RIGHT TO RESISTANCE
5. Gandhian thought:-
Mahatma Gandhi had held that the people have the right to oppose bad laws when they cannot change such laws by legal means. He spoke of peaceful disobedience to the government . Jayprakash Narayan, Martin Luther king Jr, Dalai Lama and Aung Sung Suukyi all Gandhians also advocated that it is unethical and immoral for a citizen to obey a bad law. It is the individual‟s duty to obey a national and just law, it is also his duty to disobey and resist an irrational and unjust law.
Jayprakash Narayan launched movements that resisted the governments unjust land laws which oppressed poor peasants, Martin Luther King Jr. protested the laws of United states government which discriminated between
„blacks‟ and „whites‟. Thus resistance can be justified on certain grounds.
Forms and Means or methods resistance:
Resistance to the authority of the state is of two kinds 1) Violent resistance i.e. revolutionary 2) Non- violent resistance. i.e. Gandhian
Revolution:- Revolution is defined as the forcible overthrow of a government. Revolution as a method of resistance has a long history. The ancient Indian tradition sanctioned a rebellion against an unjust king.
By and large revolutions are violent and accompanied by blood-shed. Exception is glorious revolution of England of 1688.
Robert Dahl defines revolution as a collective and ordinarily a violent action by which a people reject the existing authority and prepare to attack and destroy them.
Its aim is to be bring about a total and profound change in the existing system.
The French Revoluation of 1789 can be described as the mother of all revoluations. The 20th century has witnessed many revolution the most notable among them are the Russian revolution (1917) and Chinese revolution (1949).
Although today the term „revolution‟ is often used to imply any far-reaching change e.g. Green revolution, Revolution in the use of computers etc. but as a method of resistance revolution means the forcible overthrow of a government or social order.
Difference between Revolt and Revolution :-
Revolt implies a violent rebellion against the existing political authority. Rebellion implies purposeful violence by the citizens which brings about a long –term change in the political system.
Whereas a revolt occurs on a relatively small scale, is of a shorter duration and involves a relatively small section of society. e.g. In India revolt of 1857.
A revolution occurs on a much larger scale over a longer period of time and involves a huge population. The term revolution has the following implications:-
1) Revolutions influence all aspects of state-
Revolutions bring out a change in not only the polity of a state but also in its society, economy, culture etc.
2) Revolutions alter the state in a large way-
Minor changes in government cannot be termed a revolution.
Revolution bring about long-term, far reaching, total and profound change in the existing system.
3) Revolutions are usually violent:
4) Revolutions seek to establish a new order-Revolutions are not only concerned with ending the existing political, social and economic order but also with establishing a new order
Insurgency:-
It is another type of violent method of expressing resistance to the authority. It is a conspiracy, a handiwork of a few, who are dissatisfied and disappointed with the authority, they resort to acts of terrorism and other kinds of violent acts. During insurgency the cause may or may not have the support of people at large. Yet it creates a terror in the minds of the people e.g. The secessionist movements for the „Khalistan‟ or “Tamil Elam‟ can be regarded as acts of insurgency. Their style of functioning is disruptive and causes panic among people by acts as bomb-blast, hijacking or kidnapping and force the state authority to concede their demands.
Such insurgency is not only anti-state but also anti-national.
Therefore such organizations are declared‟ unlawful‟ and a ban is imposed on their activities.
Military Intervention:-
The intervention of military and its „take over‟ has become a routine affair in many of the Third world countries, in defiance of the legitimate civilian authority, e.g. Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma etc.
have experienced military take overs. If the Military generals are politically ambitious, their attempts to take over may succeed because they enjoy superiority in the use of military force and monopoly of arms.
Methods of Non violent resistance:-
1) Civil Dissent 2) Civil disobedience
3) Various methods of Satyagraha a) Non – co- operation
b) Strikes c) Boycott
d) Peaceful picketing e) Fasting
f) Courting arrest
g) Petitions, Protest, Rallies
Civil Dissent:
This from of resistance is relatively mild in nature. Civil dissent usually takes place through constitutional means. i.e. in a lawful manner through the ballot, speeches, rallies, peaceful protests etc.
The word dissent means a difference of opinion, an expression of disagreement or non –conformity. In the political sense dissent occurs when citizens refuse to give their assent to a law because they believe it to be unjust. In the democracies people often express their dissent of the present government‟s policies by voting them out of power in the next elections.
Civil Disobedience:-
Disobedience means a disregard for or breaking of rules. In political sense civil disobedience implies “the open, deliberate, non-violent breaking of law”
If and when the government refuses to pay heed to those constitutional expressions of civil dissent, people become compelled to adopt a more severe form of political resistance i.e.
civil disobedience. Throughout political history it may be observed that when the government refuses to take notice of the suggestions
and demands of the people when formulating laws, and when its policies are antithetical to the interests of the community, people resort to civil disobedience.
This method requires a great sense of sacrifice since it is a non-coercive method.
Gandhiji used civil disobedience method in South Africa in 1907. in India civil disobedience was used during the Champaran Satyagraha. The salt Satyagraha of 1930 is famous. Gandhiji and his followers violated the salt laws at Dandi March.
An act of Civil disobedience may acquire either of two forms, as follows:
1) Performance of a prohibited act.
2) Non-performance of a required act.
1) Performance of a prohibited act-
When a government prohibited the people from doing something which they believe is their right, they willingly defy the prohibited law
2) Non-performance of a required act-
When people feel that the government unjustly requires them to do something, they resist by refusing to do it.
Satyagraha: Gandhi‟s non-violent method of resistance became popular all over the world after the Second World War. It is a technique developed by Gandhiji in order to solve human conflicts in peaceful manner. Gandhiji strongly asserted that the authority could be resisted if it is oppressive. People have the right to resist the bad laws when they cannot change such laws by legal means.
But he talk about peaceful resistance and developed various forms of satyagraha.
Meaning of Satyagraha: - It is a moral weapon. It is a non-violent direct action to solve a particular conflict Literally Satyagraha means “insistence on truth”.
Gandhiji identified satyagraha with “ Love – force “ or „Soul force‟, and said that spiritual unity, which is the highest truth could be realized only by non-violence- to love all and suffer for all.
It is a tapasya for truth. It is not a weapon of the weak or coward or helpless but it is weapon of the morally vigilant, active and brave.
Satyagraha rejected the idea of violence but not the idea of fighting.
It is active resistance. It involves self-suffering; it evokes a sense of justice in the wrong-doer and helps him to understand the others point of view.
Purpose of Satyagraha:- Satyagraha is a process for resolving conflicts by mutual understanding , discussion on self –suffering. Its purpose is to bring about a change of heart and mentality of all the parties of a conflict.
Essential principles for Satyagrahi:-