Let’s make the media and ICT our Mahatma Gandhi
(Original)

Soumitra Subinaya
(Age 17,India)
Kendriya Vidyalaya No. 1, Orissa

“Truth is God;

Non-violence is love in action

Peace, the result of enduring conflict resolution

Is the Fruit of Satyagraha”

-Mahatma Gandhi

The world was once stunned to see that India had won its freedom struggle by the use of non-violence.What was even more surprising was that this had been possible due to Mahatma Gandhi, the frail bodied naked fakir, as the world liked to call him.He had taken the world by storm with his principle of ‘Satyagraha’. ‘Satyagraha’ literally means “adherence to truth”.Gandhi used it in India to win independence,the revered Martin Luther King used it in the United States to oppose segregation,Nelson Mandela used it in South Africa to end apartheid and now it’s our turn to use it against violence.

Hence,to succeed in building a peaceful world in the future,only the media and information and communication technologies (ICT) can help us reach worldwide.Only they can take up the role of Mahatma Gandhi and enable us to spread the gospel of non-violence by motivating people world over not to wage a military war against terrorism rather,launch a global Satyagraha against violence. The major principles of Satyagraha are:

*.Violence in any form should be condemned.

*Violence should not be retaliated with violence.

*The wrongdoer should not be eliminated using violence but reformed using non-violence.

Following the first principle,Satyagraha can be started by the media. The media can start gathering worldwide opinion against wars. People and celebrities can be mobilized to  present their views at public forums,television shows,newspapers,radio and so on .

The governments can use the print media to incline young minds towards non-violence right from their childhood.Courses on non-violence can be introduced at  school and college levels and can be made mandatory.

Television advertisements can be made to show the need for non-violence  to prevent  every day problems like road rage and even more serious problems like communal and caste riots, discrimination against people afflicted with AIDS, discrimation against women in the third world countries and domestic violence. Movies and TV series should not worsen relations amongst warring nations by depicting  violent  warfare between  characters of these nations in the name of  reality.Cultural exchange programmes should be encouraged.Even warring nations can encourage participation of students,actors,actresses,singers,dancers in various creative media like movies,television shows and so on,as part of their peace building measures.

The internet can, like Gandhi himself, effectively suppress warring tendencies in the people.Websites can be opened by governments and NGOs working for humanitarian purposes, to provide online courses on non-violence,conflict mediation and resolution. Books,CDs and DVDs prepared on anger management,peaceful ways of  conflict resolution and importance of non-violence can be made available in religious and charitable institutions like the church,temples,mosques and synagogues to curb religious fundamentalism.

Through the second principle of Satyagraha,Gandhi urges nations not to retaliate violence with violence. Hence,we must realize that violence cannot be legitimized or sanctifed on any ground.A number of discussions and debates on issues like nuclear disarmament and non-violence can be had through social networking sites,through chatting on messengers and even by smses and mmses. The net can also be used by  people to track down tensions and violent developments worldwide quickly as first hand accounts of the local people of the disturbed area can be had if they happen to be members of any such chat forums.Further,forums and blogs could present organized views and information on peace building issues and portals could filter and check the information for their authenticity.Later,these information can go into sites that are dedicated to humanitarian purposes.As a part of building a peaceful world,online dispute resolution based on peaceful means can be popularised.The cyber world must also be cleaned up of violence inciting sites and forums.The use of media and ICTs in propagating violence or unjust causes must be checked. ICTs like video conferencing,mashups(mixed diverse technologies),the television,radio,so on can be used by governments for  carrying out effective peace-talks with the otherwise inaccessible insurgents, terrorists and rebels.

Today,when we talk about human rights and abolition of capital punishment,Gandhi’s third principle of Satyagraha finds its supreme importance.Satyagraha advocates the use of non-violence as a tremendous force in reforming the wrongdoer, not destroying him.Here,the media and ICTs can rehabilitate these misguided souls by a positive approach.They can air stories of people who have lost  their mothers,fathers,children. These people should not curse the murderers but request them to refrain from such violence.They should appeal to the hedonic feelings of love and compassion of these terrorists and make them realize that they are our brethren.Moving stories,articles,films  by adults,children and teenagers should all aim at pursuing them to renounce violence.In this way,with non-violence like Gandhi’s,the media and ICT can make a man out of a brute and usher in an eternal era of peace in the future.