Ahimsa Conversations

Sachin Rao says it’s a wide spread curiosity about the linkages between Swaraj, Truth and Nonviolence. A former engineer and business consultant, Sachin is now a full-time worker of a major political party, the Indian National Congress. Since 2018, Rao has organized 25 Ahimsa ke Raste (Paths of Nonviolence) camps which are attended by a wide range of party workers and others who are keen to explore the possibilities of a politics based on nonviolence. That is, says Sachin, a politics based on creating win-win situations rather than defeating or oppressing some ‘other’.

In the exhaustive media coverage of the United States’ Presidential election, the American Shanti Sena (Peace Army) network hardly got a mention. That is because violence prevention is generally under-reported. Michael Nagler, veteran peace activist and educator, talks about what energizes grassroots efforts that make peace by de-escalating tensions and preventing violence. From the legacy of his guru Sri Eknath Easwaran to the work of groups like Nonviolent Peaceforce, Michael explains how a new story of human nature is taking shape and why nonviolence is the natural destiny of our species. He also talks about his documentary ‘The Third Harmony: Nonviolence and the New Story of Human Nature’.

Aruna Roy learnt early in life that anger and violence can be quite different. As a political activist she has applied this learning to her work in Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) and in the Right to Information movement – leading campaigns based on civil disobedience and nonviolence.  MKSS, which completes 30 years today -- May 1st 2020, has played a key role in the struggle to deepen democracy both at the village and national level in India.   But today Roy is concerned that both society and government are giving the signal that it is okay to harm some kinds of people. When such a division is created the whole society is in danger of being destroyed.  In this context, says Roy, the practice of nonviolence becomes even more vital. This requires greater resilience, courage and confidence in your principles. Only then can you demand justice by standing unarmed, before a heavily armed police force,  knowing that you could be beaten or even killed. Roy’s life and work have shown this to be true.

Violence is a natural human tendency and that is why all religions guide us on how to overcome our base self, says Ali Khan, historian, poet and political worker in Ep 7 of Ahimsa Conversations Podcast S2. There is no path directly from violence to nonviolence. Truth and reconciliation are possible if there is both acceptance of guilt and forgiveness. The energy for this can only come from samaj/society, not the State.

Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people. This is what inspired and empowered Robin Wildman to create a program for nonviolent schools in Rhode Island, USA.  A retired school teacher herself, Robin is a nonviolence trainer in the tradition of Martin Luther King Jr. Thus the work of Nonviolent Schools Rhode Island is based on the faith in and the living practice of building what King called 'the beloved community'.  This is what enables students to repair relationships after a conflict. Here Robin reflects on locating activism for nonviolence in the larger context of hurt and anger that leads to random violence in the USA.

Radha Bhatt is a veteran of ‘Chipko’ and other nonviolent struggles for social and economic justice. In this conversation she recalls how she first learnt nonviolence from her mother’s capacity for empathy with the suffering of an animal. Even though much of human intelligence is, at present, expended on violence – Radhabehn is confident that human beings are destined to become nonviolent. Her confidence is based on the observation that even in our inter-personal relations, it is self-restraint, patience and resilience that makes for enriching relationships. By contrast, being in a hurry to quickly get outcomes as per your own wishes, which is a form of violence, tends to make our relationships deteriorate.

From opposing the military draft in France to a global campaign against hunger – Jean Fabre has sought to overcome several dimensions of structural violence. In the early 1990s Jean was part of the team that created the United Nations Human Development Index. Now he serves on the UN task force for a social and solidarity economy – which is one way of promoting nonviolent systems. In Episode 3 of Ahimsa Conversations, Jean shares his experience of going to jail as a war resister and  why he has confidence in the power of individuals and groups to stand up to injustice and bring positive change.

From opposing the military draft in France to a global campaign against hunger – Jean Fabre has sought to overcome several dimensions of structural violence. In the early 1990s Jean was part of the team that created the United Nations Human Development Index. Now he serves on the UN task force for a social and solidarity economy – which is one way of promoting nonviolent systems. In Episode 3 of Ahimsa Conversations, Jean shares his experience of going to jail as a war resister and  why he has confidence in the power of individuals and groups to stand up to injustice and bring positive change.

When love is found ahimsa is achieved. This is the conviction that led social and cultural activist, Basit Jamal to launch an organization called ‘Brotherhood of Humanity’ and the ‘Honey Bees Project’. Basit works through stories from the Quran to help young people learn how to  build friendships and overcome feelings of enmity. Holding workshops with Muslim youth across India, Basit’s term for nonviolence is ‘mohabbat’, love

Ep 1 of Ahimsa Conversations Season 2 opens with Ramachandra Guha, a public intellectual and historian reflecting on the role of both armed and nonviolent struggles in India’s freedom movement and about the nature of differences, between Subhas Chandra Bose and Gandhi, on the issue of violence. Ram describes the anti-CAA protests, of 2019-20, where many students held posters of Gandhi and Ambedkar together – which he found deeply moving. These protests, and more recently the farmers protests, have revived the idea of collective, principled, nonviolent protests as an affirmation of elementary human values of decency, humanity and justice.