 Name : Owais Khan

 Subject of Assignment : Non-Violence approach to peace

 Submitted to : Sir Tayyab
 Semester : 8th
 Roll NO : 26
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NON-VIOLENCE APPROACH TO PEACE: The use of peaceful means i.e protests to bring
about social or political change or peace.

HISTORY:
We see great wars and blood slaughters and genocides in the history that means human beings
are in favor of conflicts for different purposes. But then came 20 th century with a remarkable
aspect nonviolence as a resistance to war. Like we know about Gandhi ,but what makes the 20 th
century unique in history is that Gandhi was not unique. There was actually a surprisingly large
number of peace and nonviolence movements that were occurring all around the world. So, the
most remarkable figures of nonviolence are martin Luther King and Gandhi, they were heavy
non- hitters.

So, by 1900, Europeans pretty much dominated the world,even though there had been relative
peace in Europe since 1871,Europeans, using new weapons, had unleashed an incredible
amount of violence everywhere else on the planet. They colonized most of the Africa ,asia and
the pacific. Americans had also expanded across the continental united states, and were
making eyes at the Caribbean and asia. This conquest and colonization was consistently violent.
But people were beginning to question the very idea of violence itself. Like in 1894 book,the
kingdom of god is within you, Leo Tolstoy, who knew a little bit about war and peace, explored
how Jesus message to quote ‘’ turn the other cheek’’ was the basis for a life of non violence. He
argued that governments and the individuals to be true christains, and Tolstoy also saw non
violence as a solution to ending colonialism. In 1908 tolstoy wrote a letter to a hindu to
Mohandas Gandhi,and in the letter he explained that Indians needed to confront british
imperialism with love and non violence. Gandhi accepted the letter and published it in ‘’Indian
Opinion’’ in 1909. And tolstoys ideas in this correspondence with Gandhi marked the beginning
of an informal dialogue between the advocates of nonviolence from around the world that
spanned the 20th Centuary. Tostoy wasn’t the only influence on Gandhi ,he’d grown up in the
Gujrat region of India where there is Siezable Jain community. And through the jain monks
Gandhi exposed to the idea of Ahisma: nonviolence or non-injury to life. He also read about the
western writers like john Ruskin, and henry David Thoreau. So after his return to india from
south Africa in 1915, Gandhi began to distill his thinking related to nonviolence into a more
explicit philosophy.

GANDHI RESISTANCE TO BRITISH RULE THROUGH NONVIOLENCE TO BRING

PEACE IN THE REGION:
In 1929 gandhi biography ‘’ The story of my experiments with truth’’, Gandhi wrote about how
his belief in ahisma could be the basis for indian resistance to british rule. So for Gandhi
nonviolence was both a way of life,and a tool for gaining indias self rule. He saw western
civilization as violent and exploitative. Gandhi believed that Indians could reject that lifestyle
and replace it with a nonviolent one as like ahisma and satyagraha which are best seen in the
salt march of 1930. In the mid 19th century, the british had placed taxes on salt that is why
Gandhi found a solid example that how they are effecting every indian life to stay them away
from the taste of foods. Gandhi has started a movement in order to harvest salt in ahmed abad.
The march got attention in two to three months which has made british raj to arrest Gandhi for
breaking a british law or because harvesting the salt illegaly. Millions of Indians were inspired
from Gandhi as he was opposing british raj and supported his protest against british salt law. As
civil disobedience spread across india, the british began to arrest people and the international
media focused even more on the protests and popular opinion began to see british rule as
unjust. By refusing to meet violent british rule with violence of his own and highlighting the
injustice of british rule, Gandhi was able to use nonviolence as an effective tool in undermining
the colonial regime.

Non-Violence in Vietnam:
Now through out the early 20th century nationalist movements in colonies throughout Africa
and asia also adopted nonviolence. Like Phan Chu Trinh who was the first nationalist advocated
nonviolence for the first time in Vietnamese independence movement. He has resisted japan
militarism support for Vietnam because of milatirism.

Non-Violence in Egypt:
In 1919 egyptian protested against british rule by boycotting british goods. Those protests goes
on for months but result was british gave independence to Egypt.

Non Violence in US:

Although some key areas like seus canal were under british rule.And even nonviolence was
showing opposition to imperialism too,as anti imperialism and helped the world war 1
concequances in peace making. When united states of America wanted to enter world war one
the nonviolence played a role through protests to stop the united states of America from
entering ww1.America resisted this nonviolence through fellowship reconciliation but not so.
When the war ended the American peace activists found the connection between nonviolence
and anti war movements and non violence in the anti imperial struggle. An anti war activist
Richard Gregg of united states who traveled to india in 1925 and spend four years with Gandhi
in Gujrat to learn the non violence from him. Nonviolence had been an international movement
that involved cultural exchange that went both west to east and east to west.

Non Violence Against Spanish civil war through Painting:

It was also popular among the artists.During the Spanish civil war the nationalist forces of
general franco heavily bombed the basque village of Guernica and after reading about the
destruction of the village ,the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso who was working on a commissioned
mural for panish republic abondened the mural and began painting Guernica to draw attention
to the horrors that war inflicts upon innocent civillians. The painting became one of the most
famous of the 20 th century and it remains a powerful antiwar symbol.

Non Violence Against Nazi:

There were even non violent protests against the Nazis. Like in 1943 the german gestapo
arrested about 1800 jewish men who were married to non jewish women.And as those men
were being held in an office building, their wives gathered together on the street. Armed
german gestapo agents attempted to disperse them with threats of firing into the crowd and a
stand off between the unarmed women and the armed gestapo went on for a week. Instead of
firing on the women, Joseph gerbils ,the nazi party director in berlin ultimately decided to back
down and he released the men. The so called Rosenstrasse protest wa the only successful
public protest against nazi policies in Germany but it wasn’t the only protest.

Non Violence in Racial Descrimination:

The civil rights movement of America has non violence roots in it in the 20 th century. Like during
ww2 ,civil rights pioneer bayard rustin met AJ Musty and other members of the fellowship of
reconciliation,and they spent much of the war protesting racial discrimination in the armed
forces but at the same time rustin was also becoming increasingly aware of the injustice of the
british colonialism in india and Africa and began to protest that as well.And we see this global
cross-fertilization of nonviolent ideas again in 1948 when rustin traveled to india,where he met
with many of Gandhi associates. Gandhi had been killed in January of that year and learned
about the role of nonviolent protest against the british. And in the following decade ,Rustin
would teach martin luther king Jr about Gandhi tactics, so he could use them in protesting
against racial segregation in the united states. King luther himself traveled to india in 1959 to
learn more about nonviolence. After the visit he quoted ‘’ More convinced than even before
that the method of non violent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed
people in their struggle for justice and human dignity.’’ And the principles of non violence
would come to shape the strategies used for the civil rights movement.

Non Violence in Cold War:

Nonviolent resistance was also an important protest tactic during the cold war. Alexender
Dubcek, the Czech commuinist partys first secretary, began a series of reforms to communist
rule in Czechoslovakisa in January 1968 that would become known as the Prague spring. The
Soviet Union didn’t like the spring or democratic reforms. So they sent in troops to destabilize
Dubcek’s government and in response to that invasion ,so many civilians quickly took to the
streets and as blockade of soviet tanks through bridges and secret radio support through
nonviolent talks to support Dubcek and to resist the invasion of soviet. The protest continued
on for the rest of 1968. In January 1969 Czech students burned themselves in a protests against
soviet invasion and as the tensions increases and escalated between the protesters and the
soviets ,the soviets began a violent crackdown. By the summer of 1969 they’d brought the
demonstrations to an end.

Non Violence Among Pashtuns:

Bacha Khan is also well known for nonviolence , he was a companion of Gandhi and helped
Gandhi nonviolence ideology to fight British Rule in the subcontinent through his khudayi
Khidmat gars. Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan was one such leader. He was popularly known as Bacha
Khan (King of Chiefs) among Pashtuns of Pakistan and Afghanistan; ‘Frontier Gandhi’, ‘Non-
violent Soldier of Islam’ and ‘Prophet of Peace’ in the West, and ‘Khan Baba’ in India. He was an
exemplary leader and social reformer who in coalition with Mahatma Gandhi launched a social
and political movement to unite Pashtuns against domestic and external forces by making them
aware of their rights, unique cultural strengths and weaknesses. He initiated the ‘Khudai
Khidmatgaar’ (servants of God) movement based on the values of benevolent Sufism with love
for humanity, peace and nonviolence as its governing principles. Many critics label the
movement as merely being a political movement to aid Gandhi and Indian National Congress in
its struggle to achieve independence from the British Empire. Such criticisms work towards
appropriation of his movement and fail to take into account the nuances which made his
movement unique and widely popular. Ghaffar Khan’s movement was much more than his
mere political support to Congress. It had a socio-political character and was different in many
ways from the Gandhi’s ‘Ahimsa’ or Non-Violence movement. His movement was grounded in
alternate narrative of religion (Sufi Islam) and culture (Pashtunwali) which he initiated long ago
before he became an ally of the Indian National Congress. It was aimed at reforming the socio-
cultural fabric of the Pashtun society and raise the collective consciousness of his people
through education and political activism.

Historians took note of all of this stuff, like historians Gene Sharp published his multi volume
politics of nonviolent action which was reportedly read by a lot of the original protesters in the
Arab spring of 2011,which reminds us that nonviolent resistance is not only a part of history but
also a part of today world we are living in.

Wars are traumatic and they have relatively straightforward narratives that allow us to focus on
human dramas and all of that stuff is appealing to historians. But really the nonviolent struggles
oppression in the 20th century they have been just dramatic and especially in the second half of
the 20th century they have born fruit and not just in the US and India. When the news focuses
just on death and destruction it can be hard to remember that more people are living under
peaceful regimes than ever before and that, at least between nations, inequality and injustice
are diminishing.

Conclusion:
We can see the role of nonviolence how it has helped the bloody 20th century and still the
beacon of resistance against the colonialist and imperialist powers and wars. It has brought a
very great change of peace through Peaceful protests. So we can say this ideology of
nonviolence is a great approach to peace.

Thanks for consideration Sir! Be awesome, stay happy and safe.