E-Book - Mahatma Gandhi

40 Contextualising Gandhian Thoughtit may be. What we have to do is to minimise it to the greatestextent possible. In his own words,” Violence is needed for theprotection of things external; nonviolence is needed for theprotection of the Atman, for the protection of one’s honour.” 17Therefore, he rejected the view that all killing was violence.His approval of killing of the suffering calf, frightening awaythe monkeys interfering with the crops in the ashram, loss ofjobs for the British workers in Lancashire and serving to meateaterslike Maulana Azad and Louis Fischer, and his approachto Hitler’s rule and the suffering of the Jews bring out thecomplexities of the issue. In an interview with Louis Fischerdiscussing the likely peasant movements in independent India,Gandhi did not rule out temporary violence. Thus, while allviolence was bad and must be condemned, it was important todistinguish between its different forms and contexts. 18 ForGandhi, oppression of the weak, attacking the self-respect ofthe oppressed and willful insult of the powerless are also formsof violence.Gandhi’s basic argument is that nonviolence is the mostpreferable way and violent alternatives are certainly inferior.As Terchek points out, Gandhi provides us with a critique ofviolence and offers a sustained theory of non-violence toresolve conflicts. For him, violence denies the integrity ofpersons and destroys the possibility of individuals, with theirdifferent conceptions of the truth, living together freely andpeacefully. Gandhian nonviolence is a form of power thatchallenges the gamut of injustices and brutalities that inhabitthe world and, he believes, is far superior to violence. 19Throughout his life, Gandhi propagated the messageand the practice of non-violence. His practice of nonviolencewas a conscious effort of translating his ideas into life. As herightly points out, “I have been practising with scientificprecision non-violence and its possibilities for an unbroken