Satyagraha

Satyagraha, form of non-violent protest invented by Mohandas Gandhi in South Africa and perfected by him in the course of the anti-British struggle in India. The term is made up of two words, satya (truth) and agraha (insisting on something without becoming obstinate), and means both on and for truth. For Gandhi rational persuasion and violence were the commonest forms of action, and each had its limits. The former sometimes did not work, especially when deep conflicts of interests were involved; and violence, apart from being inherently unacceptable, rarely achieved lasting results. Gandhi's method of satyagraha was a way out of the impasse.

Satyagraha, which Gandhi sometimes called a “surgery of the soul”, was based on the power of suffering love. When the opponent refused to concede or even consider the minimally just demands, the aggrieved party, after giving notice and sufficient time for negotiation and compromise, took a peaceful stand and accepted without anger or hatred such hardship or violence as was inflicted upon him. He did so because he was convinced that his opponent's heart had become hardened by self-interest, ignorance, fear, or hatred, and that his patient suffering would eventually awaken his opponent's shared sense of humanity and create a climate conducive to goodwill and compromise. Gandhi launched several satyagrahas in South Africa and India with varying degrees of success. In some cases considerable suffering was inflicted on him and his followers, and their patience and commitment were severely tested.

Gandhi's theory of satyagraha makes a valuable contribution to political praxis. It influenced Martin Luther King and his civil rights movement in the United States, as well as campaigns against nuclear weapons in Europe. Although Gandhi thought otherwise, its success presupposes an open and democratic society and is unlikely to have succeeded against dictators such as Adolf Hitler or Joseph Stalin.