Hind Swaraj Study Camp

Venue: Gandhi Peace Foundation, New Delhi
Date: 27-30 March, 2005
Participants: 20 men

The tenth Hind Swaraj Study Camp, jointly organized by Nonviolent Peaceforce and Swarajpeeth (March 27-30, 2005) was a result of a process of sustained dialogue on communal violence over past two years. The dialogue included two regional consultations in Delhi. Besides a series of public and group meetings and discourses were organized in more than half a dozen towns of western Uttar Pradesh (North India). This prepared the ground for a number of Muslims and others to take part in the dialogue on nonviolence and ways of resolving conflicts through methods of nonviolence and peace. This group mostly included district coordinators of Swaraj Dialogue, community leaders including youths. Eighteen out of the twenty participants were from the Muslim community. In the post-Gandhi period this is probably the first process where overwhelming response has come from Muslim community to find the ways and means of resolving conflict through the methods of nonviolence. In all these places people have shown great interest in working towards minimizing violence and maximizing nonviolence through trust building. Nonviolent peaceforce is seen as a method of trust building through nonviolent intervention.

Hind Swaraj, Mahatma Gandhi's manifesto written in 1909, for the realization of which he dedicated rest of his life, explores the innate violence and immorality of modern civilization; invokes the moral power of sovereign being; and, brings to us a conviction about a philosophy and method of reasoned inquiry; moral and spiritual integrity among all the departments of life, viz. economic, political, cultural and spiritual; and self-suffering or love-force as the means of realizing all-round justice and human dignity. Explaining the radical difference between the freedom as understood in the modern times and freedom as understood over the ages in India, Mahatma Gandhi writes: "The word Swaraj is a sacred word, a Vedic word, meaning self-rule and self-restraint, and not freedom from all restraint which 'independence' often means." India's, and for that matter most of the world's conflicts and violence can be understood in their total political, cultural and spiritual context through the vision of nonviolence enshrined so comprehensively and with radical freshness in Hind Swaraj. In the din of the propaganda that markets modern civilization, we have lost our awareness about simple but profound truth of human affairs related with conflicts and their true resolution. For example, India's internal conflicts cannot be defined except interms of the two counter philosophies of freedom and democracy; namely, Independence Vs Swaraj.

Responding to the discourse on Hind Swaraj, Mohsin Khan said "I am all for the immediate constitution of the Shanti sena. Nothing else can lead us better in today's situation towards our goal of Swaraj" .He comes from Bijnor town.

Balwant Singh Gehlot, a veteran public figure said, though he had fought against Emergency rule in Seventies and was therefore jailed along with some national leaders; he was never so moved and transformed as during these days. He committed himself to campaign for nonviolence and peace.

Saleem Baig of Muradabad city known for its brass-work and which had seen one of the ugliest communal riot about 12 years back, said "I see in the teachings of Hind Swaraj re-emergence of the same fire we witnessed during our freedom struggle. I have no doubt now that we will be able to cultivate love-force in place of hate; self-sacrifice in place of violence; and soul force in place of brute force".

Dr. Abdul Majid of Saharanpur, "All my established beliefs stand shaken. I see this as the true message not only of Islam, but of all faiths. There is no true freedom without non-violence. In order to initiate ourselves in non-violence we must organize into a Shanti Sena."..

Master Furqan Ahmed of Saharanpur, an elderly social worker, "we are fifty years late I realize today. We as a nation would not have been in a mess as we are today, had we been taught the message of Hind Swaraj. We have to make-up for the lost time..at least someone here has so forcefully taken up the task".

Zahirul Islam a well-read, wise-man, elderly social figure "Rarely have I become such a listener, the style and content of interpretation of Hind Swaraj has touched my heart . This message must be carried to common people at all levels."

Nagendra Kumar and Shehzad Bharti of Biharigarh (Dehradoon) inspired by this dialogue intervened in an issue of communal tensions which was continuing since long time. They successfully resolved it through nonviolent methods. They are committed to organizing people from different sections for nonviolent action and Shanti Sena.

Aale Ahmed Khan Suroor, a poet and social worker of Rampur: "This camp has developed mental and intellectual preparedness for us to organize ourselves as Shanti Sainiks.

Farooq Bijnori, a popular Urdu poet and public figure from Bijnor said he is prepared to work as a Shanti Sainik; "My first task is to bring this message of true peace and culture of non-violence to people of my region".

Arshad Quraishi, Swaraj Dialogue coordinator for Shanti Sena presented a plan for organizing a region based series of Hindswaraj camps. He emphasized on the need for extensive training in practical methods of nonviolence. He has currently undertaken the translation of Hind Swaraj in Urdu.

Dr. Niru Vora emphasized that great efforts should be made to make women participate in Swaraj dialogue. Number of women must increase steadily in Hindswaraj study camps. Without participation of women on large scale nonviolence will not blossom.

• Participants expressed their faith in Gandhi and nonviolence. A further training in methods of Satyagraha and nonviolent intervention is required.
• They decided to organize similar study camps in each area they represent.
• Grass-root meetings in their region to draw more people in this campaign for nonviolence
• Each group will mobilize a good number of people committed to nonviolent means of conflict resolution.
• In public meetings in all these areas people have shown over- whelming enthusiasm and willingness to participate in 9/11, 1906, the birth of Satyagrah, Johannesburg, South Africa.