Peace in the Context of Violence

“A smile is the beginning of peace”- Mother Teresa

Introduction

Peace describes a society or a relationship that is operating harmoniously and without violent
conflict. Peace is commonly understood as the absence of hostility or the existence of healthy or
newly healed interpersonal or international relationships. It is also safe in matters of social or
economic welfare, the acknowledgment of equality and fairness in political relationships. Peace is
not to be understood as a static condition, but it is a dynamic reality, intimately related to man’s
constant search for human dignity. Violence is always the by-product of these injustices, inequalities
and conflicts. We can find the roots of violence in a society where is so much of oppression and
exploitation exists.

Definitions

The meaning given to the word ‘peace’ differs from culture to culture. In Indian culture, the words
for peace are ‘ahimsa’-which means non killing of living creatures and ‘shanti’- which means a well
ordained state of body and mind. It was Mahatma Gandhi who under the influence of the New
Testament concept of love succeeded in enlarging the wider meanings of these concepts to make
them a force for the struggle for national independence, social and political reforms.

The western tradition, including Greek and roman understood the term in different aspect. Pax
Romana (Latin for "Roman peace") was the long period of relative peace and minimal expansion by
military force experienced by the Roman Empire in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. 1

Peace: Biblical understanding

The Judeo Christian tradition used the word shalom to describe peace. When we hear the word
‘peace’, we normally associate the term to mean an absence of war or strife but the Hebrew word
shalom has different meaning. It does not just refer to a state of being, but it is referred to a quality
of relationship. The verb shalom literally means to make whole or complete. The noun shalom has
the more literal meaning of being in a state of wholeness or with no deficiency. The common phrase
shalu shalom yerushalayim pray for the peace of Jerusalem is not speaking about the absence of war
but that Jerusalem is complete and whole and goes far beyond the idea of peace. It is related to the
Old Testament concept of covenant. Peace included justice, welfare and prosperity for all.

Different forms of violence today

1
Anwar M Barkat, Conflict, violence and Peace. (Geneva: WCC, 1970),16

1
It is ironic that liberal democratic India has been the stage of immense violence in the past years. Yet
after 63 years of independence, India has been assailed with social and political violences. The
political assassinations of mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, naxalism and Maoism
spread across most of the Indian states, terrorism in Kashmir, Punjab and north east and communal
riots in Gujarat,Orissa,Karnataka and even in Kerala bring a lot of shame and peace less state of
mind.

Terrorism

The word terrorism was first used in reference to the reign of terror during the French revolution.
U.S department of defense defines terrorism as “the calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of
unlawful violence to inculcate fear intended to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of
goals that are generally political, religious or ideological”. 2 The events of 11th September, 2001 in the
US, the attack on Indian Parliament just two months later on 13 th December, and the terrorist attack
in Mumbai 2 years back were indicatives that the scale and scope of terrorist violence is expanding.

Maoism

India’s Maoist insurgency has intensified over the last 2 years and is beginning to attract the
kind of national and international attention formerly reserved for troubled Kashmir or North East.

This guerilla war waged mostly from the forests of central and eastern India, now poses the
country’s biggest internal security threat. Around 13 of India’s 29 states are affected by Maoist
violence. They say that they are fighting on behalf of the rural poor and landless and want to build a
communist state. However the poor are also become victims of the insurgency because of brutal,
forced membership campaigns. In many states, private armies and vigilant groups, often
government sponsored, have sprung up to counter the Maoists. These have also forcibly recruited
villagers, who are thus caught between the two. The Maoist attack in the recent periods created
much havoc in different north Indian states especially in Bengal and Chattisgarh. 3Maoist attack to
trains, police force and even to civilians created much bloodshed. Now Maoism is becoming a
serious threat to our country’s internal security.

Communal Violence

The communal riots which took place at Gujarat between Hindus and Muslims, Sikh riot at Punjab,
communal violence against Christians at Orissa and Karnataka etc. were a serious blow to the secular
India. The riots started as a result of communal tension prevailing in the city after the Babri Mosque
demolition on 6 December 1992. 4Communal violence refers to a situation where violence is
perpetrated across ethnic lines, and victims are chosen based upon ethnic group membership. The
term communal violence is commonly used in South Asia, to describe those incidents where conflict
between ethnic communities results in massacres.

2
Kanti P Bajpai, Roots of terrorism. (New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2002)102.
3
R.N Singh, Current Essays (Agra: Sulabh Publications, 2009)38.
4
Ibid.,42

2
Communal violence, as seen in South Asia, typically takes the form of mutual aggression, in which
members of all involved ethnic groups both perpetrate violence and serve as its victims. Genocide is
a sub-category of communal violence, in which the participating ethnic groups can be assigned
mutually exclusive roles as either perpetrators or victims of violence.

Violence on women

Violence affects the lives of millions of women worldwide, in all socio-economic and educational
classes. It cuts across cultural and religious barriers, impeding the right of women to participate fully
in society. Violence against women takes a dismaying variety of forms, which includes domestic
abuse, rape, sexual assault within marriage, sexual harassment, prostitution and trafficking,
pornography, child marriages and female circumcision. All are violations of the most fundamental
human rights. In a statement to the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in September
1995, the United Nations Secretary-General, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, said that violence against
women is a universal problem that must be universally condemned. But he said that the problem
continues to grow.5

Combating violence against women requires challenging the way that gender roles and power
relations are articulated in society. In many countries women have a low status. They are considered
as inferior and there is a strong belief that men are superior to them and even own them.

Structural violence and counter violence

Structural violence is a term first used in the 1960s commonly ascribed to Johan Galtung. 6 It refers to
a form of violence based on the systematic ways in which a given social structure or social institution
harms people by preventing them from meeting their basic needs. Institutionalized elitism,
ethnocentrism, classism, racism, sexism, nationalism are some examples of structural violence. Life
spans are reduced when people are socially dominated, politically oppressed, or economically
exploited. Structural violence inevitably produces conflict and often direct violence, including family
violence, racial violence, hate crimes, terrorism, genocide, and war.

It is then to be discussed whether violence used to overcome violence becomes justifiable. Scholars
have termed the violence used to tackle structural violence as ‘counter violence’. Arundhati Roy in
one of her articles argued that Maoist revolution in India’s countryside is a just response to the
structural violence inherent in India’s current social system. 7 Hence, according to Dr.K.A.Abraham,
neither violence nor non-violence cannot be absolutized. 8

5
United Nations Department of Public Information DPI/1772/HR--February
1996.http://www.un.org/rights/dpi1772e.htm
6
Paul Haidoslian, Hope for Peace in the midst of Violence. http://warc.ch/24gc/cts/cts03.pdf
7
Arundhati Roy, Walking with the Comrades (Outlook Magazine, 29 March, 2010)16.
8
K.A Abraham, Christian faith for our times (Tiruvalla: CSS, 2004)21.

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Non-Violence

Non-violence implies complete self-purification as is humanly possible. It demands courage,

faith and freedom from arrogance. This in turn helps to testify to the power of love by the deeds of
truth. One of the essential areas is to assert the abandonment of the use of force. The practical
application of non-violence lies in the implementation of absolute moral truths in the realm of
historical action. Non-violence as a principle is always greater than violence, because the power at
his disposal is more than what he could have with the use of violence. The three basic forms of non-
violence are non- resistance, passive resistance and active non violent resistance. 9

Non Resistance

Non resistance does not mean acquiescence. It means yielding up at one level to overcome
evil with good. This has redemptive influence in a spirit of love. This is revolutionary.

Passive Resistance

Passive form of resistance is more an appeal to justice than to love. It aims at defending
rights and asserting claims, while conserving spiritual integrity. Non co-operation, withdrawal,
walkout, boycott and all expressions of moral resistance. Gandhiji’s method of Sathyagraha
exemplifies this insight.

Non Violent Resistance

The specific characteristics of nonviolent resistance are assertive. It is a positive action in

contrast to inaction or withdrawal, like civil disobedience, sitting in a human obstacle, blocking traffic
etc. The action may be more symbolic rather than coercive and gives the opponent sufficient notice
and external details to offer him an opportunity to take the necessary precautions. As the action is
rooted in love, it is intrinsically nonviolent.

It is important to recognize that nonviolent methods which were morally right have been
successfully applied from time to time in various countries in different situations. In India there have
been several success stories of nonviolent resistances. The Vaikom Sathyagraha in Kerala, for temple
entry of Harijans, is an example. The historic nonviolent struggle for the freedom of India, under the
leadership of Gandhiji is unique history in itself.

Role of Church in Building Peace

Church being part of the society has a big role in bringing peace in the social community. It is
to be seriously noted and studied what possible alternatives can the Church offer to bring down
violence. What can the church do to lower or eradicate the incidence of violence in society? There is
need to work on gender and racism, human rights and transformation of conflict in ways that engage
the churches to work on repentance, truth, justice and forgiveness. Churches should strategically
work on these issues to create a culture of non-violence by developing appropriate approaches to
conflict transformation and peace-making.

On releasing the need to work on these issues, World Council of Churches proclaimed the
period 2000-2010 as an ecumenical decade to overcome violence. It was affirmed by WCC that “a
9
A.K Tharien, A Challenge to violence (The Christian fellowship:odanchantram, 1989)75.

4
clear witness to peace and non-violence grounded in justice is what the world needs today from all
churches together. However, appeals alone are not sufficient, what is needed is a fundamental
change of consciousness”.10

We must give up being spectators of violence or merely lamenting over it but should
become active in overcoming violence both within and outside the walls of the church. We must
remind ourselves and the churches of our common responsibility to speak out boldly against any
defense of unjust and oppressive structures, the use of violence and gross violations of human rights
committed by any groups or ethnic communities. Let us thankfully remember the life of late Rt. Rev.
Dr. Juhanon Mar Thoma Metropolitan who was a strong advocate of social peace and justice. During
the emergency period, he boldly spoke against the actions of Indira Gandhi. Leaving behind what
separates us, let us responding actively to the challenges, providing that non-violence is an active
approach to conflict resolution, and offering in all humanity what Jesus Christ has taught his disciples
to do, the churches have a unique message to bring to the violence ridden world.

The following statement was highlighted in the working document of WCC for the
ecumenical decade to overcome violence, 2000-2010. “We will strive together to overcome the
spirit, logic and practice of violence. We will work together to be agents of reconciliation and peace
with justice in homes, churches and societies as well as in the political, social and economic
structures at global level. We will co-operate to build a culture of peace that is based on just and
sustainable communities.”11 In this effort, the churches will have to co-operate each other and with
other movements in civil society working for building a culture of peace. Some of the possible
alternatives to attain peace are as follows:

 Reaching a comprehensive understanding of the various manifestations of direct as well as

structural violence and of the different contextual approaches to overcome violence.
 Creating a new understanding of community in terms of co-operation and love instead of
domination and competition.
 Co-operating with other religious communities in the pursuit of peace and reconciliation by
initiating inter-faith dialogues.
 Providing a platform where life experiences can be shared; where relationships can be
established and process of learning can be facilitated, where encounter, mutual recognition
and encouragement for common action together also with people of other faith traditions
are supported. De-legitimize the use of violence in responding to conflicts in all areas of life
from inter-personal relationships, in schools or at work, in the family and to the conflicts in
public life.12

Conclusion

10
Konrad Raiser,For a culture of Life (Tiruvalla: CSS, 2003) 87.
11
Ibid.,88
12
Ibid.,89

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 A culture of peace rooted in the ethos of non-violence does not aim at creating a state of
complete harmony where all conflicts have ended. Rather, it is characterized by a new consciousness
that facilitates a different way of responding to violent conflicts. A peaceful resolution becomes
possible when integrity of both sides in a conflict can be affirmed and thus lead to the restoration in
broken relationships. Ultimately, the task of overcoming violence calls us to respond to the central
command, to love not only your friend, but your enemy also As the children of God, seekers of the
kingdom, we are invited to resist violence, to prepare for healing and to work for reconciliation..
Understanding everyone as God’s creation and treating one another fairly with equal respect and
love will enable us to create a fruitful and harmonious society where everyone enjoys the freedom
of life. Let us pray together with Paul Haidoslian,

Lord God, give us a taste of the harmony and peace

you have intended for all creation.

Make us agents of hope and messengers of peace, in

the likeness of Jesus Christ, our peace. Amen. 13

Bibliography

Abraham, K.A. Christian faith for our times. Tiruvalla: CSS, 2004.

Bajpai, Kanti P. Roots of terrorism. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2002.

Barkat, Anwar M. Conflict, Violence and Peace. Geneva: WCC, 1970.

Haidoslian, Paul. Hope for Peace in the midst of Violence. http://warc.ch/24gc/cts/cts03.pdf

Prabhakar, Samson, ed. Towards a culture of Peace in South Asia. Bangalore: BTESSC/SATHRI, 2004.

Raiser, Konrad. For a culture of Life. Tiruvalla: CSS, 2003.

Roy, Arundhati. Walking with the Comrades. Outlook Magazine, 29 March, 2010.

Singh, R.N. Current Essays. Agra: Sulabh Publications, 2009.

Tharien, A.K. A Challenge to violence. The Christian fellowship odadanchantram, 1989.

United Nations Department of Public Information DPI/1772/HR--February

1996.http://www.un.org/rights/dpi1772e.htm

13
Paul Haidoslian, Hope for Peace in the midst of Violence. http://warc.ch/24gc/cts/cts03.pdf