IN FOCUS II: An Encounter With Gandhi, A Call to the Imagination

In October 1998, SIPAZ organized an exhibition in San Cristobal de Las Casas on the life and thought of Gandhi, social and political activist who led India to independence in 1947 through peaceful means (see also SIPAZ Report, Vol. 3 – No. 4). The exhibition, entitled “Encounters with Truth,” commemorated the 50^th anniversary of his death and included an exhibition of photographs and text. Along with the exhibition, SIPAZ organized various cultural and reflection activities, including meditations, theater, video, music and poetry. Various organizations and universities sponsored the events, and we had some 70 volunteers helping in the organization.

Attendance at the majority of events averaged 1-200 local residents of all ages. Special care was taken to invite a variety of social sectors, such as women, students and indigenous persons. In the weeks preceding, and during, the exhibition, presentations were made in several schools and universities, in order to sensitize the students concerning Gandhi’s life and nonviolent struggle. More than 800 primary children participated in some thirty guided visits, as did displaced persons from ‘Las Abejas’ (the Bees; the pacifist group that was the target of the Acteal massacre.)

During the exhibition, one of the events which captured attention was the series of conferences designed to look at Gandhian philosophy in relation to the situation in Chiapas. One of the participants, Gustavo Esteva, commented on this: “Given the current conditions in Chiapas, in Mexico, in the world, nothing is more relevant than to relate the figure of Gandhi to Zapatismo and to the indigenous struggle, with this extraordinary man, the most notable of the 20^th century, whom some even consider to be the philosopher of the 21^st century.”

According to Esteva, it is important to reflect on ‘the Gandhian option’, because, “The nonviolence that Gandhi promoted is a political manner of organizing life. Neither Gandhi nor the Zapatistas know what the form of this society is. They do not know how it will be realized in a concrete way, what the institutions will be, the structures which will allow this form of social existence, that has never existed on the planet. Because, if it is true, as Gandhi said, that ‘nonviolence is as old as the hills’, it is also true that that form of organization of social life has never existed anywhere. And, because of this, if it is about incarnate values, if it is about not thinking of a distant future and of a certain utopia in order to live it afterwards, then it is about continuing to make advances in these ideals today, giving concrete forms to social organization that are rooted in nonviolence.”

Given the stalemate in the peace process, it is relevant and valuable to open the imagination to new forms of nonviolent struggle. Another participant, Rafael Landerreche (Peace and Justice Service – Tabasco) said, in this regard: “My interpretation is that those who say there are no longer any paths to peace, what they have really exhausted is hope. Those who say that the path in Mexico today is through arms are not saying that because they have made a rational analysis, but rather they are speaking from the loss of hope in the path to peace, and they are taking the other road as a simple venting of their lack of hope – let me stress – not as a real proposal which is viable. In this regard, I would say that it is common sense, but it also fits within this proposal of nonviolence that tells us that it is not wise to do battle with the weapons in which the enemy is expert, that it is not wise to let the enemy choose the terrain in which one can fight (…) They do not have the weapons of truth, of moral authority, of popular support, so then we can respond that the weapons with which the struggle must be fought are these.”

In order to follow up on the interest which this exceptional event evoked, SIPAZ is offering opportunities for reflection to members of non-governmental organizations, religious groups from different churches, schools, etc.

This series of conferences and this exhibition provide us with a respite in these difficult times, and a light and guide which remind us of the “Where and How to Work,” if we want to see that things change “for the common good and for always.
(Margarita)

Thank you, thank you very much, for bringing us this great inspiration in the form of this exhibit on Gandhi.
(Ronald)

I am very moved and feel profoundly grateful to the persons who made possible the sharing of this philosophy with us here in San Cristobal.
(Gabriela)