Virinchi

Can India prosper on Mahatma Gandhi’s principles of non-violence?

As India rejoiced over the execution of Ajmal Kasab a very famous quote by Mahatma Gandhi struck my mind --an eye for an eye makes whole world blind. The father of world’s largest democratic nation was entirely against violence. It was his last wish to not grant death sentence to the convicts --including his own murderer. But in the country that has been nurtured with the ideology of ‘tit for tat’ since ages (and the holy scriptures are a documentary evidence for the same) I personally don’t find his thought practically applicable in such a scenario.

Several people took to social networking sites to condemn the act of nation getting into festive mode after hearing the news of Ajmal Kasab’s execution on November 21. Well, in that case first they should stop celebrating the festivals like Holi and Dussehra because they are symbolic of the death of ‘Holika’ and ‘Ravan’ respectively who ended up losing their lives for their heinous deeds.

Our glorious past teaches us that good can come out victorious over evil only by completely ending it-- literally killing it. Therefore, this nation can’t advocate banning death sentence to the man like Kasab-- who slaughtered innumerous lives with his gun for no reason. He deserved capital punishment to send a strong message to the enemies that India will not be a mute spectator to such a carnage on Indian soil. India’s bloody past has taught that it’s never defensive attitude had made is prone to periodic invasions and slavery under foreign hands. And with the kind of neighbours India has --who constantly tries to violate the cease fire and create terror every now and then -- it can not keep it's non violent attitude.

Thus, Gandhi’s principle of ‘offering another cheek to the one who slaps us’ will only result in spilling more bloodshed. Since terrorist organisation like Lashakar-e-Tayiba (LeT) and Al-Queda have no impact of preaching over non-violence.

Also it would have been an injustice with the families of 166 victims who lost their lives in the sheer display of genocide due to hands of some brain washed young men who gave it a name of ‘jihad’. None of the religions preach killing of innocent people in their name but none all preach the same lesson to punish the enemies of human kind with full intolerance.

Although not every lesson taught by Mahatma Gandhi are impracticable in today’s perspective. Only weapon useful in winning against terror is social equality and religious tolerance that could be achieved by education and Gandhi’s has always been its true advocate.