Non-Violence:
The Most Powerful Weapon

The freedom movement against British rule in India started in 1857. For the first fifty years, this movement was violent. Then, in 1919, Mahatma Gandhi entered the stage of Indian politics. He determined that the freedom movement in India would be conducted on a non-violent basis.

For the British rulers, Gandhi’s non-violent weapon proved to be more deadly than the violence of the “freedom warriors.” They possessed the means to put an end to violence with violence, but they did not know how to stem the tide of a movement which was based on non-violence. When this situation became apparent, a veteran British collector telegrammed the Central Secretariat, saying: “Kindly wire instructions how to kill a tiger non-violently.”

Most people think that politics entails unending conflict with one’s rivals, but real politics is to wear one’s opponents down by means of quiet diplomacy, so that they are no longer able to put up a fight. □