The world is so full of daily violence in one form or another that steps are being taken to make sure we stand and take note of this situation.  To mark Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday on the October 2nd, 114 UN member countries have joined hands to support India’s resolution to declare Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday as the ‘International Day of Non-Violence’ as a tribute to the Mahatma’s ideology.

 

A lot has been written about this great advocate of peace and non-violence. Every year on his birthday some kinds of events do take place to mark this occasion. Nothing else is done throughout the year. Violence continues unabated everywhere; only lip service is paid to the memory of this man.

 

Our Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam and some members of the opposition were in New Delhi in January for an international conference on Peace, non-violence and empowerment: Gandhian Philosophy in the 21st Century. That conference was organised in the context of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Satyagraha movement - launched on 11th September 1906 by Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa. It also coincided with the 59th anniversary of Gandhi’s assassination. Among the guests were Nobel Prize laureates, political figures and NGO leaders involved in the battle to eradicate poverty and the construction of a peaceful society.

That conference came at a very crucial time in the history of the world. Humanity is witnessing all forms of cruelty and violence. There is no dignity even in death. Corruption and violence in India itself is rampant. Mauritius, for its size of population, is also passing through a difficult time of violence despite the fact that many well-meaning people and organisations are striving hard to contain the situation. Mauritius is no stranger to the teachings of the Mahatma who set foot on our island many years ago.

 

 

Now with the adoption of an International Day of Non-violence, what do we hope to achieve? Peace overnight? No; unless every individual takes the message of peace to heart and applies it to himself in his daily activities, violence will continue to destroy our people and our planet will be in danger.

 

Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General’s  remark is very relevant  in this context:

“… we know that peace and prosperity cannot be achieved without partnerships involving Governments, international organizations, the business community and civil society. In today's world, we depend on each other."

We do not seem to have understood this profound statement. Douglas Roche (2003) in his introduction to The Human Right to Peace has indeed struck the nail on the head when he noted that the world is experiencing a fundamental crisis ... it is fundamentally a crisis of the human spirit; we are the point where we are capable of destroying all life on earth; but the culture of peace offers the vision of a global ethic toward life in full vibrancy.

 

Vina Ballgobin (Mauritius Times, June 8, 07) pointed out that Gandhi est admiré dans le monde entier pour ses principes de protestation non-violente pour atteindre le progrès politique et social. World admiration is not the solution ;but world application is.