Oregon’s disastrous college campus shooting came just a day before the International Day of Non-violence, observed on October 2nd, i.e., the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, who is considered as the pioneer of non-violence socio-political philosophy in modern times.
On the International Day of Non-violence, IB Times quoted some inspirational pearls of wisdom by Gandhi, like: “Non-violence, which is the quality of the heart, cannot come by an appeal to the brain.” This quote truly is touching in that it says it all in a single sentence what we see all around us in our times: increasing chaos marked by terrorism and apathy despite the countless resources of education, technology, and communication.
To counter the atrocities of political and social forces, Gandhi and his followers adopted the strategy of large, extended, peaceful protests to exert public pressure on governments and rulers and make them change their oppressive policies or orders. Sadly, these days, those kinds of protests themselves are vulnerable to terror attacks.
We live in times when mass media, leaderships, and security forces all play in a few rich hands and work collectively to make people subject to their totalitarian agenda. In our times, we can still do great, inspiring thins as individuals. But the corporate tyrants continue to take freedom away from people and those in government, including so-called progressive leaderships, are their stringed puppets for achieving these designs.
But we surely can continue to hope and make efforts for better times, standing our ground, and unmasking the lack of reason and logic as well as the good in the tenets of those who come us with deceptive masks of authority and establishment. We are never apart from peace. We can do it as we have done in times before.
