Non-violence is a practice for dealing with conflict or bringing about social change. It is a moral necessity of any culture and belief to employ the non-violent methods for positive change and international peace.
On 15th June 2007, United Nations General Assembly marked 2nd October as an International day of Non-Violence, established to honor Mahatma Gandhi – an inspiration for non-violent movements for civil rights and social change across the world. This day stands with an ambition to spread the message of non-violence and desire to secure a culture of peace, tolerance and non-violence among people. In India, this day is referred as Gandhi Jayanti, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi.
Gandhiji was a man of an undeterred spirit & severely practical attitude. With the goal of world peace he had started the peaceful war supporting non-violence in the course of getting back independence of India from the clutch of British regime. For him, non-violence was a belief which he instrumented for righting wrongs & resolving conflicts between oppressing groups, race and nations. He considered violence a clumsy weapon which created more problem than it solved. His conscious efforts towards Indian freedom have suffered many oppressive conditions, protests and challenges. But his commitment towards his belief was firm and unbreakable, which resulted into a completely independent India.
Pursuing non-violence demands courage, the courage to resist injustice without enmity, to unite the utmost firmness with the utmost gentleness, to die but not to kill. Bapu, won his fight against violence with his firm conviction and belief that nothing enduring can be built upon violence. He embraced peace as his religion & faced the challenging context of political and social life with his composed lifestyle.
M.K. Gandhi commemorated as Mahatma from Indians, who left behind independent India, his strong teachings and the message of non-violence for the whole world. “Be the change you want to see in the world”- says Bapu. And this is what he wanted from us to follow- to start bringing the change from ourselves, to adopt his well promoted and supervised legacy of non-violence and spread the practice of peace across the world.