10-10-2004, 07:49 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-rajesh_g+Oct 8 2004, 10:36 PM-->QUOTE(rajesh_g @ Oct 8 2004, 10:36 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin--> But why o why and where did this fanatical concept of Ahimsa ? <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I am certainly no apologist for the appeasement aspect of Gandhiji, but his insistence on ahimsa stems possibly from a misundertanding of the reverence for life that the Dharmiks have had since time immemorial. But the Mahabharata makes it clear that there comes a time when it is necessary to cleanse the land of evil and that oneshould not negotiate with 'evil' when it means abandoning one's principles.
As for giving up one's life in the name of ahimsa, that is ithe most foolish thing i have ever heard. I am with general Patton, it makes more sense for the antagonist to be killed than for one to give up ones own life.
Among the major misjudgements he made ( himalayan blunders to use his own term)was not to ask from the Indian Muslim the same standard of behavior as he demanded of the Hindu. So, the process of appeasement started and has continued unabated till today, when the Indian Muslim expects as a foregone conclusion, the status of a privileged community which goes against the fundamental definition of a republic.
I am certainly no apologist for the appeasement aspect of Gandhiji, but his insistence on ahimsa stems possibly from a misundertanding of the reverence for life that the Dharmiks have had since time immemorial. But the Mahabharata makes it clear that there comes a time when it is necessary to cleanse the land of evil and that oneshould not negotiate with 'evil' when it means abandoning one's principles.
As for giving up one's life in the name of ahimsa, that is ithe most foolish thing i have ever heard. I am with general Patton, it makes more sense for the antagonist to be killed than for one to give up ones own life.
Among the major misjudgements he made ( himalayan blunders to use his own term)was not to ask from the Indian Muslim the same standard of behavior as he demanded of the Hindu. So, the process of appeasement started and has continued unabated till today, when the Indian Muslim expects as a foregone conclusion, the status of a privileged community which goes against the fundamental definition of a republic.