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Thursday,
November 8, 2001, Chandigarh, India   |
Back to Moscow ties No more free lunches Cable cabal |
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Triumphant return of Khaleda Zia
Bharucha: A champion of rule of law
A fusion of
bhakti and shakti
National commission for
children
1906:
THEODORE
ROOSEVELT (Former US
president): Peace
Hormone therapy causes dry eyes
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Back to Moscow ties THERE
are several plus and two minus points in the revived Indo-Soviet relations. The Russian Federation has declined to describe the Kashmir killings as a result of cross-border terrorism, as India wanted. Second, Russia has stopped short of demanding a definitive role for this country in the future set-up in Afghanistan. (The reference to six plus two is vague and formal.) But these are journalists’ interpretation of the joint statement issued at the end of the meeting between Prime Minister Vajpayee and President Vladimir Putin in Kremlin on Tuesday. Even these are easily explained. Mr Putin is in full alignment with India but does not want to alienate Pakistan for now. He is not sure of the success of the US air raids on Afghanistan and if they fail to topple the dreaded Taliban regime, he wants elbow room to reach a settlement with the Islamic fundamentalist outfit. An undefeated and defiant Taliban can pose uncontrollable threats to the Russian underbelly like Uzbekistan, Tajikhstan and Turkmenistan. If the Taliban is destroyed, there is no danger to the stability of the Central Asian Republics. If not, the entire region will explode in a terrorist, and not a religious, conflagaration. Russia will avert it and India has no role in this. Other than this, Russia is with India on all issues. Terrorism of any kind based on religion and ideology, is terrorism and should be crushed with equal force as the USA-led coalition is trying to do in Afghanistan. This means that the two countries draw global attention to the mindless violence in Russia’s Chechnya and India’s Kashmir. In these two cases the motivation is to set up an independent state and the joint statement vigorously opposes this. Russia wants India to keep alive talks with Pakistan, despite the known fact that New Delhi is wary of the process until cross-border terrorism is stopped. It is certain that Mr Vajpayee will hear the same words in Washington and will feel discomforted. But whatever the level of tension, talks are the best medicine. |
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No more free lunches MR
Jagmohan has the knack of attracting media attention for all the right reasons. As Union Minister for Housing he launched a relentless campaign against unauthorised constructions and encroachment on government land. Of course, in the process he earned the ire of the powerful builders' lobby. In fact, his refusal to go soft at least on the so-called well connected denizens of Delhi was one reason why he was shifted to the Ministry of Tourism. But a good administrator cannot be kept down and out of the limelight for long. Mr Jagmohan as Union Tourism Minister has now decided to crack the whip on sarkari freeloaders. He has directed the Indian Tourism Development Corporation to end the system of offering complimentary membership of the facilities in hotels under its charge. It is common knowledge that every bureaucrat, big or small, manages to procure free membership for himself or herself and other members of the family at huge cost to the exchequer. And the malaise is not confined to the ITDC-run hotels. The situation in the hotels and other tourism-related facilities maintained by the state governments is even worse. There have been instances of paying guests being forced to vacate hotel rooms for accommodating non-paying VIPs. Mr Jagmohan has not only directed the ITDC to stop offering complimentary membership of the swimming pools and health clubs, but has also directed it to recover the room charges from officers who check in without proper authorisation. The annual fee for the swimming pool membership at Ashok Hotel is Rs 15,000. But there is hardly a bureaucrat in Delhi who pays even a single paisa for using the pool. The annual membership for the Ashok Hotel's health club is about Rs 40,000. Only last month the CBI conducted a surprise check and found that most passengers travelling by the prestigious Palace on Wheels had not paid for the ride and other facilities they enjoyed while travelling from Delhi to Jaipur. Among the ticktless travellers were a number of journalists. It is not difficult to understand why India is not a prime destination on the global tourist map in spite of the country having a rich history and heritage and countless destinations of tourist interest. |
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Cable cabal NOT
too long ago, when licence and inspector raj was all pervasive, everyone thought that breaking free from its clutches would result in the dawn of a new era. No such luck. The anticipated benefits are yet to flow towards the consumer. Take the cable TV connections for instance. Things have moved at such a breakneck speed on this front that government control is as good as non-existent. And yet, the common man has been served no slice of the liberalisation and privatisation cake. The oft-promised competition has not materialised. The age-old monopolistic system lives on, in a new avatar. Big players have eased out the smaller ones and have formed all-powerful cartels. The result is that there is nothing by way of choice for the hapless consumer. Subscription rates are fixed and hiked at random. The mighty cable operator is free to air whatever channel he wants to show. Those that do not strike his fancy can be blacked out. The other day, a major cable operator boycotted a popular music channel for no other reason except that it did not send him adequate number of passes during a road show. The ostensible reason for increasing the monthly subscription is that most of the popular channels have become pay channels. But that tells only half the story. Pay cable owners lament that most cable operators do not pay them according to the actual number of consumers. At places, the actual number of households wired is 10 times as much as the records show. But since the cable operators enforce a mafia-like grip, neither the TV channels nor the consumers are in a position to protest. Moreover, service provided is rudimentary. If there is a fault in reception, it may be hours if not days before it is rectified. While government intervention is not at all desirable, the situation has deteriorated in such a way that it may become inevitable. Cable operators have become a law unto themselves, fighting ugly turf wars with means more foul than fair. In spite of clear-cut rules, they do not refrain from airing feature films that have a copyright. Channels like Doordarshan are given stepmotherly treatment. Above all, the customer is treated as a deposed king. Such a free-for-all situation is not good for the health of the industry. Cable operators need to impose some self-discipline. If they don't, they would only be asking for stricter government controls. That will be a pity indeed. |
Triumphant return of Khaleda Zia JUST over a week ago, National Security Adviser Brajesh Misra paid a brief and low-key visit to Bangladesh carrying a message of greetings from Prime Minister Vajpayee to his newly elected Bangladesh counterpart Begum Khaleda Zia. This was a welcome initiative as there is a growing feeling among our smaller neighbours that New Delhi’s almost obsessive fixation with General Musharraf’s Pakistan has resulted in our ignoring their legitimate interests and concerns. Mr Brajesh Misra’s visit came amidst growing concern across India at reports of persecution and intimidation of the Hindu minority in Bangladesh. While South Block has correctly sought to downplay these developments, it would have been remiss on our part not to share our concerns with the Khaleda Zia government. There is now a recognition in Delhi that the fundamentalist electoral allies of Khaleda — the Jamaat -e-Islami — largely engineered these incidents. Begum Zia’s electoral victory was, however, so massive that she does not have to depend on the Jamaat for running her government. But quiet diplomacy would be needed to ensure that persecution of minorities in Bangladesh does not lead to an exodus into India. There is a widespread feeling in India that while Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League desires friendly relations with us, there are undercurrents of hostility in the approach of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Begum Zia. There are legitimate reasons for such concerns. Begum Zia’s last term as Prime Minister was marked not only by a barrage of hostile propaganda but also by a strong nexus between her government’s intelligence agencies and the ISI. They jointly assisted and trained insurgent groups operating in India’s Northeast like ULFA in Assam, NSCN in Nagaland and PLA in Manipur. The Indian and Myanmar armed forces had to mount a coordinated operation in May, 1995, to deal with the infiltration of such groups that was promoted and assisted by the Bangladesh government. It should be apparent to enlightened sections of the Bangladesh government that with the international community now increasingly hostile to terrorism and the ISI itself being recognised globally as an organisation promoting terrorism, there is little to be gained by Bangladesh by allowing its soil to be used for cross-border terrorism. Friendly relations with India and support for Indian insurgent groups cannot go hand in hand. Policy planners in India must realise that it is now three decades since Bangladesh became independent. A new generation has emerged in Bangladesh that is more interested in current issues of economic progress and prosperity than in what transpired in 1971. We should also not forget that the founder of the BNP in Bangladesh, Gen Zia-ur-Rahman, led the armed struggle of his country for its independence. He also provided a measure of stability, progress and economic development when he ruled his country. In the recent elections in Bangladesh the Awami League actually increased its vote share from 37 per cent to just over 40 per cent. While the BNP’s vote share rose to 37 per cent, it was able to sweep the polls because of its well thought out electoral alliance that obtained 46.4 per cent of the votes cast. Apart from the anti-incumbency factor and its negative campaign working against the Awami League, younger voters appear to be rooted for the BNP. It is important for India to make it clear that it has no political preferences within Bangladesh and that New Delhi will seek constructive, harmonious and cooperative relations with any government that reflects the will of the people of Bangladesh. We would expect that Bangladesh, in turn, understands that bilateral treaties signed by democratically elected governments have to be respected even when governments change. We will hopefully be able to welcome Begum Zia in India in the not too distant future in this spirit. Given the asymmetry in size and in economic and military potential, it is inevitable that Bangladeshi perceptions on relations with India will be clouded by doubts and suspicions. Larger neighbours are never loved — they are, at best, respected. It is, therefore, important that our diplomatic exchanges with Bangladesh are conducted in a discreet and low-key manner and important outstanding issues addressed accordingly. Public memory in India being so short, few people remember the horrific killing of our BSF jawans in Boraibari on April 16. The primary reason for such developments has been the inability of both countries to implement the provisions of the 1974 Indira-Mujib agreement that requires India to return 111 “enclaves” in its possession to Bangladesh. We are in return to get 51 “enclaves” from Bangladesh. Barely 6.5 kilometres of the 4090-kilometre Indo-Bangladesh border are yet to be demarcated. This is surely not an insurmountable problem to address and resolve expeditiously, given the political will to do so. While there has been considerable progress in the recent past in promoting people-to-people contacts with Bangladesh, it is in the sphere of economic relations that much remains to be done. There is an interest in India in purchasing natural gas from Bangladesh. The Khaleda Zia government appears to be prepared to take a fresh look at the sale of natural gas to India. There is an ongoing and vigorous debate within Bangladesh on this issue. Any suggestion by India to hasten a decision will, however, be counterproductive. Bangladesh will itself realise that excessive procrastination will lead to interested oil companies moving to other pastures. In the meantime, it is important to expedite ongoing discussions with Myanmar for finalising collaboration in hydroelectric and offshore gas exploration projects. Current estimates suggest that optimum utilisation of the offshore gas resources of Myanmar and our own gas resources in Tripura can more than compensate for any prospective supplies from Bangladesh. At the same time, given the growing political uncertainties in the Persian Gulf region, we should seek to meet the energy needs of states on our east coast with arrangements for the supply of LNG from countries like Malaysia, Brunei and Australia. SAARC was the brainchild of President Zia-ur-Rahman of Bangladesh. Khaleda Zia will have a genuine interest in seeing that this initiative of her late husband is nurtured. There is also need to activate the existing sub-regional groupings like the Growth Quadrangle comprising India, Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh and the BIMSTEC comprising Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Thailand and Sri Lanka to identify projects that will foster economic cooperation across our eastern frontiers. New Delhi should take a pro-active stand in joining like-minded countries like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in working purposefully to implement the report of the SAARC Eminent Persons Group that has recommended that the entire South-Asian Region should become a free trade area by 2008, a customs union by 2015 and an economic community by 2020. But in order to be a credible partner with a long-term vision of an economically integrated Asian neighbourhood, we will first have to get our own Commerce Ministry to learn to be more far-sighted and positive on issues of trade relations, especially in our immediate neighbourhood. Bangladesh has sought the abolition of tariffs on 193 items covering 25 categories. Yet our mandarins in Udyog Bhavan seem to have little sympathy or understanding of the need for being forthcoming on such issues. The entire impact of Prime Minister Vajpayee’s initiative for a free trade agreement with Sri Lanka was lost when the Commerce Ministry bureaucracy ensured that quantitative and other non-tariff barriers were placed on items of crucial export interest to Sri Lanka. A similar mindset seems to afflict the mandarins of Udyog Bhavan on trade with Bangladesh. This is a pity, as Commerce Minister Murasoli Maran, who has created one of the most successful private media conglomerates in the country, genuinely believes in the merits of liberalisation. But India can never be a meaningful player in the global economic scenario and more importantly in its own neighbourhood if it constantly protects inefficient industries behind insurmountable tariff barriers. The writer is a former High Commissioner of India to Pakistan. |
Bharucha: A champion of rule of law MR
Justice Sam Piroj Bharucha, who took over as the new Chief Justice of India on November 1 following the retirement of Mr Justice Adrash Sein Anand, brings with him rich experience in the administration of justice. Born on May 6, 1937, Mr Justice Bharucha started practising in the Bombay High Court at the age of 23. He joined there as Additional Judge on September 19, 1977, and became a permanent Judge on April 3, 1978. He took over as the Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court on November 1, 1991. He was elevated to the Supreme Court as a judge on July 1, 1992. Mr Justice Bharucha is due to retire on May 6 next year on superannuation. Considered a strict constructionist in the legal circles, 64-year-old Mr Bharucha is a strong believer in the doctrine of rule of law. He is also regarded as a champion of human rights. He has several landmark judgements to his credit, the most recent being the quashing of the appointment of Ms Jayalalithaa as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu by the then Governor, Mrs Fathima Beevi. Mr Justice Bharucha, who headed the five-member Constitution Division Bench to hear the quo warranto petitions against Ms Jayalalithaa, gave a new interpretation to Article 164 (4) of the Constitution that qualifications and disqualifications prescribed under the Constitution for a member of the State Assembly would be applicable in the matter of appointment of a non-member as Minister or Chief Minister under Article 164 (4). Another historic judgement delivered by Mr Justice Bharucha was on the abduction of Kannada thespian Rajkumar by forest brigand Veerappan demanding the release of his associates lodged in Mysore jail facing TADA cases. Mr Justice Bharucha not only lambasted the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu governments for their failure to arrest Veerappan but also prevented the release of criminals belonging to Veerappan’s gang last year. This, in a way, forced Veerappan to release Dr Rajkumar without any of his 25 demands being met by Karnataka and Tamil Nadu governments. Heading the Constitution Division Bench on the presidential reference on the procedure of appointment and transfer of judges to the high courts and the Supreme Court, Mr Justice Bharucha ruled that the appointment of Judges would be made on the “sole recommendation” of the Chief Justice of India on the basis of his consultations with four seniormost Judges of the apex court. In another important judgement, he had held that the salary of High Court and Supreme Court judges was taxable. His judgement in the JMM bribery case three years ago attracted criticism. In this case, he had held that if an MP got a bribe but voted in consideration of the same in Parliament, he would not be liable for the offence, as he enjoyed immunity under Article 105 (2) of the Constitution. He had ruled that after receiving a bribe, if an MP didn’t vote in Parliament, he would be liable for prosecution. Mr Justice Bharucha is also well known for his espousal of the cause of environment and human rights. In the Narmada Bachao Andolan case, he gave the dissenting judgement holding that construction activity at the Sardar Sarovar Project site should be stopped forthwith till environmental clearance and rehabilitation of the oustees were completed in all respects. Pondicherry’s
new helmsman Pondicherry has seen a change of guard within six months of the Assembly elections with senior Congress leader and former minister, Mr N Rangaswamy, taking over as the 15th Chief Minister. This is a record even for a Union Territory which is known for its permissive political culture and endemic instability. What makes the elevation of the 52-year-old leader, who was the PWD Minister in the outgoing ministry, unusual is the fact that Mr Rangaswamy’s predecessor, Mr P Shanmugham, had to quit office for the oddest of reasons. Mr Shanmugham, a non-member, could not hope to get elected to the Territorial Assembly before November 23, when the six-month grace period ends, as no Congress MLA was willing to resign and vacate a seat to pave the way for his election. In the May elections to the 30-member Pondicherry Assembly, the Congress won 11 seats and the TMC two. The AIADMK-PMK front came a cropper with the PMK drawing a blank and the AIADMK finishing with a tally of just three. Mr Shanmugham managed to cobble together a majority by reinducting the AIADMK into the coalition. Much to the chagrin of Congress legislators, Mr Shanmugham offered speakership to Mr D. Ramachandran and ministership to Mr Kasilingam, both AIADMK. Ultimately, Mr Shanmugham’s proximity to the AIADMK proved to be his undoing. Lt-Governor Rajani Roy swore in Mr Rangaswamy as the Chief Minister on the basis of the support extended by the four members of the Puducherry Makkal Congress (PMC) and two independents, taking the total strength of the ruling coalition to 17 and making the support of the AIADMK and the TMC redundant. After meeting Congress president Sonia Gandhi on the ministry formation, Mr Rangaswamy called on AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa and TMC chief G K Vasan. He now claims that the two parties continue to be in the Congress-led coalition. But reports say, the AIADMK and the TMC may stay out. Mr Rangaswamy will face the uphill task of carrying his party and the coalition partners with him as the ministry’s strength cannot exceed six and there are too many aspirants for too few posts. |
A fusion of bhakti and
shakti THE Bhagavad Gita is acknowledge as world’s great scripture. T.S. Eliot wrote that the Gita was the next greatest philosophical poem to Dante’s Divine Comedy. Both the Gita and the Divine Comedy unfold the mysteries of human life, reach a higher degree of exaltation, and are the explorations of spiritual awareness. Mahatma Gandhi expressed his profound gratitude to the Gita when he wrote in 1925: “When disappointment stares me in my face and all alone I see not one ray of light, I go back to the Bhagavad Gita, and I find a verse here and a verse there, and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming tragedies — and my life has been full of external tragedies, and if they have left no visible, no indelible scar on me, I owe it all to the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita.” The Gita remained with the Mahatma his life-long companion like Homer’s Illiad was with Alexander the Great. The Gita is not a revealed scripture. In its foundation it is a Vedantic work and is ranked almost as a 13th Upanishad. It is mainly philosophical and intellectual in its method. There is in it a free play of dialectics on the serious problems of human existence. A spate of scholarly literature has appeared on the Gita in the West and India giving different interpretations of its meaning and method. Naturally, a work of philosophy and religion like the Gita provides ample scope for a variety of views. What part of the Gita fascinates most depends on one’s preference and choice. Aurobindo Ghosh thought that the glory of the Gita lies in the manifestation of world spirit (Visvarupa) when Arjuna is face to face with Divine Power in the 11th chapter. To Tilak, Karamayoga was the essence of the Gita; and some of our firebrand revolutionaries derived inspiration from the Gita in their fight against the British during our freedom struggle. Speaking generally, the first chapter of the Gita is ignored. The opening chapter allows us a glimpse of the fearful struggle that goes on in Arjuna’s mind. It shows the insight into the heart of man. Here is Prince Arjuna, a renowned warrior, highly intelligent, sophisticated, passionately curious about the how and why of things. He is perpetually restless, dynamic, striving and Faustian. He is unlike his uncouth and rough brother Bhima appearing on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Arjuna asks his friend and divine charioteer in the battlecar to place him between the armies of the Pandavas and the Kurus so that he might see those when he was to fight. The magnitude of the crisis before Arjuna and the very survival of his family mandated that he should take the law in his own hand to vanquish his foes. He was not squeamish or hesitant about resorting to a drastic bloodbath. His conscience was clear; he knew his teachers, friends and foes. It was not a personal vendetta he sought. He had come determined to fight. Instinctively, he abhorred violence, but this time he could claim divine support and authority, and, therefore, could justifiably own entire responsibility for the outcome. He felt that he had no choice but to resort to violence in order to prevent his own and his family’s annihilation. Seeing the battle-scene it flashed on Arjuna that he was going to be an instrument of great slaughter of his friends and the kindred, including his own revered teachers. Such a spectacle horrified him. What should he do in such a predicament which exasperated him, he asked. His mind was bubbling with ideas. What would he gain if he won the battle but lost the soul? It was a Hamlet-like state of mind, “To be, or not to be, that is the question’. He was torn with anguish. ‘Better, the life of a mendicant living upon alms than the Dharma of the Kshatrya’, he ruminated. It was a critical moment for him. It seems as though he suffered a serious nervous breakdown, a pathological case of study fit for a brilliant neurologist. At the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Arjuna fumbled and faltered, and the bow in his hand fell down, and then the ‘tiger of men’, who had conquered sleep, and fought with his left hand, flopped down in his chariot saying: ‘If the sons of Dhritarashtra, weapons in hand, should slay me, unresisting, unarmed in the battle, that would for me be better. I will not fight’. Krishna deplored Arjuna’s cowardly inaction. He rebuked Arjuna from whom he expected firm a decision, and prompt action. Krishna regarded Arjuna’s scepticism of a most superficial kind. The scepticism was mere film over his heart which throbbed with the tenderest affection. It is Arjuna’s weakness which inspires our sympathies. He is no hero cast in semi-divine mould. His imperfections no less than his tender feelings are intensely human. His eyes were brimming with tears at the sight of those who were likely to be killed at his hand. The Gita has many surprises to give to its readers, and everytime we read it we find it telling us things unexpected and startlingly new. The central point of the Gita is brilliantly presented by Sanjay in the last but one verse of the Gita when he says: ‘Wherever there is Krishna, Yoga’s Lord, wherever is Partha, the archer, assured are there prosperity, victory and happiness. So I think’. It is the harmonious combination of philosophic poise and fervent action that fulfils the purpose of life; a fusion of Bhakti and Shakti. What could be a greater lesson for a nation? But unfortunately throughout history we have forgotten it, much to our peril, at most crucial times. The writer is an eminent historian. |
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National commission for
children AFTER a national commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and one each for minorities and women, it seems to be the turn of children of India to have a body for protection and promotion of their interests on a uniform national pattern. But, unlike the other categories favoured with official commissions, children do not make any collective demands from the society or the State, and remain helpless dependents of the adults to think, plan and take action for their welfare. Nor are they aware of anything as their right by convention or law. Easy victims of neglect, exploitation, abuse and ill-treatment more than over-indulgence, children form a vulnerable group in any society. They are unaware of their legitimate claim for a fair deal in conformity with their age-based needs. This situation in a country like India where children constitute over one-third of the population considerable proportion of which is unwanted to their parents, is indeed serious. When the Union Government announced the proposal in Parliament to set up a national commission for children, it was the miserable state of millions of children that was highlighted. It is a situation of denial of rights and privileges of childhood to a vast majority of children in the country that has compelled the Government to initiate action to discharge its responsibility to foster an atmosphere and create essential facilities to bring up children to become useful citizens. The need for a national commission is felt in view of continued disabilities of children — over half the child population suffering from malnutrition, about 10 per cent from various physical and mental deficiencies, and nearly one-third remaining out of school.
INFA |
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Hormone therapy causes dry eyes Hormone replacement therapy, commonly undertaken by post-menopausal women, can cause a damaging and debilitating dry eye condition, according to a report published on Tuesday. “The present study suggests that post-menopausal women who use hormone replacement therapy have a high prevalence of dry eye syndrome compared with those who have never used hormone replacement therapy,” said researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. “This is particularly true of women who used estrogen alone,” according to the report published in this week’s Journal of the American Medical Association. The study said about 38 per cent of post-menopausal women in the United States use hormone replacement therapy. While the exact link between the therapy and dry eye syndrome remains unclear, the report said, there is basic research indicating that sex hormone levels influence activity of the lacrimal glands, which produce tears. Dry eye syndrome, the study said, can damage the surface of the eye and cause debilitating dryness and irritation. It can lead to infection of the cornea and to permanent visual impairment. “Given these findings and the high prevalence of hormone replacement therapy in the United States, further studies ... are recommended,” it said. “Meanwhile, physicians caring for women who are taking or are considering hormone replacement therapy should be informed of the potential increased risk of dry eye syndrome with this therapy.” Researchers said they reached the conclusion after looking at data from more than 25,000 post-menopausal women taking part in a multiyear health study.
Reuters
Sweat acts as antibiotic German scientists have found that human sweat contains a natural antibiotic. According to researchers from the University of Tuebingen, dermicidin protects the skin from conditions such as eczema. It is produced by the sweat glands and constantly covers the skin. The group of researchers, headed by dermatologist Claus Garbe, say their findings confirm doctors’ anecdotal experience that people who wash more frequently are more likely to catch skin diseases. Until now, this had been attributed to the slightly acid pH-factor of the skin. The new research suggests it is dermidicin that kills microbes before they infect skin cells.
Reuters |
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Nonviolence is not a cover for cowardice, but it is the supreme virtue of the brave. *** Exercise of nonviolence requires far greater bravery than that of swordsmanship. *** Vengeance is weakness. The desire for vengeance comes out of fear of harm, imaginary or real. *** A dog barks and bites when he fears. A man who fears no one on earth would consider it too troublesome even to summon up anger against one who is vainly trying to injure him. The sun does not wreck vengeance upon little children who throw dust at him. They only harm themselves in the act. *** Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man. Destruction is not the law of the humans. *** Nonviolence is like radium in its action. An infinitesimal quantity of it embedded in a malignant growth acts continuously, silently and ceaselessly till it has transformed the whole mass of the diseased tissue into a healthy one. Similarly, even a little of true nonviolence acts in a silent, subtle, unseen way and leavens the whole society. *** Violence, like water, when it has an outlet, rushes forward furiously with an overwhelming force. Nonviolence cannot act madly. It is the essence of discipline. But when it is set going, no amount of violence can crush it. For full play it requires unsullied purity and an unquenchable faith. *** Violence can only be effectively met by nonviolence. — Young India, August 12, 1926; Harijan, July 20, 1935; November 12, 1938; |
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