The power of Satyagraha...

Wise men learn from the mistakes of past. But what do we do? Let me tell you what we do. Some of the great visionary leaders realize the mistake, get the people to solve their differences, create a united nation, fight off the oppressive rulers and gain independence after a long struggle which sees a lot of bloodshed and sacrifice. Then after enjoying many decades of independence, some political parties generate differences amongst the people for their personal gains, lead them to divide themselves and eventually end up in the same situation when the British first landed on our shores as traders. Now we are asking for separate states later we would ask for separate countries.

What happened recently in Andhra Pradesh got me thinking. Was it the fast-unto-death stance of a political leader or the very real possibility of large scale violence that led the central government to take immediate action? It is evident that the latter prevailed. Now cut back to the pre-independence era. We have one Mr. M. K. Gandhi who has a much larger group of supporters who, unlike our current politician, are spread across the entire country. Now if Mr Gandhi were to die as a result of his fast, just imagine the chaos and violence the british administration would have to deal with. This leads to a very important question "Were it the principles of non-violence and satyagraha, held so very dearly by Mahatmaji, or something else entirely that got us our freedom?" Just think about it.