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Jaipur: Mahatma Gandhi featured prominently in the arguments of both sides in the closing debate on pacifism at the 18th Jaipur Literature Festival here on Monday.
The debate, "Pacifism is for losers", saw arguments between Kyiv-born author Yaroslav Trofimov, anthropologist Mukulika Banerjee and former diplomat Manpreet Vohra in the favour of the motion and author Salil Tripathi, journalist Georgina Godwin and Israeli journalist Gideon Levy against the motion.
While the debaters gave the examples of the Ukraine-Russia war, the Palestine-Israel war and the apartheid in South Africa among several other geopolitical conflicts, Gandhi was frequently invoked by both sides to support their arguments.
Banerjee opened her statement by attempting to clear the air on the confusion surrounding the term "pacifism" and argued that it is different from the civil disobedience that was practised by Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela.
"You can use civil disobedience in a context in which the enemy has a sense of justice, a sense of truth, and you can appeal to their moral core to see the injustice of their actions. If the enemy responds, then civil disobedience sees a positive outcome," she said.
She added that pacifism is a "sign of weakness", as it is about mollifying the enemy and compromise, giving the example of British prime minister Neville Chamberlain, who believed that Hitler would not invade Poland after the Munich Agreement, which failed and resulted in World War II.
Godwin argued against the motion and said "pacifism is for the brave and for the long term", while Levy quoted Gandhi to say that "non-violence is the weapon of the strong".
"It can be active and organised through boycotts, rallies, online campaigns. Most of the social changes today are achieved through these non-violent methods," Godwin said, adding that the apartheid in South Africa was ended by boycotts and sanctions.
Levy said the "real losers are those who take us from war to war".
Tripathi reminded the panel of Gandhi's Dandi march, which tried to "sink an empire in a pinch of salt".
"As many marched to the salt factory in Dharasana, they were beaten up badly by the British. That was pacifism, non-violence and courage. That was not cowardice and that was not for losers," he argued.
The author of "The Gujaratis" said this is the kind of thing that "sensible Israelis" are now feeling and what "smart Germans" realised in 1945 regarding what they had done.
Meanwhile, former ambassador Vohra argued that Gandhi would not have liked being labelled a pacifist today and said one should not undermine the impact of WWII on India's independence.
"It is certainly a very incomplete understanding of history and events if we say Gandhi's contribution was huge and the only reason India got independence, as if the war itself had nothing to do with India getting independence and subsequently, many other countries," Vohra said.
"Has pacifism ever succeeded by itself and how long can we wait? Can we give up altogether?" he asked.
As the debate intensified, those against the motion lost ground in their arguments, even as they tried to find support in Gandhi.
"In principle, in self-defence, there may be a time to pick up a weapon. Gandhi would also be in agreement that there are times when you have to pick up weapons but it should never be the first resort and it should never be done in anger or trying to assert a position of power," Tripathi said.
Even as the debate's result was decided by a voice vote against the motion, Gandhi's grandson and former diplomat Gopalkrishna Gandhi said his grandfather was not against war as such but against "a war of hatred and gratuitous violence".
"He (Gandhi) is being spoken of and discussed by every single speaker as if he is a counter to (US President Donald) Trump and (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and Hamas. He was a trained non-combatant twice in South Africa -- once in the world war, once in what was called the suppression of the Zulu rebellion. He was in uniform and he was proud to be in uniform although he was non-combatant," Gopalkrishna Gandhi said.
He added that the Father of the Nation believed that there was "some point in being at that stage in the theatre of war".
"He was against the hatred, spite and the gratuitous violence that goes into war. He fully supported India's armed resistance to the invasion of Kashmir. I know he was not against the use of war as such or the use of armed resistance as such, he was against gratuitous violence and the sense of hate, callous murder of innocents that goes into a war," he said.
The literature festival, touted to be the biggest in the world, saw discussions led by Nobel laureates, Booker prize-winning authors, Pulitzer-awarded journalists and other luminaries of their respective fields on a vast range of topics, including literature, human rights, gender equality, war reporting, health, cinema, music, politics and the publishing industry at large.
Over the course of five days, the festival was attended by the likes of Venki Ramakrishnan, Javed Akhtar, Shashi Tharoor, Imtiaz Ali, Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Dufflo, Amol Palekar, Ira Mukhoty, Geetanjali Shree, David Hare, Manav Kaul, Yuvan Aves, Shahu Patole and Kallol Bhattacharjee.
The next edition of the festival will be held from January 15 to January 19.