Non-violence: A prerequisite for peace, protection, freedom, and human dignity

On October 2, the world observes the International Day of Non-Violence

On October 2, the world observes the International Day of Non-Violence. The United Nations General Assembly established the day through resolution A/RES/61/271, adopted on June 15, 2007, with the support of 140 countries, choosing Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday as a meaningful occasion to promote the values of non-violence. This day should be celebrated in tribute to all advocates of peace, truth, and non-violence who fought against injustice, discrimination, and oppression, and stood firmly for freedom, human dignity, and an amicable and egalitarian society. They are the ones who help create a society where tolerance, acceptance, and dignified coexistence can flourish, which are foundations of democracy, liberal values, freedom, justice, and human security.

Although humankind has been prone to violence from the Stone Age through the periods of savagery and barbarism and into the modern era of civilization, non-violence is not new to human beings either. As human beings, we have always possessed instincts for affection, empathy, justice, and peace alongside instincts for protection and survival. These instincts have enabled humankind to establish kinship, society, shared goals, and common values. It is the pursuit of power, dominance, ill will, and the desire to exploit others that have contributed to humanity's long history of exploitation, in the form of colonialism, slavery, war, racism, and claims of inherent superiority. Therefore, non-violence is not an invention but a rediscovery of human values. Mahatma Gandhi acknowledged that his path was guided by the principle of duty-driven action in the Bhagavad Gita, the Jain principle of non-harm, the moral teachings of Indian society, and the insights of scholars on peace.

Gandhi and the discipline of non-violence

For Gandhi, non-violence was not merely a political strategy; it was a way of life, a moral principle, and a means of fighting injustice, discrimination, and atrocities. His concept of Satyagraha (Satya: truth, Agraha: firmness) involved holding firmly to the truth and being prepared to endure suffering with courage and dignity. Non-violence and Satyagraha demanded the complete rejection of revenge and violence. These principles inspired and encouraged people to stand for justice, free from any concern about winning or losing. This approach gave the movement greater prominence and a stronger moral foundation.

Many of Gandhi's contemporaries dismissed this approach as submissive and cowardly, arguing that it could not effectively confront colonial violence. Yet Gandhi stood firm in his conviction that non-violence was the greatest force at humanity’s disposal, mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by human ingenuity. He was proved right by history: an empire that had ruled the world through force could not find a way to respond to a movement that refused to respond to violence and force in kind. Instead, the movement used firmness, justice, truth, and moral strength to oppose them. The success of the Champaran Satyagraha, the Salt March, the boycott of foreign goods, and the Quit India movement empirically proved the strength of non-violence.

The non-violence movement, peaceful reconciliation, and Gandhi’s teachings have influenced many people and are considered necessary for the freedom, protection, dignity, and empowerment of humankind. Through this approach, victims and opponents of social and political injustice and discrimination found hope and a means of resisting oppression and injustice and building an egalitarian society. It was applied successfully at several key moments in the American civil rights movement, including sit-in protests against segregation in restaurants and food counters, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and the 1963 March on Washington, where 250,000 people gathered. Martin Luther King Jr used non-violent means in effective and constructive ways. Similarly, Nelson Mandela drew on non-violent principles in the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, where there was severe racial discrimination and white minority rule. South Africa also used the attribute of non-violence — fighting for a cause without hatred — in its reconciliation, and chose the path of national unity over revenge, considered one of the most successful reconciliations in the discipline of conflict management. Later, non-violence became a legitimate force behind movements for nuclear disarmament, against weapons proliferation, and on climate issues and other global concerns. It also became a means of advocating gender parity, social justice, inclusion, human rights, and labor rights.

The common thread linking Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, and Nelson Mandela was the commitment to oppose injustice and oppression through non-violent means. They regarded non-violence as a guiding principle and a set of values that should not be compromised.

Why this still matters today

The world today faces multiple threats to peace, freedom, human d