E-Book - Mahatma Gandhi

106 Contextualising Gandhian Thoughtprotest in a manner that makes the spectators to think and useslogans that stir their conscience, the effect would bespectacular. Such movements are likely to get greater respectand publicity. Iranians shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ rather than‘down with Ahmadinejad’, nuns in the front of the movementagainst Marcos in 1986 are cases in point. Further, nonviolentactivists need to be self-reflective, ever willing to correctthemselves rather than being obstinate. They should not allowthemselves to be co-opted, and should be self-financed as far aspossible. There have been accusations that Ukraine andLebanon revolutions were US-sponsored. Governments oftensee nonviolent actionists as anarchists. Therefore it is necessarythat nonviolent movements rope in respectable people whocannot be designated as anarchists. I say this because in the USnonviolent activists are often called as low level terrorists.Every nonviolent action seeks support from elements in thegovernment as well by appealing to the other roles of people,such as soldiers as fathers, uncles and friends. In everynonviolent movement, there will be some violent acts, whichneed to be isolated and their impact minimized to protect theoverall character of the movement.The Indian state’s response to nonviolent action is oftenambivalent. Civilian protests in the insurgency-infested areasof Northeast and Kashmir are not seen as much different fromthe militant activities undertaken by known insurgents. In otherwords, a secessionist is a secessionist regardless of whether heor she employs peaceful means or violent means to realize thegoals. When people sympathise with the plight of themarginalized in the heartland of India where the Naxalites havea strong presence, such expressions are often dubbed as pro-Naxal and therefore seen as no less subversive. What isremarkable is the fact that even Narendra Modi has come tobelieve in the power of nonviolence - a late realization by apower holder who is yet to apologise for the 2002 pogrom in