against the propagation of violence in one's thought, words, actions and deeds. A
follower of non-violence does not torture others through his words, actions and deeds. He tries to
change the heart of others by bearing sufferings for himself.

According to Gandhiji non-violence is of three types:

(i) Non-violence of the Brave:

It is the best form of non-violence. Here non-violence is not adopted under compulsion. The
basis of the non-violence of the brave is morality and inner strength. Only a brave person can
practise non-violence. This type of non-violence can achieve very good results.

(ii) Non-violence based on Expediency:

It is the non- violence of the weak. It is used as a matter of expediency or utility. It is the result of
weakness and helplessness and not of moral conviction. It is used for the fulfillment of selfish
interests. This form of non-violence can lead to a limited success only.

(iii) Non-violence of the Coward:

The non-violence of the coward is the worst form of non-violence Cowardice and non-violence
can never really go together. A coward does not face danger, he runs away from it. Mahatma
Gandhi would prefer violence instead of accepting the non-violence of the coward. He holds the
view that if there is violence in one's mind it is good to use it openly rather than to practise non-
violence to hide one's impotence. A violent man can become non-violent one day but there is no
hope for a coward.

Gandhism favours non-violence of the brave. It always advocates the use of non-violence for
securing the objectives dictated by Truth. Now the United Nations has decided to celebrate each
year 2nd October (Birthday of Mahatma Gandhi) as World Non-violence Day. It is a tribute to
Mahatma Gandhi's love for Non-violence.

3. Satyagraha:

Mahatma Gandhism advocates dependence upon Satyagraha as the means to resist evil. It is a
moral weapon which is based on soul force and not physical force. Satyagraha means, 'Clinging

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to the Truth'. "Satyagraha is the vindication of truth, not by infliction of suffering on the
opponent but on one'- own self. Satyagraha is nothing but Tapsya for truth.' Satyagraha is a
moral weapon with which one can successful meet the challenge evil, injustice, exploitation and
untruthfulness.

4. Satyagrah and Non-Cooperation:

Gandhiji was of the opinion that oppression and exploitation were possible only through co-
operation given by those who were being oppressed. When the people decide to refuse to co-
operate with an unjust Government the unjust system sooner or later, comes to an end. Non-
violent non-cooperation can even bend the absolute power of a despot.

When negotiations and petitions fail, the evil can be resisted only through non-cooperation. Even
a despot government cannot continue in rule without the cooperation of the people. When the
people adopt the path of non-cooperation after shedding all fear, the despot also becomes
helpless, and he has to bow before the public. Gandhiji led the struggle for freedom by sing non-
violent non-cooperation means.

Non-co-operation can assume three different forms:

(i) Stoppage of work:

The aim of the stoppage of work is to arouse consciousness in the minds of the people and the
government against evil.

(ii) Social boycott:

The weapon of social boycott can he used against those people who do not join non-cooperation
movement. But it does not mean a denial of the use of social service to the persons boycotted.
Social boycott also does not mean insulting of the cooperator by the non-cooperator.

(iii) Picketing:

The aim of picketing is not to check the entry of a person to that place which is picketed but to
arouse public indignation against the wrong doers.

(iv) Strike:

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Strike is another mode of Satyagraha. The objective of strike is stoppage of work to register
protest against the government for focusing the attention of the public on specific public issues.
But the strike has to be voluntary and non-violent.

Gandhiji was also against repeated strikes because he felt that these will reduce its efficacy.
Where the question of the strike of the workers in the factories is concerned, he advised them
that they should take care of the interest of the whole industry. Whenever they may go on strike,
they should limit their opposition to injustice, corruption, inefficiency and undue greed of the
owners. The strike should always be totally non-violent.

(v) Fasting:

Fasting is another effective method of Satyagraha. According to Gandhiji, "the best and most
acceptable method is that of fasting." It can be used for self-purification, for opposing injustice,
and for changing the hearts of the wrong doers. It is a means to arouse public opinion by self-
suffering. But fasting can prove effective against injustice only when it is undertaken by one who
is a noble, spiritual, self-disciplined and faithful person. An indolent and indiscipline person has
no right to practice it.

(vi) Civil-Disobedience:

It is the most drastic form of Satyagraha. Gandhiji called civil-disobedience, "a complete,
effective and bloodless substitute of an armed revolt," It means disobedience of immoral, unjust
and oppressive laws. It includes non-payment of taxes and non-cooperation with the government
in any way.

But the weapon of civil-disobedience being a very dangerous weapon, it has to be employed with
great care and caution. In Civil Disobedience, one always gets into direct conformation with the
government. Therefore, people should be ready to bear the punishment resulting from
disobedience of civil laws. Further, civil disobedience movement has to be kept as a movement
free from violence and lawlessness.

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.

8. State as a Means and not an End:

Gandhiji considered state as a means and not an end. In the words of Gandhiji, "The state is not
an end in itself, but a means of enabling people to better their conditions in every department of
life." Gandhiji wanted the state to be a Service State. State should work for making the life of
man better. Further, the state is not infallible and omnipotent. People can oppose the unjust laws
and policies of the state.

10. Ideal Society or Ram Rajya:

Gandhiji's ideal was a stateless democratic society. This society was to be a federation of self-
contained and self-regulated village communities. It was to work on the basis of peoples'
voluntary and peaceful co-operation. Every village was to be a small republic, having a
panchayat with full powers.

Every village republic was to have the right to manage all its affairs. It was also to protect itself
from foreign aggression through its own means. Such a society was to be highly civilized in
which every individual was to be aware of its needs and necessity of working with others on the
basis of equal labour. Gandhiji named his ideal society as 'Ram Rajya'. Truth and non-violence
were to be the basis of Ram Rajya. In the Ideal society people were to lead a happy and peaceful
life on the basis of moral and spiritual values.

17. Nationalism and Internationalism:

Gandhiji did not find any antagonism between nationalism and internationalism. He was opposed
to narrow, violent and aggressive nationalism. He was a firm supporter of world peace and world
brother-hood. He stood for positive and healthy adjustment between nationalism and
internationalism.

He held the view that people should be patriotic but at the same time, they should have good will
towards the people of other countries. Gandhiji considered nationalism as precursor of

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internationalism. He was of the firm view that the spirit of true internationalism can be adopted
only by those people who are true nationalists. "Nationalism is the first step towards
internationalism.

CHAPTER – 4
MAJOR CONTRIBUTION OF M. K. GANDHI’S NON-VIOLENCE
IN THE FREEDOM STRUGGLE

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Mahatma Gandhiji came on this earth with his message of truth and non-violence (ahimsa) at a
time when the forces of aggression and violence reigned supreme on earth. Mahatma Gandhi
taught us what Christ and Buddha had longed to teach long ago. He became an immortal spirit
who guides us through the path of peace and non-violence. Gandhiji was born in a middle class
orthodox Hindu family of Gujarat, at Rajkot. Having received his early education in India, he
went to London where he qualified himself as a barrister-at-law. Ahimsa or Non-
violence: Mahatma Gandhi was the exponent of the cult of Ahimsa or Non-violence. Like the
Buddha, Christ and Chaitanya he too believed in the ultimate victory of Non-violence over
violence. Force or violence, according to him, is madness which cannot sustain. ‘So ultimately
force or violence will bow down before non-violence’. He had waged war not only against
British imperialism; rather he declared war on all the forces of unrighteousness, untruth and
injustice, all the world over.

Gandhi in South Africa: Having tried his luck in India, as a barrister, Gandhiji went to south
Africa, were he set up a substantially sound legal practice. But soon he left practice and got
himself engaged in social and political reformation. It was then that the racialism in South Africa
was at its climax. The non-Whites were subject to worst form of torture. Gandhiji protested
against this wrong attitude of the White government towards the Black peoples of Africa. Gandhi
demonstrated acts of truth and non-violence in South Africa. The non-violent protest of Gandhi
got huge popularity. It was here that he cultivated in him the idea of ‘Satyagraha’, which he was
to put into practice afterwards, both in South Africa and India. In South Africa, Gandhiji
endeavored hard to secure for the colored people, including Indians who were domiciled there,
equal rights with the White People. In this context he had to court imprisonment several times

Non-violence of Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhiji came on this earth with his message of truth and non-violence (ahimsa) at a
time when the forces of aggression and violence reigned supreme on earth. Mahatma Gandhi
taught us what Christ and Buddha had longed to teach long ago. He became an immortal spirit
who guides us through the path of peace and non-violence.

15
Gandhiji was born in a middle class orthodox Hindu family of Gujarat, at Rajkot. Having
received his early education in India, he went to London where he qualified himself as a
barrister-at-law.

Ahimsa or Non-violence: Mahatma Gandhi was the exponent of the cult of Ahimsa or Non-
violence. Like the Buddha, Christ and Chaitanya he too believed in the ultimate victory of Non-
violence over violence.

Force or violence, according to him, is madness which cannot sustain. ‘So ultimately force or
violence will bow down before non-violence’. He had waged war not only against British
imperialism; rather he declared war on all the forces of unrighteousness, untruth and injustice, all
the world over.

Gandhi in South Africa: Having tried his luck in India, as a barrister, Gandhiji went to south
Africa, were he set up a substantially sound legal practice. But soon he left practice and got
himself engaged in social and political reformation. It was then that the racialism in South Africa
was at its climax. The non-Whites were subject to worst form of torture. Gandhiji protested
against this wrong attitude of the White government towards the Black peoples of Africa.

Gandhi demonstrated acts of truth and non-violence in South Africa. The non-violent protest of
Gandhi got huge popularity. It was here that he cultivated in him the idea of ‘Satyagraha’, which
he was to put into practice afterwards, both in South Africa and India. In South Africa, Gandhiji
endeavored hard to secure for the colored people, including Indians who were domiciled there,
equal rights with the White People. In this context he had to court imprisonment several times.

Gandhi arrived India: After arriving India, Mahatma Gandhi joined the Indian National congress,
which was at that time more or less a social institution. He made Congress an organization,
which was to play its vital role in the winning of the country’s independence. Before he joined
the Congress and took its reins in his hands, it was predominantly an organization of the Upper
Middle Class people.

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Mahatma Gandhi changed it into a mass-organization, in which the peasants began to take an
active part. He firmly believed that freedom can be achieved in a peaceful manner. He wanted all
his followers to always maintain truth and integrity. The principles of Ahimsa was practiced in
all of the independence movements launched by Mahatma Gandhi.

The Non-cooperation movement got massive support and became the popular non-violence
movement. The Indians were requested to avoid using imported goods.

The Civil disobedience movement was a non-violent resistance against the British tax regime.

On 8th August, 1942, Mahatma Gandhi called for immediate independence and launched the
Quit India Movement. It remains an important event in the history of India independence.

Meaning

According to Mahatma Gandhi, ahimsa implies uttermost selflessness. It means, if anyone wants
to realize himself, i.e., if he wants to search for the truth, he has to behave in such a way that
others will think him entirely safe.

According to Gandhi, this is the way of ahimsa. He did not consider non-killing alone to be non-
violence. To him, non-violence is not a negative concept but a positive sense of love. He talked
of loving the wrong-doers, but not the wrong.

He had strongly opposed any sort of submission to wrongs and injustice in an indifferent manner.
He thought that the wrong-doers can be resisted only through the severance of all relations with
them.

Nature

According to Gandhi, non-violence never evades violence. On the contrary, it carries on a

constant struggle against arrogance and violence. This is why he did not regard the pacifist as
non-violent. He considered non-violence to be a very powerful active force. The followers of

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non-violence would never retreat at the sight of violence. They would rather devote themselves
to the task of changing the hearts of perpetrators of violence through self-torture for establishing
truth.

According to Gandhi, to move fearlessly into the dreadful jaws of violence is called non-
violence. Thus, in Gandhi’s concept of non-violence there was no place for timidity or
cowardice. He considered violence to be preferable to cowardice. While commenting on this
matter in his article entitled ‘The Doctrine of the Sword’, he says that, given a choice between
cowardice and violence, he would prefer violence. But he firmly believed that non-violence was
certainly superior to violence and forgiveness was far more manly than punishment.

Evaluation

Though Mahatma Gandhi accorded the principle of ‘truth and non-violence’ a pivotal position in
all his activities all through his life, he realised that the common people of India and even the
majority of the contemporary Congress leaders had not accepted non-violence as a ‘creed’. For
this reason he commented that he had doubt as to how many persons fully believed in the creed
of non-violence.

But he thought that his movements did not at all depend on non-violent workers as believers in
the creed of non-violence. He considered it to be adequate for his purpose if they followed the
print principle in practice. Like those days, today also there is acute shortage of person really
believing in the creed of non-violence. Consequently, clash of narrow selfish interests, struggles
for power, world-wide competition for weapons of mass destruction, struggle for establishing
hegemony, etc. have brought the world on the verge of a deep crisis.

In the opinion of the followers of Gandhi, the relevance of the Gandhian concept of truth and
non-violence cannot be ignored or denied at all. However, the Marxists think it to be a utopian
idea as it is impossible to put the principle in practice.

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 CHAPTER – 5

PRINCIPLES OF NON-VIOLENCE IN PRESENT ERA

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There was a time not long ago when any incident of violence was treated as a matter of great
concern. But violence has become so pervasive in the world today that most of such incidents
occurring on a daily basis attract scarce attention. When something gruesome or shocking
happens there is often debate about how to check violence. However, it has become a way with
the world to treat evil with more evil. Using force to set a wrong right or to discipline a
wrongdoer has been adopted as a norm by humans at all levels of society. The whole issue of
arms proliferation is based on the premise of promoting violence as a power and justifying use of
weapons as a necessity to maintain peace, law and order. Is violence justified for a good cause?
This is a critical question today and most people would react to it by pointing to terrorism, crime,
the need for defence of vulnerable sections of society and so on. But history is witness to the fact
that violence begets more violence. We can subjugate an enemy by use of force but can we
subjugate hatred, resentment, mistrust and wickedness through force? The antidote for violence
is to promote a culture of ahimsa – nonviolence. Ahimsa is considered the highest duty in
Hinduism, Jainism and many other religious traditions. In ancient India, people practically lived
by the principle of ‘Ahimsa Parmo Dharma’ (non-violence is supreme conduct). If non-violence
is promoted as the highest ethic and way of life by all religious, political and social leaders, our
world will become paradise. The benefits of a non-violent culture are tremendous. If nations and
their people adopt non-violence in their thinking, planning and actions, there will be progress at
all levels of human existence by leaps and bounds. Non-violence will promote rational and non-
aggressive ways of solving problems. Nations will have no need for hoarding lethal weapons of
mass destruction. They would not devote time, energy, money and skills to research and
development of sophisticated arms and tools for warfare. So much of manpower will not be
needed for guarding each nook and corner of land, air and water demarcated by each country and
local groups. Most of all, lives will not be lost as a result of violent incidents. People will not be
killed, maimed or wounded and families will not be broken or displaced due to the threat to their
lives and loss of lives in violent events. Imagine how much of mental, intellectual, cultural and
creative energy will be at the world’s disposal to invest in more progressive and constructive
work. A world at war or violent conflict cannot progress, let alone carry on its normal way of
life. When survival, basic human rights and security are threatened, how can people think of
creative and progressive pursuits? Peace and non-violence are prerequisites for a developed
world. How can a society progress if all or most of its time is spent on defending and fighting for

20
basic survival and rights? When there is little or no threat, violence, it will facilitate law and
order in the society not out of fear or compulsion but out of great respect for the rights and
dignity of each human being. Nonviolence can redress almost all problems of our world –
ecological, economic, political, social, cultural and religious. Such a society or nation can devote
itself to raising the bar to achieve the best in spirituality, science, commerce, art, education and
other spheres of human activity. They can reach the highest level of human experience in terms
of quality of work and relationships. Such a world is not a utopian dream but a reality that can be
made possible the present times. There was a period in human experience called Satyuga or
heaven when people lived with a completely non-violent attitude. In reality, today the entire
human world has become hostage to violent forces – vices such as lust, anger, greed, attachment
and ego. In fact, all human souls are innately good, but when we are disconnected from our true
nature we violate ourselves and we lie, steal, cheat, covet, envy, hate and deride others – we kill
our true nature of purity, peace and love. True non-violence means to be completely free from
vices. Truth and non-violence go hand in hand. In fact, the first violation of truth happens when
we consider the self to be a physical body instead of a soul. Our body-consciousness segregates
us on the lines of gender, race, colour, and creed and brings us in conflict with each other on
these lines of discrimination and hatred. When we realise that as children of God we have innate
virtues that are god-like, then we begin to live in a truly non-violent way. Such a spiritual
awakening can help us live in complete harmony with fellow humans and nature.i

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 CHAPTER– 6

CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

 Yogendra Singh; Modernisaton of Indian Tradition; Rawat Publication (2011)

INTERNET SOURCES

 https://www.speakingtree.in/blog/relevance-of-non-violence-in-today-s-times

 https://www.importantindia.com/15320/essay-on-non-violence-of-mahatma-gandhi/

 http://www.gandhiashramsevagram.org/essay-on-gandhi/mahatma-gandhi-father-of-the-

nation.php

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 http://www.preservearticles.com/2014072233518/essay-on-the-salient-features-of-

gandhism.html

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