This phrase is totally borrowed from the front page of The Economist dated 19 May. On 14th May an important day in the history of Israel, a very tragic and painful incident took place at the border of Gaza and Israel. According to Gaza’s health Ministry at least 60 people died and more than 2700 were injured. For what? 40 percent of Gazians are unemployed and their living conditions are hellish. Thousands of misguided Palestinian youth, influenced and encouraged by irresponsible leadership, not only to attack the Israeli security forces as well as civilians, and forcefully crossed the international border to ‘reclaim’ their ancestral lands.
For years now the vicious circle is just draining the resources and making the intractable problem between Palestine and Israel more and more complicated.
The better way is to pause and look at other options, if any. And in the recent history there are at least 3 major events that given hope and some confidence, where a powerful state machinery can be prevailed or persuaded upon to accept another way to resolve highly charged and intrinsically complex problems.
Let me begin with the Bardoli Satyagraha. It was totally peaceful and non violent. It was a serious challenge to the British Raj by withholding revenue payments by poor farmers of what was then Bardoli Taluka of some 60 villages with a population of 80,000.
In the last 4 weeks of Asian Voice there were articles by Dr Hari Desai looking back at the problem and eventual resolution (interested readers can refer to older issues of Asian Voice online).
Bardoli Satyagraha was the first ever defiance of the colonial power by absolutely relying on civil disobedience which could in a way be termed ‘unacceptable’ to challenge the dictate of the collector of Surat and the governor of Bombay presidency, initially approved by Viceroy in Delhi and the India Office in London.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi returned to India in 1915 after his successful campaign in South Africa where he defined and refined his non-violent and peaceful resistance against colonial masters.
Up and until then in India the only ‘political’ organisation was Indian National Congress established in 1885, relying solely on the pleas and petitions to the Hakem Sahebs, perhaps looking for mercy and fair play.
Gandhi’s first campaign was against the mill owners in Ahmedabad who were actually supporting him financially for his first Ashram at Kocharab. The daughter of one of the largest mill owners, Ambalal Sarabhai, took the leadership and for the first time in the Indian capitalist class, their conscience was raised and they accepted demands for better treatments of the mill workers.
Champaran Satyagraha of 1918 was the turning point in the Gandhian way of energising his fellow countrymen for equality and justice. Around the same time there were two campaigns called Kheda and Borsad campaign where one barrister Vallabhai Patel proved his organisational ability in mobilising thousands of farmers and other common folks to oppose the British Raj. They suffered untold miseries of beatings, imprisonment , confiscation of properties and other oppressive measures.
As one can see from the Bardoli saga, barrister Vallavbhai Patel meticulously prepared the case of oppression of poor farmers and the Collector and Governor were power-drunk to say the least, who completely ignored the pleas for fairness and justice.
Gandhiji called this reaction of Hakim of British Raj as 'UnBritish'. For Gandhi 'Unbritish' was the ultimate term to describe the negation of positive aspect of the British character ie rule of law, fair play, equality and justice. The Bardoli campaign was launched on 12 February 1928 after thorough preparation that total peace and non violence would prevail in Bardoli taluka, inspite of several provocations by authorities- their oppressive measures of confiscation of lands and cattles and auctioning them off at ridiculous prices, the campaign remained totally peaceful and non violent.
Eventually the better sense prevailed for the Raj and the India Office instructed the Viceroy and Governor to settle it along the lines proposed by Vallavbhai Patel. Gandhi announced towards the end of May in 1928 that on 12 June India will celebrate Bardoli Day to salute the defiance and sufferings of the peasants as well as to appreciate the positive response from the authorities.
Sardar Patel Memorial Society (UK) has planned an appropriate Bardoli Day in London on 12 June. I gather similar events are being organised by the British Indian community at various places.
As The Economist has said that even on 14 May, among the Gazian Palestanians there were a sizeable group who were marching peacefully and their protest was totally non violent. One has to salute their courage and conviction. In 1955, Rev Martin Luther King followed the Gandhian way which was successfully adopted by Nelson Mandela after 1968. This path is not painless, but it is certainly less agonising and more durable and dignified than violence that has no winners. It is perhaps easy for someone sitting in London pleading or preaching the Palestanians and asking them to change the course of the campaign drastically. But I humbly believe not only it’s the way but also the better option. After all, there are Israelis in this country and in Israel who are promoting peaceful settlements too. Few in numbers but the Jewish people will be able to prevail upon the extremism in Israel, especially from their own centuries of struggle for a peaceful coexistence with their distant cousins.
