Mahatma Ghandi Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Mahatma Ghandi - Essay Example He was also of the opinion that violence would have the effect of leaving behind a trial of bitterness and hatred that would make attempts at achieving a genuine reconciliation almost impossible. Gandhi’s campaigns against non-violence in both India and South Africa had an enormous influence as they led to the development and diffusion of nonviolent campaign skills and insights. In most societies today nonviolent action has largely become the preferred approach. Nonviolent campaigns have the advantage of their being largely spontaneous and organized without much planning, preparation and training. Considering the large amounts of efforts and money that go into planning armed operations, it is highly likely that non violent action will continue to become more effective in future. However, there are some criticisms targeted at the premise of non-violence, some of the probably reservations and objections that a skeptic might voice and the probable approach that Gandhian might use to answer these objections include; In answering this claim, a Gandhian might point out that this statement is essentially not true as history is rife with examples of just how non-violence has been used to successfully obtain victory against oppressive systems backed by violence. An example of this is that in India, Gandhi was able to successfully build up a non-violent movement against the oppressive British colonials. The non-violent movement engaged in peaceful protests that included noncooperation, exemplary hunger strikes, economic boycotts and rampant acts of disobedience that had the effect of causing the oppressive British imperialism to become unworkable. Other examples of the successes of non violence are demonstrated by Lannstrom (10) who points out that Martin Luther used non-violence in achieving civil rights for black