Arun Gandhi Boundary Peace Initiative Interview Part 3

June 18, 2013 by

Part 3 of my interview with Laura Savinkoff of Boundary Peace Initiative 

(part 1 HERE + part 2 HERE) 

6.  BPI: To what extent, in your opinion, does desperate poverty or wealth inequities, the violation gandhiand disregard of others contribute to increased violence within nations and among nations?  What do you feel would establish principles and behaviors that would not only resolve conflict, without violence, but also not create it in the first place?  What are the principles that might create a global dynamic of positive achievements rather than one of just avoiding negative outcomes?

Arun Gandhi: There is no doubt that disparities create divisions and divisions lead to conflict.  There are many disparities in ours societies today, besides economic.  There is religious, social, national, communal, sectarian and many other forms of disparities that divide people between US and Them.  Societies today need a complete overhaul.  We have to replace the greed, selfishness, arrogance, and the many other negative attitudes that we harbor with more positive attitudes like Love, Respect, Understanding, Acceptance, Compassion and so on.  It is only when we are able to see people as human beings and no identify them by the labels we have put on people that we will be able to reduce strife substantially. [Read more…]

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Arun Gandhi’s Dialogue with ‘The Boundary Peace Initiative’

June 4, 2013 by

Laura Savinkoff of the Boundary Peace Initiative (“BPI”) asked me to share some insights.  I thank the Boundary Peace Initiative, who work towards a world where peace lives in all its vibrancy among all peoples of the globe and the universe, for all that they are doing. BPI supports multilateral action for non-violent conflict resolution, human rights, ecological integrity for the planet and international law, through education and dialogue locally and globally.

Arun Gandhi at Sabarmati Ashram

1.   BPI: Given the facts that the Nuclear Suppliers Group approved the 123 Agreement between the USA and India for supplying Uranium, now Canada and Australia among other Uranium producing nations; that India does have Nuclear Weapons, yet is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; that India is proposing and is building Nuclear Power Plants with this Uranium thereby freeing their domestic supply of Uranium for weapons production; and that a large sector of the Indian population object to growth of the nuclear industry with the organizations in India protesting/ resisting proliferation, do you have any suggestions as to methods that might enhance the resistance and be more effective?

Arun Gandhi: Following in my grandfather’s footsteps I am against nuclear proliferation anywhere in the world.  No country, not even India, can justify building of nuclear weapons or nuclear power facilities.  However, the one important lesson from Grandfather’s philosophy of nonviolence I learnt is that “We must live what we want others to learn.”  For the developed nations to say to developing nations that you should not build nuclear plants they must first dismantle their own nuclear plants.  If nuclear energy is bad for the developing countries, it must be bad for the developed countries too. [Read more…]

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Arun Gandhi in Port-Au-Prince Haiti

April 2, 2012 by

Port-Au-Prince, Haiti — Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson, Arun Gandhi, visited Haiti on a goodwill tour the last week of March 2012. He spent his five-day tour visiting a camp operated by Sean Penn’s J/P Haitian Relief Organization, leading a workshop with community leaders at Viva Rio, as well as talking with leaders from the United Nations and USAID.

Arun Gandhi in Port Au Prince HaitiWhile in Port-Au-Prince, Arun Gandhi also visited with Haiti’s First Lady, Premiere Dame Sophia Martelly to discuss the current situation in Haiti and begin a dialogue on how Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolence can be implemented in the ongoing development work following the 2010 earthquake.

Arun Gandhi commented on his trip, “The media has been covering all the negative aspects of Haiti, and making it out to be a disaster since the earthquake, so you gather a picture of total hopelessness and that nothing is really happening. But because of my experience in this work all these years, I was sure there was something in the people that would be more positive.”

He continued, “So I came here with an open mind to see the country and learn from the people and share with them my experiences, understanding, and knowledge of my grandfather’s philosophy in the hope that it would make a difference in their lives and show them the way to get out of the mire they find themselves in because of these natural occurrences.”   [Read more…]

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