Yesterday, on January 30th, 1948, Mahatma Gandhi was murdered and now every year on the anniversary of his death the international school day of Non-violence and Peace is held. The Aim of this day is to promote non-violence through education and public awareness. The principle of non-violence, rejects the use of physical violence to achieve social or political change. Many groups throughout the world use this method in social justice campaigns. Ghandi is one of the most well-known advocates for non-violence whose approach directly influenced Martin Luther-King. King referred to Ghandi as “the guiding light of our technique of non-violent social change.”
Some may say January the 30th is the perfect opportunity for schools to educate the young on the countless current political conflicts in the world such as the Iraq war, Syrian Civil War and Afghanistan war and the devastation these violent conflicts bring upon civilian families, or perhaps they should teach the recent 20th century past wars such as the Korean war, the Irish war of independence and the cold war, tell classes about the war crimes that took place, how they could have been prevented and peace could have thrived. If you think this then you do not fully understand the concept of Non-violence and Peace day. The unequivocal message we should be giving on this day is how non-violence is the only method we should be using to fight political oppression and gain peace.
Students should learn about the success of non-violent protests such as Ghandi’s Salt March which successfully led to India’s independence from the British Empire, the 1963 march on Washington where Martin Luther King delivered his ‘I have a Dream’ speech helping to build up enough support to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the ‘Singing Revolution’ protests that occurred from 1986-1991 and ended with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania successfully gaining Independence from the former Soviet Union. It is vital for students to understand you should not fight force with force or war with war. Schools need to use this day as an opportunity to show students violence is never the answer and they should adopt the practice of non-violence in everyday life. As Ghandi once said “An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.”
Here at Bromley High School, year ten discussed Ghandi’s method of non-violence on the international school day of Non-violence and Peace during our lesson. We talked about the recent non-violent women’s marches against Trump and the importance of using non-violence instead of force to fight a political power. When asked what, he thought about Ghandi Mr Adams replied “he was a great revolutionary reformist for India and a man who inspires many, even today.”
Amelia Mielniczek
Bromley High School
