‘Intolerance is itself a form of violence’

Greatness, even more so than beauty rests in the mind of the perceiver. Nelson Mandela's foes have called him agitator, thief, murder and terrorist - the latter even applied more than once by former British P.M. Margaret Thatcher.
So it was that a generation earlier Thatcher's idol Winston Churchill described Mohandas K. Gandhi as "that seditious half -naked fakir" (a Hindu ascetic mendicant holy man)
We can not but agree then with Gandhi's reply to a British journalist in London, who had asked him what he thought of western civilization: Gandhiji responsed, "I think it would be a very good idea".
Speaking in more serious tone, Gandhi said, "Intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit" referring to one of the darkest sides of the human mind - its hurtful disdain for other who choose a path different from the conforming masses.
This and the many other ageless attributes of the philosophy of Mohandas K. Gandhi were raised at a simultaneous commemoration of the 139th birth year anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and the International Day of Non- violence, on October 2, 2008, at the UNECA which hosted the annual event and organized in collaboration with the Embassy of India, the UNECA and the Ethiopian Ministry of Transport and Communications. Testament of the high esteem in which Ethiopia and Ethiopians hold Mahatma Gandhi, the Annual Gandhi memorial lecture was delivered by no less a figure than Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, statesman who on the occasion jest fully reminded the gathering of the perceived contradiction of a former guerrilla leader being, chosen to speak about, in the P.M.'s description, "an apostle of peace".
India's result oriented Gurjit Singh - dubbed the Bulldozer" by the P.M. - for his role as perhaps the most energetic engaging and pro- active foreign emissary to Ethiopia is to be commended yet again, as is Mr. Abdoulie Janneh, Executive secretary of the UNECA for working to realize the commemoration - the importance of which can never be overstated, certainly not in the currently brittle condition of the world.
We must, proclaim with gleeful inspiration - shout it out from the top of the highest peaks the Gandhian philosophy of Satyagraha, which translates in English as "Soul Force" or 'Truth Force'.
Satyagraha, by the way is not as some would perceive, a path reserved for the poor and downtrodden. On the contrary, Truth Force applies to all of humanity, and perhaps even more specifically to the wealthy and powerful, including leaders, to whom Gandhi has advised:
"Courage, endurance, fearlessness and above all, self-sacrifice are the qualities required of our leaders", advice African readers should respect and follow. The P.M. in his Gandhi memorial lecture, did not omit to raise the depressing state of the Horn - including the situation in Somalia and also the discouraging deterioration of the routinely tense Ethiopia - Eritrea border impasse, reflecting on how much more relevant Gandhi's message of non violence should apply to this troubled and troubling sub-region.
It is our fervent hope that the powers at be in the greater Horn area, indeed across Africa and the world at large heed Gandhi's tenets against violence and war. For he has said, "I object to violence because when it appears to be good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent."
Even more than abundance of food and cheaper oil what we direly need is peace - at all levels. Let us hope the regular commemoration of the birth year of Mahatma Gandhi and also, of the International Day of Non-Violence will instill Gandhian values, across the spectrum of humanity.
After all, Gandhi's philosophy is as simple as his life was. In the words of this apostle of peace, "I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and non-violence are as old as the hills."