Arun Manilal Gandhi

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Arun Gandhi
Arun Gandhi

Arun Manilal Gandhi (born April 14, 1934, Durban, South Africa) is the fifth grandson of Mohandas Gandhi through his second son Manilal. Following the footsteps of his grandfather, he is also a socio-political activist, although he eschews the ascetic lifestyle of his grandfather. In January 2008, Gandhi resigned as director of the M. K. Gandhi Institute for Non-Violence, which he founded, following publication by the Washington Post of an essay "calling Jews and Israel 'the biggest players' in a global culture of violence"[1], an act that sparked criticism of Gandhi, as well as criticism of his detractors.

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[edit] Early life

Born to Sushila and Manilal Gandhi, Arun's childhood days under South Africa's apartheid for someone of Indian heritage was considerably difficult, humiliating, and often violently abusive. Like many Indians, he was demeaned by Europeans for not being white, and ostracized by Africans for not being black, and subject to racially-motivated violence from extremists in both groups. This led to a series of resentful and angry teenaged years.

While living with his grandfather Mahatma Gandhi from 1946 until his assassination in 1948, Arun experienced the most tumultuous period in India's struggle to free itself from British rule. He saw the first-hand effects of a national campaign for liberation which was carried out through both violent and nonviolent means. Both the events and Mahatma Gandhi's teachings strongly influenced Arun.

When Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated in 1948, Arun felt such anger that he wanted to take revenge upon the assassin. Then he remembered his grandfather’s words: Never react immediately in anger. Following that, he returned to South Africa.

After the death of his father, Arun returned to India in 1958 to work as a trainee journalist and reporter for The Times of India. It was while in an Indian hospital that he came to know his future wife, the late Sunanda Gandhi.

[edit] Principles

Gandhi considers himself to be a Hindu but expresses his Unitarian views.[2] Gandhi has worked closely with the Christian priests and his philosophies are strongly influenced by Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and Catholic Christian concepts. Like his grandfather, he also believes in the concept of 'non-violence' (ahimsa). In 2003 he was one of the signatories to Humanism and Its Aspirations (Humanist Manifesto III).

[edit] Family

Arun's late wife, Sunanda (1932-2007), whom he married in 1958, was also a partner in Arun's non-violent campaigns. The couple had a son, Tushar, who is also an activist, and a daughter, Archana, and four grandchildren.

[edit] The present

In 1987, along with his entire family, Arun Gandhi moved to the United States to work on a study at the University of Mississippi. This study examined and contrasted the sorts of prejudices that existed in India, the U.S., and South Africa. Afterward they moved to Memphis, Tennessee and founded the M. K. Gandhi Institute for Non-Violence hosted by the Christian Brothers University, a Catholic academic institution. This institute was dedicated to applying the principles of nonviolence at both local and global scales.

In 2007, the institute moved to Rochester, New York, and is currently located on the University of Rochester River Campus.[3]

Arun has given many speeches about non-violence in many countries. During his tour to Israel, he urged the Palestinians to resist Israeli occupation peacefully to assure their freedom.

In August 2004, Gandhi proposed to the Palestinian Parliament a peaceful march of 50,000 refugees across the Jordan River to return to their homeland, and said MPs should lead the way. Gandhi also claimed that the fate of Palestinians is ten times worse than that of blacks in South African Apartheid. He asked: "What would happen? Maybe the Israeli army would shoot and kill several. They may kill 100. They may kill 200 men, women and children. And that would shock the world. The world will get up and say, 'What is going on?'."[4]

In fall of 2007, Gandhi co-taught a course entitled "Gandhi on Personal Leadership and Nonviolence" at Salisbury University in Salisbury, Maryland.[5]

On November 12, 2007, Gandhi gave a lecture for the Salisbury University Center for Conflict Resolution’s “One Person Can Make a Difference” Lecture Series, entitled “Nonviolence in the Age of Terrorism”.[6]

[edit] Controversy

On January 7, 2008, in an article entitled "Jewish Identity Can’t Depend on Violence," published in the Washington Post online "On Faith" section, Mr. Gandhi wrote that the "Jewish identity in the past has been locked into the holocaust experience," which he considered "a very good example of a community can overplay (sic) a historic experience to the point that it begins to repulse friends." He concluded that "Israel and the Jews are the biggest players" in creating a "Culture of Violence."[7]

Efraim Zuroff, the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Israel director, commented that Arun Gandhi's thoughts on "Jewish identity" are "exceptionally strange, especially in light of the fact that there's never been any history of anti-Semitism in India and among Hindus."[8]

In response to criticism, on January 10 Gandhi offered an apology for implying "that the policies of the Israeli government are reflective of the views of all Jewish people" but reaffirming his belief "that when a people hold on to historic grievances too firmly" it can lose friends.[9] Online "On Faith" section editors Sally Quinn and Jon Meacham apologized because the Gandhi post failed to comply with their mission to "shed light on a subject - religion - that too often generates heat."[10] Noting that Gandhi had been asked to write on "Jewish identity," and his article had not been edited, the Post refused to remove either the article or Gandhi as an editor.[11]

The ADL welcomed the apology but criticized it as "a classic attempt to blame the victim".[12]

Joel Seligman, President of the University of Rochester, said he was "deeply disappointed" by Gandhi's remarks and considered the apology Gandhi later posted inadequate.[13] Gandhi offered his resignation from the M.K. Gandhi Institute at the University of Rochester on January 17, 2008.[14] His resignation was accepted on Jan. 25.[15][16] However, university president Seligman said the university will host a forum "to provide Arun Gandhi, a leader of the Jewish community and other speakers the opportunity to address the issues raised by Mr. Gandhi's statements and related issues."[1]

Gandhi's resignation sparked criticism of the power of the Israel lobby in the United States. Outlook India reported that most Indian academics, and several American ones, "accept that Gandhi didn't make his arguments with adequate intellectual sophistication—and was guilty of stereotyping the Jews—they believe he is the latest 'victim' of the pro-Israeli lobby whose inordinate clout has again become a matter of intense debate."[17] Muriel Mirak-Weissbach of the Centre for Research on Globalization wrote that "his forced resignation seemed to confirm the fear that anyone in the United States who dared criticize Israeli policy as aggressive, would be dubbed a 'bigot' or 'anti-semite,' and forced to withdraw from public life."[18] Dr. Donald Wagner, the founder of the Palestine Human Rights Campaign, has alleged that since 1991 the pro-Israeli lobby has criticized Gandhi for speaking out for Palestinian rights.[19] Eileen Flynn of the Austin American-Statesman asked: “Can people speak critically about how Jews — and the Israeli government in particular — handle the memory of the Holocaust? Or is the issue too sensitive?”[20]

On Tuesday, February 26, 2008, Arun Gandhi was briefly held in custody for violating prohibitory orders before staging a protest in front of a statue of his grandfather at the State Secretariat in Mumbai, India. After being released, he stated his forced resignation had "implications for freedom of thought and speech" and that it "indicates the power people have because of money and this had made a mockery of democratic principles".[21]

[edit] Quotations

“ “We want to create world peace. But peace is not merely the absence of war. There is so much internal strife and that prejudice feeds into the national aspect. We have to change ourselves if we want to change the world. I tried to present things in that perspective in my article but it generated a lot of anger instead.”[21] ”

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Michelle Boorstein, Arun Gandhi Quits Peace Institute in Flap Over Blog Posting, January 26, 2008; C07.
  2. ^ Arun Gandhi reaches beyond Hindu religious traditions
  3. ^ Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence Relocates to University of Rochester, June 1, 2007 press release, University of Rochester.
  4. ^ March home, urges Gandhi grandson, August 31, 2004.
  5. ^ Salisbury University press release, July 17, 2007.
  6. ^ Salisbury University press release: Dr. Arun Gandhi Speaks on Nonviolence November 12, October 23, 2007.
  7. ^ Arun Gandhi, Jewish Identity Can't Depend on Violence, Washington Post "On Faith" section, January 7, 2008.
  8. ^ Gandhi's grandson blasts Israel, Jews, Jerusalem Post.
  9. ^ Arun Gandhi, My Apology for my poorly worded quote, Washington Post "On Faith" section, January 10, 2008.
  10. ^ Sally Quinn and Jon Meacham, Gandhi Post Regrettable, Washington Post Online "On Faith" Section, January 18, 2008; Bennett J. Loudon, Post apologizes for Gandhi comment, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, January 18, 2008.
  11. ^ Deborah Howell, The Anger Over an Online Essay, February 3, 2008; Page B06.
  12. ^ ADL Letter to On Faith Blog, Washington Post/Newsweek, January 10, 2008.
  13. ^ Bennett J. Loudon, Gandhi comments insults Jews, January 12, 2008.
  14. ^ Peter Iglinksi, Gandhi Offers Resignation from U of R Peace Institute, January 18, 2008.
  15. ^ Four Links regarding Arun Gandhi Resigns from Board of Gandhi Institute, includes: Resignation Statement by Arun Gandhi, Statement from M.K. Gandhi Institute Board, About the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, President Joel Seligman's Statement Regarding Arun Gandhi's Resignation, January 25, 2008.
  16. ^ Arun Gandhi's resignation from non-violence institute accepted, IndianMuslims.Info, January 25, 2008.
  17. ^ Ashish Kumar Sen, In Exile from Truth, OutLookIndia.Com, February 11, 2008.
  18. ^ Muriel Mirak-Weissbach, "Breaking Taboos In the Search For Truth, Arun Gandhi's Pursuit of Peace, Centre for Research on Globalization, February 7, 2008.
  19. ^ Michael Saba, Arun Gandhi: Man of Peace & Good Will, Arab News, January 30, 2008.
  20. ^ Eileen Flynn, Arun Gandhi’s response on Jewish identity creates fire storm, Austin American-Statesman, February 6, 2008.
  21. ^ a b Arun Gandhi held briefly, The Hindu, Feb 27, 2008

[edit] See also

[edit] External links