> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1973628.cms
>
> Gandhi's 9/11
> Avijit Ghosh
> [ 9 Sep, 2006 2240hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
>
> When Osama bin Laden's men slammed aeroplanes into New York's Twin
> Towers on September 11, the day's abbreviated form, 9/11, immediately
> became shorthand for violence. And five years down the line, it
> continues to be so.
>
> Few remember that the same day — 9/11 — was actually synonymous with
> non-violence. Exactly 100 years ago — September 11, 1906, to be
> precise — this day also marked the birth of satyagraha, although the
> term itself was coined at a later date (see box).
>
> Over the next century, satyagraha — which literally means the force
> born of truth and love or non-violence — has been put to test in
> different political theatres around the globe.
>
> In his book, Gandhi as Disciple and Mentor, political scientist Thomas
> Weber writes about its influence on world leaders such as Julius
> Nyerere, Kenneth Kaunda, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr, Aung
> San Suu Kyi, the Dalai Lama and Lech Walesa.
>
> Back home, Vinoba Bhave's Bhoodan movement and his efforts at making
> Chambal dacoits surrender, and Sunderlal Bahuguna's Chipko movement
> are a few examples of Gandhian methods being applied with success in
> varying degrees.
>
> The recent Bollywood hit Lage Raho Munna Bhai, where Gandhi-giri is
> put to test, also demonstrates that satyagraha still has the power to
> move people. And yet it is the violent 9/11 that occupies the mind
> space of the majority.
>
> The question that immediately arises is: In the backdrop of rising
> terrorism and with nation-states themselves becoming more violent and
> oppressive, could satyagraha still be used as a method to attain
> larger political goals?
>
> Historians and political scientists believe satyagraha can be
> effective even today. But they also point out that the process is
> time-consuming and that the satyagrahi's opponent must possess a
> conscience.
>
> Because, as historian B R Nanda points out, in the ultimate analysis,
> "satyagraha is a battle for the opponent's mind." He illustrates the
> Gandhi effect on one of his opponents.
>
> When Gandhi left South Africa for good in 1914 after spending 21 years
> there, the man at the receiving end of his campaigns, General Jan
> Smuts said: "The saint has left the shore. Thank God, forever."
> Several decades later, Smuts was a member of the Churchill war
> cabinet.
>
> During a meeting, the British PM is said to have called Gandhi a
> quisling, a synonym for traitor. Smuts countered it saying that Gandhi
> was one of the greatest men on earth. "That's the long-term effect of
> satyagraha," says Nanda.
>
> Historian Bipan Chandra and political scientist Imtiaz Ahmed believe
> satyagraha works primarily when the opponent has a conscience or moral
> fibre. Gandhi himself was aware that satyagraha may not work against
> dictatorship. Chandra recounts an incident to make his point.
>
> In 1937, a Chinese delegation meeting Gandhi asked him how they could
> fight Japanese aggression through a non-violent struggle. Gandhi
> replied that such a struggle requires long training and that they
> should go back and counter aggression the way they knew best.
>
> "In violence, you attack the enemy. Non-violence appeals to the
> conscience of the enemy. It is not anti-opponent. Satyagraha aims at
> stirring up the finer side of the opponent," says Chandra.
>
> The logical question that follows is: Would Gandhian methods work
> today against Bin Laden's terrorism or George Bush's neo-imperialism?
> According to Ahmed, satyagraha anticipates coming face to face with
> the opponent.
>
> Gandhi always worked from the centre of political action. However,
> Al-Qaida operates from a distant, isolationist position making it
> impossible to counter it through satyagraha. "Osama may be acceptable
> to many Muslims.
>
> But he neither has the skill nor the moral fibre to mobilise Muslims
> as a political force to wage a non-violent struggle against US
> imperialism," says Ahmed. However, he believes that given the right
> leadership, satyagraha can be successful against the Bush regime.
>
> "If satyagraha worked against the British, why can't it work against
> the US?" Ahmed also feels that ultimately the US failure to control
> Iraq is due to its inability to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi
> people.
>
> "More than the insurgency, it is the silent resistance of the common
> Iraqi that is the biggest worry of the US. And it is this struggle
> that could ultimately lead to US withdrawal," he says.
>
> In that sense, another version of Gandhi's non-cooperation movement
> continues in Iraq.
>
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