Ahimsa Conversations is a platform for reflections on the possibility of nonviolence and the nature of violence. Our candid discussions include voices of those whose experience in varied fields throws light on how nonviolence is actionable and effective, by ordinary people, firstly as a way of life and as a method of political action. Executed by PAIGAM. Podcast series supported by Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies.
Like apes we have territoriality built into us and we tend to get violent when our tribe is confronted with another tribe. But in the evolutionary process, cooperation effectively trumped competition. Pervez Hoodboy, nuclear physicist and political activist, has built upon this knowledge to oppose nuclear weapons and to work for peace between India and Pakistan. Though he is not entirely convinced about nonviolence, Pervez says nonviolence is a valid strategy when one party is very weak and cannot afford to start violence. Listen to him on Episode 4 of the Ahimsa Conversations Podcast.
In what ways was nonviolence evident in ancient India and what is the significance of Emperor Ashoka's response to the violence he himself had unleashed? In Episode 3 of Ahimsa Conversations Podcast, historian Nayanjot Lahiri reflects on such questions based on her extensive knowledge on ancient Indian history and archaeology.
Growing up during a period of violence can foster the quest for nonviolence. Social activist and entrepreneur, Vivek Sharma grew up during the times of violent militancy in Punjab. In Episode 2 of Ahimsa Conversations Podcast, he explains how this shaped his quest for ahimsa as an effort in which he has not yet succeeded but which has enriched his life's journey. Vivek is the founder-director of Gandhi fellowship program and is committed to training young people in compassionate processes.
Standing up for someone who was being hurt was an empowering experience, even when Johnson Yeung Ching Yin was himself a child. As a university student he became one of the leaders of Hong King's pro democracy Umbrella Movement in 2014. In Episode 1 of the Ahimsa Conversations Podcast, he talks about the challenges of practicing a pure non-violence and highlights the importance of not seeing non-violence in absolute terms. He also talks about his friends in Ukraine and Russia who are opposing the war, many putting their life on the front line, in an effort to reduce the combatants' will to fight.
मध्यस्थता उन तरीकों से संघर्षों को हल कर सकती है जो दोनों पक्षों को उचित और न्यायपूर्ण लगता है| In the final episode of Ahimsa Conversations Podcast S3, Sriram Panchu, an internationally renowned mediator and lawyer, speaks about how mediation can work in diverse situations – be it a father-son property dispute or a quarrel over a place of worship. As one of the three mediators appointed by the Supreme Court of India, to address the Ayodhya Babri Masjid Ram Janambhumi dispute, Sriram explains how one can seek the ‘harmonizing middle' even in the most trying circumstances.
Jørgen Johansen was 18 years old when he was sent to prison for refusing to become a soldier. In Episode 9 of Ahimsa Conversations Podcast S3, Jørgen describes a life-long engagement with peace activism. Speaking about the conflict in Ukraine, Jørgen says that instead of boycotts what is now needed are 'girlcotts', a term which he has coined, which in this case means reaching out to the best voices inside Russian society - those who dare to stand up against the war.
In Ep 8 of Ahimsa Conversations Podcast S3, David Swanson, co-founder of the network World Beyond War, draws attention towards attention towards the conflict in Ukraine where people are kneeling or standing before tanks, feeding soldiers and having them call their mothers to say they're coming home. He further unravels the lies that accompany wars.
Knowing and documenting the horrific consequences of violence is one way of honouring its victims and preventing violence in future. In Episode 7 of Ahimsa Conversations Podcast we have Camilla Brunelli, who works on European memory culture and has learnt this first hand from Italian victims of Nazi concentration camps and slave-labour camps.
सामूहिक विनाश के हथियारों को खारिज करना केवल अस्तित्व की वृत्ति की अभिव्यक्ति नहीं है - यह एक नैतिक मुद्दा है Listen to Achin Vanaik, an anti-nuclear weapons activist, talk about why opposition to nuclear weapons is not usually considered a part of non-violence movements in Ep 6 of Ahimsa Conversations Podcast
क्या संघर्ष को पूर्वक्रया करना संभव है? Non-violence trainer Jill Carr Harris believes that this is indeed sometimes possible if you bring your non- reactive self to the fore. In Ep 5, she talks about her work with village women struggling for their land rights in India with a non-violence frame.
क्या गांधी ने अहिंसा को धर्म में बदलकर इस आदर्श को मायावी बना दिया? In Ep 4 of Ahimsa Conversations Podcast S3, Jyotirmaya Sharma reflects on this question based on his extensive study of nationalism, particularly Hindu nationalism and his new book 'Elusive Nonviolence : The Making and Unmaking of Gandhi's Religion of Ahimsa'
क्या केवल मनुष्यों के संबंध में अहिंसा के बारे में सोचना एक घातक दोष है? In Ep 3 of Ahimsa Conversations Podcast Season 3, Sagar Dhara, an environmental engineer and activist explains how carbon theft by human societies has led to a steady build up of violence. This conversation was recorded soon after Sagar returned from the COP26 gathering in Glasgow. He explains why the current rate of action is insufficient to avoid catastrophic climate chaos.
"अगर सौ लोग सांप्रदायिक दंगों में भाग लेते हैं, तो उन लोगों की तलाश करनी चाहिए जिन्होंने 'दूसरे' समुदाय के लोगों के जीवन को बचाने में मदद की, भले ही वे सिर्फ दो व्यक्ति ही क्यों न हों।" रज़िया पटेल के सामाजिक और राजनीतिक ज्ञान को इसी ज्ञान से आकार मिला है, और ये उन्होंने अपनी मां से सीखा है। अहिंसा कन्वर्सेशन्स पॉडकास्ट सीज़न 3 के एपिसोड 2 में, वह जयप्रकाश नारायण द्वारा स्थापित छात्र युवा संघर्ष वाहिनी संगठन में अपने अनुभव को साझा करती है, कि वह एक "फतवे" का विरोध करने के लिए मुस्लिम महिलाओं के मोर्चे का हिस्सा क्यों बनी, जिस फतवे का उद्देश्य था मुस्लिम महिलाओं को फिल्में देखने से रोकना।
क्या हिंसक खिलौने हमें हिंसा की संस्कृति की ओर ले जाते हैं? Season 3, Ep 1 of Ahimsa Conversations Podcast will see educator and scholar of peace studies, Alicia Cabezudo talk about how violent toys can be detrimental for children and society at large!
Sachin Rao says it's a wide spread curiosity about the linkages between Swaraj, Truth and Nonviolence. A former engineer and business consultant, Sachin is now a full-time worker of a major political party, the Indian National Congress. Since 2018, Rao has organized 25 Ahimsa ke Raste (Paths of Nonviolence) camps which are attended by a wide range of party workers and others who are keen to explore the possibilities of a politics based on nonviolence. That is, says Sachin, a politics based on creating win-win situations rather than defeating or oppressing some ‘other'.
In the exhaustive media coverage of the United States' Presidential election, the American Shanti Sena (Peace Army) network hardly got a mention. That is because violence prevention is generally under-reported. Michael Nagler, veteran peace activist and educator, talks about what energizes grassroots efforts that make peace by de-escalating tensions and preventing violence. From the legacy of his guru Sri Eknath Easwaran to the work of groups like Nonviolent Peaceforce, Michael explains how a new story of human nature is taking shape and why nonviolence is the natural destiny of our species. He also talks about his documentary ‘The Third Harmony: Nonviolence and the New Story of Human Nature'.
Aruna Roy learnt early in life that anger and violence can be quite different. As a political activist she has applied this learning to her work in Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) and in the Right to Information movement – leading campaigns based on civil disobedience and nonviolence. MKSS, which completes 30 years today -- May 1st 2020, has played a key role in the struggle to deepen democracy both at the village and national level in India. But today Roy is concerned that both society and government are giving the signal that it is okay to harm some kinds of people. When such a division is created the whole society is in danger of being destroyed. In this context, says Roy, the practice of nonviolence becomes even more vital. This requires greater resilience, courage and confidence in your principles. Only then can you demand justice by standing unarmed, before a heavily armed police force, knowing that you could be beaten or even killed. Roy's life and work have shown this to be true.
Violence is a natural human tendency and that is why all religions guide us on how to overcome our base self, says Ali Khan, historian, poet and political worker in Ep 7 of Ahimsa Conversations Podcast S2. There is no path directly from violence to nonviolence. Truth and reconciliation are possible if there is both acceptance of guilt and forgiveness. The energy for this can only come from samaj/society, not the State.
Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people. This is what inspired and empowered Robin Wildman to create a program for nonviolent schools in Rhode Island, USA. A retired school teacher herself, Robin is a nonviolence trainer in the tradition of Martin Luther King Jr. Thus the work of Nonviolent Schools Rhode Island is based on the faith in and the living practice of building what King called 'the beloved community'. This is what enables students to repair relationships after a conflict. Here Robin reflects on locating activism for nonviolence in the larger context of hurt and anger that leads to random violence in the USA.
Radha Bhatt is a veteran of ‘Chipko' and other nonviolent struggles for social and economic justice. In this conversation she recalls how she first learnt nonviolence from her mother's capacity for empathy with the suffering of an animal. Even though much of human intelligence is, at present, expended on violence – Radhabehn is confident that human beings are destined to become nonviolent. Her confidence is based on the observation that even in our inter-personal relations, it is self-restraint, patience and resilience that makes for enriching relationships. By contrast, being in a hurry to quickly get outcomes as per your own wishes, which is a form of violence, tends to make our relationships deteriorate.
From opposing the military draft in France to a global campaign against hunger – Jean Fabre has sought to overcome several dimensions of structural violence. In the early 1990s Jean was part of the team that created the United Nations Human Development Index. Now he serves on the UN task force for a social and solidarity economy – which is one way of promoting nonviolent systems. In Episode 3 of Ahimsa Conversations, Jean shares his experience of going to jail as a war resister and why he has confidence in the power of individuals and groups to stand up to injustice and bring positive change.
From opposing the military draft in France to a global campaign against hunger – Jean Fabre has sought to overcome several dimensions of structural violence. In the early 1990s Jean was part of the team that created the United Nations Human Development Index. Now he serves on the UN task force for a social and solidarity economy – which is one way of promoting nonviolent systems. In Episode 3 of Ahimsa Conversations, Jean shares his experience of going to jail as a war resister and why he has confidence in the power of individuals and groups to stand up to injustice and bring positive change.
When love is found ahimsa is achieved. This is the conviction that led social and cultural activist, Basit Jamal to launch an organization called ‘Brotherhood of Humanity' and the ‘Honey Bees Project'. Basit works through stories from the Quran to help young people learn how to build friendships and overcome feelings of enmity. Holding workshops with Muslim youth across India, Basit's term for nonviolence is ‘mohabbat', love
Ep 1 of Ahimsa Conversations Season 2 opens with Ramachandra Guha, a public intellectual and historian reflecting on the role of both armed and nonviolent struggles in India's freedom movement and about the nature of differences, between Subhas Chandra Bose and Gandhi, on the issue of violence. Ram describes the anti-CAA protests, of 2019-20, where many students held posters of Gandhi and Ambedkar together – which he found deeply moving. These protests, and more recently the farmers protests, have revived the idea of collective, principled, nonviolent protests as an affirmation of elementary human values of decency, humanity and justice.
सुनें दुनियाभर के उन लोगों को जो अहिंसा से जुड़े अनुभवों को एक प्रयास और सामान्य इंसान की खोज के रूप में साझा कर रहे हैं। उन्हें इंसानों और कुदरत पर हो रही संरचनात्मक हिंसा की वजह से पड़ने वाले असर की व्याख्या करते हुए सुनें। जुड़िए हर सोमवार और शुक्रवार 'Ahimsa Conversations' में हमारी Host रजनी बख्शी के साथ।
Ahimsa Conversations is a platform for reflections on the possibility of nonviolence and the nature of violence. Our candid discussions include voices of those whose experience in varied fields throws light on how nonviolence is actionable and effective, by ordinary people, firstly as a way of life and as a method of political action
Disturbed by the increasingly bitter polarization within American society, Nisha works to establish dialog and find common ground among those who may be firm opponents – in order to open pathways to justice and dignity for all. She has been at the heart of a successful bipartisan campaign for criminal justice reform legislation in the US Congress.
Ahimsa is a learnt practise. V. Geetha has learnt this from her work as a feminist activist and her study of the writings of B.R. Ambedkar and his vision of society in which there is justice for all. She describes how Periyar Ramasamy could be forceful in his struggle against caste injustice but he was also committed to nonviolence. While she has differences with Gandhi, Geetha explains in EP 9 how his insights on nonviolence are crucial.
Treating all of nature as a tradable resource, represents violence in its worst form. Bittu Sahgal, an environmentalist and conservationist, in EP 8, argues that it is only humans who create violence that is unrelated to the need for food or other physical sustenance. 'Jungle Raj', says Bittu, means honoring the flow of nature. He reflects on how it is the younger generation who can teach adults on how to undo this structural violence by forging bonds of cooperation and mutuality with each other and with nature
Every provocation to nonviolence, from violence, has to be responded to afresh. This is because Mahatma Gandhi has shown us the principle, not laid down a code. In Ep 7 of Ahimsa Conversations, Gopal Gandhi, whose father was Mahatma Gandhi's youngest son, describes how his three uncles reacted very differently to the assassination of Gandhi and what their responses teach us about both the impulse for violence and nonviolence.
“Ahimsa Parmo Dharma”, nonviolence is the primary virtue, is a principle that arose out of the horrendous violence of the Mahabharata. Tune-in to Ep 6 of Ahimsa Conversations where Acharya Goswami, eminent Vaishnav scholar in the tradition of the Radharaman Temple in Vrindavan, narrates the historical and spiritual legacy of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who equated Ahimsa with Seva (service), and links this to the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi.
A social and political activist, Faisal Khan has led the revival of Khudai Khidmatgar, the organization originally founded in 1929 by Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan who was fondly known as ‘The Frontier Gandhi'. In this conversation, Faisal describes why a community of over one lakh people have come together with the mission to unite hearts and counter hatred. Narrating experiences which manifest brotherhood, he expresses his faith in the energy and determination of young people to work for communal harmony. Watch the full episode here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-ZkSf9Jzds
Medha Patkar, the Founder and leading activist of Narmada Bachao Andolan, explains how growing up in a family that was deeply engaged with the Socialist movement and its struggles for equality and dignity through nonviolent means, influenced and shaped her thinking. Medha also describes how she found nonviolence to be the natural tendency of the people in the Narmada Valley and many other places where she has led struggles against the structural violence of the economic system. Watch the full episode here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQU6So4-GwQ&t=131s
Having grown up amid the indignities and violence of Isreali occupation on the West Bank and raised by a politically active refugee family, Ali Abu Awwad became a member of Fatah and served two prison sentences for throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at the Israeli forces as a teenager. In this episode, Ali talks about a life changing moment which made him realise the power of a non-violent protest and shares with us his vision for Palestinian development, social change and an equitable solution to the conflict with Israel. Watch the full episode here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPjZRzYSX3A&t=4s
Is reconciliation with a person who killed your child, possible? Can open ended dialogue be the solution to the Israel - Palestine conflict? Curious about these questions? Tune into Episode 2 of Ahimsa Conversations where we have Robi Damelin who lost her son to a Palestinian sniper, explain her vision of peace as the spokesperson of Parents Circle - Family Forum, a group of bereaved Israeli and Palestinian parents who've been tirelessly working together for reconciliation between their nations for over 25 years. Find the full episode here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmV9ymeQq-E&t=70s
"When Tibet raised an army and resorted to violent forms of struggle, I consider that to be the beginning of the defeat of Tibet" ... Listen to Samdhong Rinpoche - the former Prime Minister of Tibetan government in exile, as he discusses man's natural orientation, true meaning of non-violence and Tibet's ongoing struggle for independence with host Rajni Bakshi at Ahimsa Conversations. Watch the full episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdmqGa6K5Tg&t=1221s
Ahimsa Conversations is a platform for reflections on the possibility of nonviolence and the nature of violence. Our candid discussions include voices of those whose experience in varied fields throws light on how nonviolence is actionable and effective, by ordinary people, firstly as a way of life and as a method of political action
सुनें दुनियाभर के उन लोगों को जो अहिंसा से जुड़े अनुभवों को एक प्रयास और सामान्य इंसान की खोज के रूप में साझा कर रहे हैं। उन्हें इंसानों और कुदरत पर हो रही संरचनात्मक हिंसा की वजह से पड़ने वाले असर की व्याख्या करते हुए सुनें। जुड़िए हर सोमवार और शुक्रवार 'Ahimsa Conversations' में हमारी Host रजनी बख्शी के साथ।
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