Mahatma

Every October 2, we remember Mahatma Gandhi, garland his statues, quote his words and speak of truth and non-violence. Yet, perhaps the more important question is what remains of those values after the ceremonies are over. In an age marked by anger, polarisation, intolerance and increasingly aggressive public discourse, Gandhi’s relevance is not diminishing. If anything, it is becoming more difficult to ignore.

Non-violence is often mistaken for passivity or weakness. Gandhi understood it differently. For him, non-violence required enormous moral courage because it demanded restraint even in the face of provocation. It did not mean surrendering one's principles. It meant resisting injustice without allowing hatred to consume the person resisting it.

This distinction matters today. We live in an environment where disagreement can quickly become hostility, political differences become personal battles, and social media often rewards outrage rather than reason. The language of public discourse has become harsher, while the space for listening, questioning and agreeing to disagree appears to be shrinking.

Gandhi’s greatest challenge to our times may therefore be his insistence that the means matter as much as the ends. A just cause pursued through hatred, humiliation or violence can itself become destructive. Winning an argument at the cost of another person's dignity is hardly a victory.

Remembering Gandhi should also mean questioning our own conduct. How do we speak to those who disagree with us? How readily do we label people? Do we respond to anger with more anger? Do we defend truth even when it is inconvenient to us?

These are not questions reserved for politicians or governments. They concern every citizen.

Gandhi Jayanti should consequently be more than an annual ritual of remembrance. His values need to enter our homes, schools, workplaces, institutions and public conversations. Non-violence begins not on the battlefield but in the everyday choices we make about how we treat another human being.

In an increasingly impatient world, perhaps the most radical thing we can remember from Gandhi is this: “peace is not merely the absence of violence. It is a discipline we must practise every day.”