In the face of the immerse power of the British Empire, his "nonviolent army" eventually won the day, such that colonial India celebrated its independence on the 15th of August 1947. The way of non-violent resistance has been taken up by other movements in other nations throwing off overt colonization, as well as various forms of unofficially sanctioned oppression.
In 1908 Gandhi coined the term "satyagraha" (literally truth-force) while in South Africa and later utilized it in his campaign to free India from British colonial rule. "Satya" or truth refers to existence - that which is; Gandhi equated reality/existence with God. The term "agraha" can be defined as "insisting upon" or "strong inclination for." As such, satyagraha is translated as "holding fast to the truth". However, this steadfastness must be free from arrogance, self-righteousness, or the sense that one is "better than." In Gandhi's words: "To see the universal and all-pervading Spirit of Truth face to face, one must be able to love the meanest of creation as oneself." He also declared that "the British will leave India, but they will leave as friends."
Gandhi had indeed re-discovered an alternate power source, which he sometimes called "soul force" and at other times - "love force."
In responding to the racism in South Africa, he had urged his community to refuse to obey degrading legislation - without violent retaliation - while accepting the consequences for these actions... yet, at the same time, "not yielding an inch regarding the demand for fair and equitable treatment under the law." Gandhi later described this approach as, "the moral equivalent of war."
Gandhi maintained that the ultimate objective of the social revolutionary is a simultaneous personal and social transformation. This entailed an internal focus on deep introspection and spiritual evolution combined with the external objective of overcoming injustice through non-cooperation. Ahimsa (harmlessness), he stated, is not a path for the timid. "It does not mean meek submission to the will of the evil-doer, [rather] it entails a pitting of one's whole soul against the will of the tyrant."
The process involved:
o making people conscious of the nature of the injustice, and cause of the injustice;
o creating belief in one's ability and duty to resist;
o enabling people to realize that acquiescence is cooperation, that one has the duty and the power to resist both as an individual and a member of an organized group which is affected;
o realizing that this power lies with us, and has to be employed. However, it is ahimsa - nonviolence - which is cornerstone and ground of all actions.
The techniques or means of struggle that Gandhi employed included:
- Surveys to marshal evidence and establish Truth Petitions
- Demonstrations
- Meetings and marches
- Open declarations: pledges or vows
- Picketing: strikes or work stoppages
- Defying prohibitory orders
- Defying bans on manufacture and sale of goods
- No-Tax campaigns
- Civil Disobedience
- Fasting
The mahatma ("great soul"), as he was called, harbored no illusions regarding the difficulties involved in inspiring large numbers of people in embracing satyagraha. Regarding the personal growth necessary, Gandhi wrote: "The acquisition of the spirit of non-resistance is a matter of... training... and appreciation of the hidden forces within us."
Martin Luther King Jr.
When receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, King hailed the successful precedent of nonviolent resistance: "in a magnificent way by Mohandas K. Gandhi to challenge the might of the British Empire... He struggled only with the weapons of truth, soul force, non-injury and courage."
From King's sermon, delivered at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama - November 17th, 1957:
"...Now let me hasten to say that Jesus was very serious when he gave this command; he wasn't playing. He realized that it's hard to love your enemies. He realized that it's difficult to love those persons who seek to defeat you, those persons who say evil things about you" And it's significant that he does not say, 'Like your enemy' "because you have agape in your soul" you come to the point that you love the individual who does the evil deed, while hating the deed that the person does.
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