Gandhi's View Of Civil Disobedience

Gandhi was an activist who had a different approach to civil disobedience and the search for change. He practiced and taught the theory of nonviolence in his era. The fundamental idea behind his teachings was a concept known as Satyagraha, which means to hold on to the truth. Satyagraha to Gandhi was a powerful force that was above anything. Furthermore, he argues that because humans do not fully posses the truth, they are not in a position to practice violence acts against one another. However, there is one condition Gandhi permits violence, and that is when the only other option is being recognized as a coward nation. He argues it is better to defend dignity than to be regarded as a coward. Gandhi’s understanding of non-violence, while it
Fanon would have strongly opposed Gandhi’s teaching as it land on the compleat opposite end of the spectrum of violence and non-violence. Gandhi started his argument by making it clear he himself does not possess the absolute truth, he says “I claim to have no infallible guidance or inspiration” (Page 31 Gandhi). By clearing up the air as such he was able to set up his fundamentals for his teaching of nonviolence. He continues to say, “there are not many fundamental truths, but there is only one fundamental truth which is Truth itself, otherwise known as Non-violence” (Page 31 Gandhi). Non-violence is more than just an idea or a theory, to Gandhi it is beyond the experiences of people, it is something that people will never fully attain and practice. He also believes that is is good in all people, so even if the enemy is acting violently, fighting it with violence would not help uncover the good of that enemy. Moreover, when it comes to nations seeking freedom from their colonizer it should be done in a nonviolent matter. This stance is however invalidated by Fanon, he says, “The starving peasant, outside the class system is the first among the exploited to discover that only violence pays. For him there is no compromise, no