Gandhi & self-defence

[mundaire]

Dug out the following gem from the old IFG yahoo group...

My mother has a leftist friend who once remarked that she wouldn't use a gun to defend herself against criminals because she is a pacifist. I asked here how she would respond to a robber, and she said she would comply with his demands.

After skimming a collection of Mahatma Gandhi's letters, however, I think she is confused. According to Gandhi, a pacifist is someone who responds to injustice via peaceful civil disobedience. That might be someone who refused not only to harm the robber but, ready to die for the sake of principle, also refused to give in to the robber's demands regardless
of his threats.

This is in contrast to the coward, whom Gandhi described as one who freely chooses to submit to injustice upon receiving a threat of violence, even when he could successfully resist. In a letter to his son, Gandhi said that he believed that peaceful civil disobedience was the most moral position, but that use of force in self-defence was preferable to cowardice.

I guess another form of cowardice is when one freely chooses to comply with the criminal's demands at first, only to call for the use of force against him by others (i.e. the police) after the immediate danger has passed. That such people can consider themselves morally superior to those who defend themselves is true chutzpah, in my opinion.

- Frank Silbermann

The original message is archived at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/indians4guns/message/35

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[HSharief]

I read this line attributed to Gandhiji :

Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the Act depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest.

I just googled it to make sure and he did write it in his autobiography but the interpretation is up for debate.

[mundaire]

Sharief,

The quote you mention is actually based around an incident where Gandhi was arrested for distributing leaflets condemning the British era Indian Arms Act as being discriminatory. It is described as such in his auto-biography... will need to dig it out to give you the exact context...

Also, don't forget - in the run up to independence the Congress party did adopt "the Right to Keep and Bear Arms" as one of the basic fundamental rights that should be protected by ANY constitution of a FREE India! Am sure that Gandhi as chief visionary of the party would have been at the very least consulted before incorporating anything like that into their declaration...

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[Grumpy]

"Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the Act depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest."

Yeah, we were buggers weren`t we ?

Somehow I doubt that history will consider `the Act depriving a whole nation of arms" as being particularly black...........and I can think of a whole catalogue of `blacker` acts by the occupying British.

It also occurs to me that India has had 60 years to reverse that particular act and hasn`t wholeheartedly done so..........Does that mean that successive Indian Governments are guilty of `black` acts also ?

[mundaire]

Does that mean that successive Indian Governments are guilty of 'black' acts also ?

You better believe it!!

[miroflex]

Hi,

I believe Gandhiji also said or wrote, "The Arms Act has emasculated India."

It suited the British to control the ownership of weapons after the events of 1857 and 1858.

Regards.

[nagarifle]

no change there then. still ruled by the laws of the frangi

[tranter]

Polititians are the same the whole world over, they will use whatever laws that are available [ regardless of who introduced them and for whatever reason ] for their own purposes.

[boris]

Just a few days back I was going through a UK based guns forum(full-bore.co.uk).I was surprised to know that the British citizens who have a Firearms Certificate(FAC) are allowed to own -.308,.338 LM,.300 Winchester bolt action rifles and semi auto in .223 remington rifles.Also ammo quantity of say a 1000 rounds is also permitted.Non-Citizens with a clean record after having stayed for 2 years are allowed to apply for a FAC.

I must say people say UK Arms law is harsh,it pales in comparison to our laws.