The International Day of Non-Violence is celebrated every year on October 2nd, which corresponds with the birthdate of India’s Independence Movement and prominent political leader, Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi inspired the world with his vision of non-violent resistance to the world’s injustices. His ideas still resonate with society today as we all try to become a more peaceful world. However, violence grows each day as countries go through wars, famine, poverty, and social and political instability. Many organizations such as the United Nations and the Nonviolent Peaceforce attempt to alleviate these conflicts and apply unarmed strategies to protect the citizens of the world, but many people seem to have lost hope in them, each other and their leaders, who swore to protect them and their countries. Either way, this Friday, we do not celebrate non-violence. We attempt to put forward “the message of non-violence, including through education and public awareness” in a way that we can start creating “a culture of peace, tolerance, understanding and non-violence”—according to the United Nations.
Non-violence means to deny the use of physical violence in order to achieve social or political change; meaning there are more peaceful ways to make a change such as marches, vigils and blockades. We must remember that peace does not come from the outside; it starts within us, in our hearts. As it resonates with the people around us, it gets passed on to the next set of individuals who are ready to believe in the greater good. Being peaceful does not mean to get “pushed around” or to be a coward or weak. It is believing that violence will only push some forward and leave others behind. To be peaceful, you must be firm in your beliefs and your actions, but not aggressively— for there are better ways to capture a human’s soul than through fear.
“You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty”.
– Mahatma Gandhi
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