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Violence digs the ditches deeper: Hume
By Our Special Correspondent
The President, K.R. Narayanan, presenting the Gandhi peace prize to John Hume, architect of the Northern Ireland peace settlement, at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday. - Photo: S. Arneja.
NEW DELHI, FEB. 1. The presentation of the Gandhi Peace Prize to the chief architect of the Good Friday Agreement that broke the spectre of violence in Ireland, John Hume, here today once again brought into focus the relevance of Mahatma Gandhi's belief in non-violence in a world torn asunder by strife.
Be it the President, K.R. Narayanan, the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, or Mr. Hume, all three underscored the fact that Gandhi's all-embracing vision held good even today; several years after his death. Driving home the point in his acceptance speech, Mr. Hume borrowed from Martin Luther King to say that ``if humanity is to progress, Gandhi is inescapable''.
Further, Mr. Hume - who bagged the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the Irish peace process - said: ``Let us not shed one another's blood, but shed our sweat together. Where differences have led to estrangement, the use of violence estranges us further, digs the ditches deeper. The doctrine of an eye for an eye leaves us all blind.''
In an oblique reference to the situation in the region, he said: ``I believe that Gandhi would have wanted us to measure with the greatest possible care the actual consequences of military action of any kind - not just the immediate deaths, but the displacement of persons, the diversion of resources...'' In his opinion, Gandhi would have been wary of the short-term view and advised the leadership to ``beware of overvaluing your ends and underestimating your costs''.
Advocating dialogue and partnership to replace alienation and break the cycle of violence, Mr. Hume added: ``Gandhi would want to see the spiritual depth in the peoples of this region harnessed as a transforming energy - and not least in the troubled relationship with Pakistan''.
Earlier, stating that Mr. Hume was cast in the mould of Mahatma Gandhi - particularly in his respect for diversity - Mr. K.R. Narayanan said the composite culture of India was a ``powerful refutation of the dangerous theory of the clash of civilisations and fundamentalist terrorism''.
For his part, the Prime Minister said Mr. Hume exemplified Gandhi's ``insistence on the use of non-violence to achieve political or national goals''. Stating that Mr. Hume represented an era of ``saintly politics'', Mr. Vajpayee signed off with the hope that the world would emulate him ``in this period of global unrest''. Instituted by the Government in 1995 on the 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and administered by the Ministry of Culture, the award carries a cash component of Rs. 10 million, a citation and a plaque. With the award, Mr. Hume today joined an exclusive club that includes the former South African President, Nelson Mandela, the former President of Tanzania, Julius Nyerere, and Baba Amte.
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