Satyagraha : A Case Study of Champaran by Prof. D. John Chelladurai

 

IFPNP IV

 Satyagraha : A Case  Study of Champaran  

by Prof. D. John Chelladurai 

October 31, 2025

 

IFPNP International Dialogue by Prof . John S. Moolakkattu

 

John S Moolakkattu

John S Moolakkattu is  an ICSSR Senior Fellow who retired as a Senior Professor at the Department of International Relations & Politics, Central University of Kerala. He was earlier Professor and Director of the School of Gandhian Thought and Development Studies, Mahatma Gandhi University, Professor at IIT Madras, and the Inaugural Gandhi- Luthuli Professorial Chair in Peace Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa. He is a recipient of the UGC research award, Commonwealth Scholarship as well as Fellowship, and Fulbright Visiting Professorship. He has published in highly rated journals like Cooperation and Conflict, Indian Journal of Gender Studies, Economic and Political Weekly, International Studies, Asian Journal of Women’s Studies, Public Administration and Development, Social Sciences, and Peace Review, among others, and has an excellent citation index. He is also the co-founder-editor of the South African bi-annual Journal Ubuntu: Journal of Conflict Transformation published by Adonis Abbey, London. He is the editor of Gandhi Marg, a journal of Gandhi Peace Foundation , New Delhi 

Email: moolakkattu@gmail.com

IFPNP Session on Satyagraha : A Case Study of Champaran

 

Transcript of IFPNP session by Prof.Michael Sonnleitner

 Central Principles of Gandhi

 Dr.Michael Sonnleitner 

Gandhi was very consistent from the time in South Africa to the 1920s when he wrote his Autobiography “The Story of my experiments with truth”. Throughout the rest of his life, if there was a central principle for Gandhi it would be truth or Gandhi would say many times that truth is God. God is  truth. Effectively truth is the central principle for Gandhi.  Seeking truth and that might deserve a few minutes here. But we can elaborate upon  it when we discuss Gandhi's worldview at a later point. Let us look at this. God is truth. Truth is God. Interchangeable. First, when Gandhi says truth is God, he says in a scientific way. It's a religious statement. And when he says God is truth, it's also a scientific statement. To put it very simply, Gandhi would appeal with his central principle of truth to both people who believed in God and also people who did not believe in God but who believed in science. One of the persons that I interviewed in India was Gora. Gora was one of the 30 persons I met during my visit in 1971. And Gora was an atheist. I asked, "Well, Gora, how is it that you're a disciple of Gandhi?" And Gora said, "Well, I asked Gandhi if I could stay with him at his ashram." Gandhi asked me, Gora, do you believe that there is a truth beyond current understanding that may also be beyond the five senses that is immutable, unchanging, do you believe that they can be scientifically explored and understood? Gora said, "Yes.” Gandhi said, "Well, then please stay with me as long as you like. As far as I'm concerned, I don't care if you believe in God because you believe in truth and truth seeking. Thus, truth is the essential principle for Gandhi using Gandhi's own words.

Truth is complicated. Truth is both absolute and not absolute at the same time. What? I'm confused. I'm sorry. But if you're not used to thinking in non-binary, non-dualistic ways, this is a challenge. Gandhi would say there is an absolute truth and that absolute truth is God. It is the sum total of all of the physical moral laws of the universe. It is the foundation of all life. It is the atman. It is the supreme soul. It is the ocean that our little soul within each of us seeks to reunite with . Truth is absolute. And then Gandhi would throw this strange curveball to us and say but I cannot fully understand it.  In this life, we are all limited by our country of origin, our religion, our gender, our sexual preference, the time frame that we live in. We are all limited. We are like blind people. So Gandhi might say using a Buddhist and Jain story that imagine five, it could be six, it could be seven, Imagine five blind men and an elephant. One blind man touches the ear of the elephant and says, "The elephant is like a big banana leaf." Another blind person touches the leg and says, "No, no, no. The elephant is like a big tree trunk. “Another blind man touches the body and says, "No, you're both wrong. The elephant is like a big water tank." Another one says, "What's wrong with you people? I say by touching the tail that the elephant is like a rope." And you can see it goes on and on, Right? The point of this story of the blind people and the elephant is that they are all both wrong and right at the same time. They universalize what they are touching, what their experience is and say that is the elephant. But the elephant is a tail, an ear, a leg, a trunk, a body, all of these things. Yes. Gandhi's view is that we must as blind human beings be blinded by our backgrounds and our experiences to communicate with each other. And if we can communicate with each other, we can learn from each other and we can together begin to see the whole nature of the elephant. But Gandhi would say we are all blinded.

Let us have humility that we are all blind. We are part of the truth and it is good and we must hold firm to that part of the truth as we see it. But if we must also learn from one another so that we can see the whole elephant, the whole truth more effectively. In fact, I would say that probably Gandhi's primary principle that we must believe  that absolute truth exists but have the humility to admit that our own truth is relative and incomplete. And the purpose of life is to learn the truth. The purpose of life, if you will, is to find out who you are in relation to other people and the entire world of life. That’s your purpose. And if you can become enlightened, for Gandhi, that is moksha. That is liberation, self-realization. It’s an ending of the cycles of reincarnation because you will merge your drop of water back into the ocean. Well, Gandhi, how do we get to understand the truth? Well, Gandhi would say, well, it is complicated.

There is a second principle that is central and that is the only way to seek truth is through nonviolence. Gandhi would describe it as ahimsa or non-injury harmlessness. The other blind people will not want to communicate with you if you are threatening them. Truth is the first casualty of war to be just pragmatic. Your own spiritual growth and your own understanding of reality, whether that's an elephant or politics in the United States, it all depends upon communication. And if others are afraid of you because you are violent or threatening, they will not communicate with you and you become a spiritual loser. You cannot benefit from what part of the elephant they are touching. So, for Gandhi nonviolence is the only means to seeking to understand truth  which is the goal of life, the ultimate reality.

Well, the third and last principle is voluntary suffering and we will discuss more details later. Gandhi has a trinity, truth, nonviolence and voluntary suffering.   Third one is the hardest one for people of western dualistic mentalities to understand and accept. Gandhi would describe it as tapas or voluntary sacrifice or suffering. For Gandhi again it is very practical. If you are going to seek truth and seek to listen to people who do not agree with you, practicing nonviolence you must be willing to suffer. If you love those who do not love you, you will suffer. It is just practical.  You will suffer.  It is a consequence of loving others who do not love you. It is your suffering that gives power to you  and that opens the way to communication which will allow you to understand truth more effectively. So, there is a trinity for Gandhi truth, nonviolence and voluntary suffering or in Gandhi’s words Satya, Ahimsa and Tapas. If you are of a Christian background as being father, son and holy spirit . It also corresponds to the Hindu framework of   Brahma , Vishnu and Shiva, the creator, maintainer and destroyer. I find it very fascinating. We will discuss these more carefully in future.

Michael Sonnleitner

Oregon, USA  

 October 4, 2025

IFPNP Session on Gandhi's World View by Prof. Michael Sonnleitner

IFPNP- IV, 2025-2026

Gandhi's Worldview

October 23to25 and 30 , 2025

  About the Speaker

Michael Warren Sonnleitner 

Birthplace: Wichita, Kansas, USA (July 11, 1949).

(“maiden” name before 1983 marriage: “Johnson”); Wife: Kristine; Children: Margarita, Sonrisa, Shaman, Mira.

Home Address: 1037 S.E. 80 th Ave., Portland, Oregon, 97216-3010. Home Phone: 503-285-5827.

Personal email: soulom2u@hotmail.com PCC email: michael.sonnleitner@pcc.edu Cell Phone: 971-988-2427.

EDUCATION: PH.D. University of Minnesota (Minneapolis): March, 1979. M.A. March, 1976.

Major: Political Science; Supporting Program: India/China Area Studies.

Examination Areas: U.S. Constitutional Law, History of Political Thought, Comparative Political Systems.

Dissertation: Soul Force & Social Change according to Mohandas K. Gandhi & Martin Luther King Jr.

(Lambert Academic Publishing: Latvia, EU, 2019.) ISBN#: 9786200314185.

B.A. Whitman College (Walla Walla, Washington): June, 1971 (Phi Beta Kappa, Summa Cum Laude,

with Honors in Political Science & transfer credits from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee).

High School Diploma Highline High School (Burien/South Seattle/SeaTac, Washington): June, 1967.

Elected Trustee (Zone 3), Portland Community College Board of Directors (2015-2023).

Co-Chair, PCC Board Committee on Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (2018-20); Vice-Chair,

PCC Board of Directors Audit Committee (2018-21); Oregon Community College Board representative (2020-2023).

Portland Community College: RETIRED Full-Time Political Science Instructor: 27 years (1988-2015).

NOTE: Originally hired as full-time to a split-appointment, I have taught courses at PCC Sylvania (1988-2003),

PCC Rock Creek (1988-2011), PCC Cascade (2000-2015), and PCC S.E. (2004-2007 & 2013-15).

2007-2023: Portland State University: Graduate-level courses taught part-time for the M.A. Program in Conflict

Resolution; Undergraduate courses also for Political Science Department

1985-1987: University of Northern Iowa: full-time assistant Professor of Political Science.

1984-1985: Loyola University of Chicago, University of Illinois at Chicago; Northwestern Illinois University: part-time Instructor of Political Science teaching Judicial process, U.S. Security Policy, Politics of China &; Japan.

1979-1983: Illinois Wesleyan University: full-time Assistant Professor of Political Science.

1973-1979: University of Minnesota (Minneapolis): Teaching Assistant &part-time Instructor of Political Science.

FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR in India: six months (November 29, 2009 to May 29, 2010).

PROJECT TITLE: “Teaching Peacebuilding for Social &; Structural Change in Multicultural Societies & a Multipolar World”.

COURSES TAUGHT: (at St. Thomas College, Palai, Kerala): Gandhian Thought; American Government; International Issues.

(at Mahatma Gandhi University): International Relations: Theory & Practice; Nonviolent Action.

Other Training/Travel Experiences:

Ten weeks in India: participating in the Bharat Jodo Yatra, teaching “Gandhian Nonviolence & lecturing: Jan-March, 2023.

Five weeks in India: lecturing on Gandhi & participating in a re-enactment of the Salt March of 1930: Feb-March, 2020.

Two weeks at a China Seminar at the East-West Center (University of Hawaii-Manoa) Title VII Grant: Summer, 2013.

Fulbright Scholar returning to the U.S. via Italy (one month), Israel & Palestine (one month), & Egypt (one month): 2010.

Invited Scholar to the International Association of Gandhian Studies Conference in New Delhi: 1987.

Delegate to the UNICEF International Seminar on Training for Nonviolent Action (3 weeks in Mexico): 1977.

Summer Peace Internship working with kids during the “troubles”: Londonderry (Derry), Northern Ireland (2 months): 1974.

Thomas J. Watson Fellowship: to study Experiments in Nonviolent Action in India (6 months), & 1-4 weeks in Japan,

Hong Kong, Thailand, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Republic of S. Africa, Italy/Sicily,  Great Britain: 1971-72.

Exchange student attending Fisk University in Nashville, TN: autumn of 1969.

U.S. Senate Internship (in Washington, D.C. Office of U.S. Senator Henry M. Jackson): Summer, 1969.

Orchard worker at Auvil Fruit Company, Orondo, Washington (with migrant workers): 15 summers during 1962-1981.

Other Awards/Honors:

Invited Keynote Speaker for Centennial Celebration at Gujarat Vidyapith (Ahmedabad, India): January 10, 2023.

Elected President, Peace & Conflict Studies Consortium (Pacific Northwest regional association): April, 2007-2010.

Outstanding Faculty Person of the Year Award (Portland Community College, Rock Creek ASPCC): 2006.

Male Faculty of the Year Award (Portland Community College, Rock Creek ASPCC): 2000.

Nominee for Portland Community College Faculty Excellence Award: 1992, 1998, 2003.

Excellence in Teaching Award: Illinois Wesleyan University: 1982

All-expenses fellowship grant for graduate study in Political Science at the University of Minnesota: 1972-75.

Ford Foundation Graduate School Fellowship recipient at the University of Minnesota: 1972-75.

Thomas J. Watson Fellowship to study ‘Experiments in Nonviolent Action” abroad: 1971-72.

Sloan Foundation Scholarship recipient at Whitman College: 1968-71.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IN OREGON:

82nd Ave. Improvement Coalition (June of 2014-2023): Coordinating Committee member & member of the 82 nd Ave.

Business Association Board (2018-present); successfully lobbied for a $200,000 study

funded by the Oregon Department of Transportation and jurisdictional transfer to the Portland Bureau of Transportation in 2022.

Interfaith Movement for Immigrant Justice (2007-2020): formerly the “New Sanctuary Movement”; helped to

develop support networks for undocumented persons; seeking meaningful

immigration reform via educational actions; achieved passage of the expanded Oregon Sanctuary Act in 2021.

Ascension Catholic Church (2004-2020): assisting my wife in providing occasional educational programs as well as participating in various fundraising efforts (like the annual Spaghetti Dinner), and service activities associated with the Daybreak Homeless Shelter Network. Now also attending St. Anthony Catholic Church.

Daybreak Homeless Shelter Network (2004-2017): assisting houseless families in S.E. Portland in a variety of ways; moving beds, serving meals, sleeping overnight, playing with kids, and helping to

provide bus/van transportation between the day shelter and Ascension Church as part of the rotating evening host institution.

Montavilla Neighborhood Association (January of 2014-2017): regularly attending meetings, Chair of the Board (2015-16), otherwise Vice Chair. Became more involved in the neighborhood where my family lives, on issues ranging from land use to transportation, affordable housing and crime issues.

S.E. UPLIFT (March of 2014-2016): attending meetings, serving as an active Board member (at large), having also gone to meetings of most of the 20 neighborhood associations with members elected to the S.E. Uplift Board as a means of facilitating communications and action among groups with common community concerns.

PCC PACS Program (1990-2015): facilitated establishment of Portland Community College (PCC) Peace & Conflict Studies (PACS) Program (1988-90), the first at any community college in the U.S.; PACS Program

Chairperson or Co-Chairperson (1990-present); NEWSPEAK coordinator, fostering weekly &free speech; events at Sylvania Campus (1998-2003), setting similar traditions Rock Creek (2004-2011), and at Cascade (2004-2005 & 2011-2015).

PCSC (1988-2017): Peace & Conflict Studies Consortium (previously the Oregon Peace Studies Consortium): Board member representing the PCC PACS Program (2004-2015), helping organize annual regional gatherings and two national conferences; serving as President (2007-2010).

DaVinci Middle School (1998-2002): was among the 20 founding families who created, organized, and functionally serving as the staff for this Arts Magnet Charter School within the Portland Public School (PPS)

District; also served on a PPS Committee to set up criteria to review applications to such all schools.

Foster Parent Program (1998-2000): my wife & I were trained as foster parents under emergency conditions, providing a home to an undocumented teenager, who we later supported to complete her high school and community college degrees, gain dual U.S./Mexican citizenship, and Margarita became a daughter to us.

 

The Roots of Violence and Nonviolence:: A Psychological Perspective By Dr. Nahla Harb, October 18, 2025

 

First Assignment Attendance Tutorials October 2025

 

International Online Fellowship Program on Nonviolence & Peace

October 2, 2025 to January 30, 2026

Assignment Attendance Tutorials 

October 16, 2025

Dear friends in peace,

Greetings.

As we progress in to the IFPNP-IV, we need to intensify our learning exercises. Some of the self-study exercises are:

1.Assignment: Monthly one assignment

2. Tutorials: Fortnightly (2 hours) for those interested in exploring any subthemes for further details

3. Journal writing: Regular recording of one’s Learning and self-reflection on Nonviolence/Peace

4.Attendance: Complete attendance expected. Attendance less than 80 percent   indicates, ‘Course-not-completed’

5. Project: Periodical sharing and final report submission 

Progress of the participants will be assessed by their involvement and comprehension that are evident in their self-study exercises.

I.     Submission of the Assignment (for the first month):

a.       Assignment guidelines

 i.            Each assignment can be between 1500-2000 words

 ii.            A4, Times Roman, Font size 12

 iii.            Assignment can be hand written or typed. However, it has to be submitted in PDF       Format.

 iv.            Title Page of the Assignment should have the following details in the given sequence

·               Title of the Program (IFPNP2025)

·               Assignment No.   (Assignment 1 or 2 or 3)

·               Title of the Assignment

·               Name of the writer

·               Date of submission

    v.            Name of the PDF file should contain the following

·        Your name_IFPNP IV_Assignment 1/2/3

       vi.   Last date for the submission of first month assignment is Nov. 5, 2025

        vii.    Email id for submission: peace.nonviolence2022@gmail.com

b.      Assignment Topic

    i.            Assignment for the first month -October

How can Gandhi’s worldview and principles of nonviolence be applied to promote peace and resolve conflict in today’s world? Use specific elements of his philosophy that resonate with you to support your response.

II.                  Tutorials                                     

a.       Those interested in getting further details on any of the topics of the IFPNP can ask for tutorials.  Special interactive focused sessions, with a specialist will be arranged exclusively for them.

Fortnightly ( 2 hours) for those interested in exploring  any subthemes for further details.

 III.                Journal writing                                         

a.       Every individual candidate is requested to maintain a journal and do regular recording of one’s learning and self-reflection on Nonviolence and Peace.  This can be from the sessions or your own introspection / insights.

b.       Organizers would be pleased to review your journal and give their remark.

 IV.  Attendance                               

a.       Candidates of IFPNP-IV are expected to attend all the sessions.  Maintaining complete attendance is desired. Attendance less than 80 per cent by any would amounts to, ‘Course-not-completed’

V.  Project                                                        

a.       By the middle of December, each one of will choose a project topic and carryout it, with the help of the guide / mentor assigned by the organizer.

                                                                   

Yours in Peace and Friendship,

Siby K. Joseph

Director, IFPNP

 

 

IFPNP International Dialogue

 

IFPNP- IV, 2025-2026

                      IFPNP International Dialogue

About the Speaker

Nahla Harb (PhD- Lebanese University), is a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist.

She is a lecturer and a trainer at the “Academic University of Nonviolence and Human rights” _ Beirut, in nonviolent conflict resolution, family and school mediation, self-rehabilitation and self-care.

She worked as the “General Coordinator of the Pedagogic Counseling and Child Protection Unit” at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Lebanon, in which she was designated to be its delegate to the National Strategy of Preventing Violent Extremism.

She is a fellow of Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE), and a facilitator of Education Redesign in 2020-2021. She studied at Harvard Kennedy Institute (Implementing Public Policy).

Her responsibilities cover a range of mental health services in the public education. She was the chief of the Official Exams Center for Learning Difficulties and Special Needs.

 

IFPNP Session

      

IFPNP- IV, 2025-2026

Understanding  the Nature of Conflict 

About the Speaker 

 Dorcas Ettang (Prof.) is an Associate Professor and is the Acting Director at the International Centre of Non-violence at the Durban University of Technology, South Africa. She is also UNESCO Co-chair on Education for Peace and Transformative Solidarity .

 She was Senior Lecturer and Conflict Transformation and Peace Studies Programme Coordinator at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), South Africa.

She is a political analyst on analysis and commentary on security developments on national and international TV and radio. She has worked with the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes, South Africa, the Interagency Child Pro-tection Assessment Coordinator on Northern Syria, at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre in Accra, Ghana, and the United Nations Political Affairs Division in New York, United States. She holds a PhD in Conflict Transformation and Peace Studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, a Master’s in Political Science from the University of Windsor, Canada and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Studies with minors in French, Public Administra-tion and International Studies from Bishop’s University, Quebec – Canada. Her research interests are in mi-gration and conflict, identity conflicts, African politics, Community Security and Governance.

Professional membership

South African Association of Political Science (SAAPS) African Association of Political Science (AAPS)

Publications

Prof Ettang has published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Peace and Conflict Review, Alternations, Africa Development, Journal of African Elections, Politikon, and Gender & Behaviour.

Rabele, L., Adeogun, T., and Ettang, D. (2025) Mediation in Sudan and Ethiopia: Lessons Learnt from the Gambia Track III Mediation Process. Unisa: Politea

Gbadeyan, O.J; Ettang, D.; Oyebamiji, S.I.; Osadola, O.S.; Ola, A.A.; Odedokun, E.A.; and Agidigbi, E.R. (2024) Local Conflict Management Strategies and Resilient Factors among selected Feuding Communities in Kwara State, Nigeria. Africa Renaissance, 21 (4), 231-248.

Ettang D, Belli A, Caroli G, Denje T.M, Diji C, Kadry S, Medina L, Madurga-Lopez I, Nying'uro P, Okem A.E, Oluoch J, Pacillo G, Villa V, Schapendonk F, Kenduiywo, B. and Wamukoya, G. (2023). Climate Change, Peace and Security in Africa. Policy Brief. African Group of Negotiators Experts Support.

Ettang, D. (2023). Exploring the Role of Civil Society in Countering Organised Crime. In Vieira, M. (ed.) Global Approach and State Fragility in Organised Crime. Costa Rica: United BUniversity of Peace Press.

Ettang, D. and James, G.O. (2022). Community Policing and Community-Based Security Regimes in Africa. In: Tar, U.A. and Dawud, D.M. (eds) Policing Criminality and Insurgency in Africa: Perspectives on the Changing Wave of Law Enforcement. Maryland: Lexington Books.

Ettang, D., Tella, O. (2022). ‘First Comes Love, then Comes Marriage?’: Exploring the Narratives and Experiences of South African Partners of Nigerian Male Immigrants in South Africa. In: Isike, C., Isike, E.M. (eds) Conflict and Concord. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore.

Ettang, D. (2022) Migrant Learners in a COVID-19 Context: Exploring Strategies for School Leader-ship and Management. Alternation.

Olowojolu, O. and Ettang, D. (2021). Boko Haram Insurgency and Displaced Persons: A case study of the Damare IDP Camp, Adamawa State in Sleeping Giant? Nigeria’s Domestic and International Politics in the Twenty-First Century. Tella, O. Switzerland: Springer.

Ettang, D. and Ogunnubi, O. (2020) Causes, Effects and Implications of Political Violence and Disorder in West Africa: The Cases of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Nigeria. In Contemporary Security Issues in Africa. Amusan, L. and Badmus, I.A. (eds) Washington: Academica Press.

Ettang, D. and Leeke, N. (2019). Africa’s Emerging Giants and the Drug Scourge: Exploring a Nigeria - South African Bilateral Partnership. In Nigeria-South Africa Relations and Regional Hegemonic Competence, Tella, O. (eds). Switzerland: Springer

Welcome Address Prof.Dorcas Ettang at the Inaugural Session

 The  International Online Fellowship Program              on Nonviolence and Peace
            IFPNP- IV, 2025-2026

Welcome Address of  Prof.Dorcas Ettang  at the Inaugural Session 

 Prof. Dorcas Ettang 

 Good morning, good afternoon and good evening. I know all of you were coming from different time zones and locations. Welcome to everyone. On behalf of the international fellowship Program on Nonviolence and Peace, I warmly welcome each one of you to this gathering. Though we are separated by distance, we are united in spirit and it is a joy to see a very large number of students who are interested in this fellowship program. It is very encouraging and I'd like to welcome all of you today. It is important to reflect on the theme of nonviolence. Nonviolence is more than the refusal to cause harm. Nonviolence is a way of life grounded in values like justice, compassion, and love. Nonviolence is choosing reconciliation over retaliation. It's choosing peace over conflict and courage over fear. When we look at the world today, we are affected by division, misunderstanding, violence. But fellowships like this one shine like a bright light in the world that we are in because this fellowship reminds us that there are other ways that are possible to settle our differences and to have a peaceful world. So, this fellowship is timely and it will allow us to begin to or continue to create communities where we respect each other, where we value each other's voices, where hope and love and compassion is stronger than hatred. So, as we engage over the next few months, I invite our participants to open up your hearts to listen up to engage fully in this process. This is a space of respect, is a space of encouragement, where we share ideas and uplift each other. So, I hope that at the end of this fellowship you are inspired. Your commitment to nonviolence is renewed and strengthened and that you are committed to living as people of peace and being the voice of peace in your homes, in your communities, and in the world at large. So once again, I'd like to welcome you all. We are glad that you are here and we're looking forward to engaging with you and learning from you.

Thank you very much.

Dorcas Ettang

Acting Director  

International  Centre of Nonviolence 

Durban University of Technology 

South Africa 

October 2,2025 

Presidential Address of Prof. Michael Sonnleitner

                          

                    The  International Online Fellowship Program 

on Nonviolence and Peace

IFPNP- IV, 2025-2026

Presidential Address of  Dr. Michael Sonnleitner, IFPNP Opening Session

Dr. Michael W. Sonnleitner

Gandhi was born in Porbandar Gujarat on this day in 1869. I was born in 1949 just about a year and a half after Gandhi left this world. I didn't become familiar with Gandhi for 20 years. As a young man, I was a Republican. I was my father's child. I was patriotic. And originally, I was also very much pro-war because I saw the heroism in soldiers. I still do. I think what I came to become convinced of was the need for nonviolent soldiers. I would like to build on a little from the thoughtful presentation of Dr. Ogarit Younan. In 1969, I was born again not as a disciple of Gandhi, because Gandhi did not want Gandhiians. Gandhi wants people to follow their own truth. As we will see in this course, satyagraha is a dynamic process not merely a strategy. A process for conflict resolution that moves us from truth to truth. Gandhi proclaimed that we should listen to everyone including our opponents. That all of humankind was capable of being kind. We should always appeal to the best in the nature of others as well as ourselves. One of my big complaints, I have many about people who discuss Gandhi is that they do not want to get into his soul in soul force. They want to avoid religion and metaphysics. They want to make him secular thereby perhaps more accessible to everyone. It is my view that we cannot fully understand Gandhi without seeking to understand him. Not just his actions but his worldview, his view of the soul. That's something I will hope we can emphasize later.

 Gandhi’s view of the soul is very different from that of Martin Luther King Jr. . Martin Luther King Jr. is not a disciple of Gandhi. He really couldn't be because he didn't understand Gandhi very well. My research on Martin Luther King Jr., which also included interviewing over 30 people who had known King personally, including, for example, his best friend Ralph Abernathy and John Lewis, who later became an icon in the US Congress. I won't get off onto that tangent, but we can reflect on this aspect later in this course. See how Gandhi is distinct in many ways. He inspires others, including myself. But we are to be our own people. It is not a criticism of Martin Luther King Jr. to say he was not a disciple. King was King. And there are a variety of strategies of nonviolence. People use the same word. In fact, they sometimes use the two words soul force meaning different things because we have our own cultures. But ultimately, I would like to say Ogarit is very correct in saying we need to choose nonviolence for life. What we mean by nonviolence, what we mean by soul force, that is something we need to clarify if we are to be effective educators and activists. I have a very slight disagreement with Ogarit. I like to openly show areas of agreement and disagreement so that we can have a dynamic learning. That is the educator in me. The very slight disagreement perhaps is I do not believe we need a new Gandhi in the world.

That's a strange thing to say. What I do think is we need to be a new Gandhi in the world. Each of us, we need to be the change we want to see in the world. And that might not be simply wearing khadi or having all sorts of photographs in your room that remind you of your values and your commitments. It is to be yourself, the self within you, the God within you. And that God is love. That God is the only way to truth. We cannot claim to have all the truth. Or if we do, like President Donald Trump, we have some problems because what can we say? Self-righteousness is not righteousness. We don't need egotistical leaders, power- hungry, authoritarians who want to silence speech and create havoc throughout the world. We don't need that. What we need, I believe, is to be who we can be. Now, that is for you. You've been given the gift of life. What are you going to do with it?

  Are you going to try to live nonviolence more and more each day, admitting your shortcomings, your foolishness, and moving on gradually to be a better person, to build a better world. That does require resistance but it's not a matter of strategy. If we look at Gandhi or Martin Luther King or others as people advocating strategies for change, we can do that. There is a place for Gene Sharp and his monumental volumes on nonviolence, particularly The Politics of Nonviolent Action, that he produced when he was at Harvard University. Very intellectual, very stimulating, very inspiring. Yet it doesn't really understand Gandhi. It looks only at a strategy. The strategy of nonviolence too often is seen to fail as soon as repression of the activists take place. As soon as Gandhi or King were assassinated, they failed. Their nonviolence didn't stand up to violence. Well, yes it did. As Gandhi would and did say, repression is a sign of your effectiveness. It's at that very point when the powers that be are disturbed by your nonviolent direct action.

   It's at that point that repression takes place and you can say I am not invisible. They are threatened. The status quo is threatened. You must stand firm according to Gandhi to death. Death itself has a purpose. It is not to be avoided. A good soldier must be willing to die in the body. Gandhi and I do not believe that that is the end. That our soul lives on. Not simply metaphorically in the way that it inspires others but literally lives on. I believe that the soul is the force of God within us. If we surrender to it, nothing is impossible for God. Gandhi would say that time and time and time again in South Africa and later. Nothing is impossible for God. I believe that too and that leaves me more optimistic even when the US government shuts down. This is the day after my country has no operational budget. It's funny in my way. We have two million people in the military and a budget that is greater than any in the history of the world.

  And yet the budget cannot be continued without an act of Congress. A1 trillion dollar per year annual budget for the military only. Just the Department of Defence cannot be continued unless Congress, our legislative branch, agrees to it. And you notice nobody is complaining about that. Not the Democrats, not the Republicans. They're fighting over healthcare. Well, I would say the greatest threat to health in the world is extreme militarism, which the United States is the symbol of worldwide. This small country with less than 5% of the world's population consumes over 40% of what the world produces. Which is logical because we spend over 40% of what the entire world spends on its military. The American empire and it is an empire. It is not at issue if this government shutdown. The two major parties are not that far in disagreement when it comes to money and corporate influence. Health care is important. On the other hand, we're not going to have a lot of health if we have utterly destroyed our environment through climate change.

  We're not going to have good  health the next time,  if we have a major nuclear war. That'll be the end very quickly. So the bottom line is I believe we need to be the change we want to see in the world. In this course, I hope that we will gain some of the tools, a lot of the intellectual stimulation that will help us produce our own plan of action in our own countries, in our own neighbourhoods. My college, Portland Community College, is one of 2,000 2-year, they are called associate degree institutions in the United States. My college of the 2000 is in the top 20 in size. We currently have over 50,000 students. We are the largest educational institution in the state of Oregon where I live. Some 35 years ago, and yes, I'm a little older than 35 years. Thirty Five years ago, when I first came to this state and this community college, I helped to organize the first peace studies program in the United States at the community college in the United States.

We were the first out of 2,000. This was 1988. That program has every year taught a core course that includes Gandhi. At least a month of sessions are devoted to Gandhi and non-violence. I find that very helpful for students in the United States because I think in many parts of the world, Gandhi challenges us to think in ways that are not binary. As you will see, Gandhi doesn't see violence and nonviolence as two separate things. He sees violence and nonviolence on a continuum where we are all each of us both violent and nonviolent at the same time. We need to decide the degree of love that we want to embody in our lives. We need to surrender to that truth within us to be more compassionate towards others. I hope that this course helps all of you do that. Gandhi is respected but nonviolence typically is not. Ogarit points out that I think has many roots but a big one is a dualistic way of thinking of violence and nonviolence. Many people reject nonviolence because they see it as weak and kind of impractical.

  It's either violence or nonviolence. Either or. Either or. That's binary thinking. And because they feel oppression and they feel injustice and because violence is strong and nonviolence is weak. They love Gandhi, but they do not have respect for nonviolence. It's logical if you think of it in a binary either-or cultural paradigm. I hope that we can go beyond that paradigm and see Gandhi as Gandhi. And I hope that we can be inspired by his life which was his message for us. We have a world to save unlike any other point in time in history. We now have the capacity to destroy life on this planet through multiple means. Gunpowder didn't do it. Crossbows didn't do it. Even the bubonic plague didn't do it. It killed half of Europe. But today, we can do the entire destruction in less than 30 minutes through a large-scale nuclear war. We have the capacity and we are playing with fire and we will be burned sooner or later.

  We must, I believe, commit ourselves to not a strategy, but to a lifestyle that radically changes the foundation upon which much of human culture now seems bent on glorifying wealth, status, riches and power. Gandhi was not about these things. I hope that we can also be inspired by him and I'll finish with a last quote attributed to Gandhi. One of my favourite quotes has always been but I will share with you only recently a Muslim friend discovered that this is a very common quote that Gandhi took from Islam. Gandhi borrowed it and he had many Muslim friends including Sheikh Mahtab in his youth. I think he learned many things and this quote I find inspiring. It is that we should learn as if we would live forever and live as if we would die tomorrow. I hope that we can learn from this course and live as long as and learn as long as we live. But death is not the enemy. Death is something to be accepted. And if we live as if we would die tomorrow, maybe we will find within us the radical capacity for change that the world needs.

 Thank you very much.

Michael Sonnleitner

 October 2, 2025

Portland Oregon, USA 

Message of Louis Campana Inaugural Session IFPNP 2025

 

The  International Online Fellowship Program 

on Nonviolence and Peace

IFPNP- IV, 2025-2026

 

Louis Campana

Message 

Greetings to each and every one of you. 

I congratulate you for daring to take an interest in Gandhian thought, especially in these furious times when the world's powers are projecting a war-torn and terrible future for their "peoples" or rather their "docile subjects." Be reassured in your choice towards a peaceful social life, but above all, a radical change in your own life, because the Gandhian path is the solution for our world. Gandhi should even be taught in all universities and also proposed as a leader in the smallest village to develop non-violent economies where power is at the center of the village for the promotion of each person. This is a vast program to implement. 

Thank you for your courage; you are not wasting your time, and you promise a new world.

Louis Campana, President of Gandhi International, France

 

 

Bonjour à chacun et chacune de vous.

Je vous félicite pour avoir oser vous intéresser à la pensée gandhienne, tout particulièrement en ces temps furieux où les Grands de ce monde projettent pour leurs "peuples" ou plutôt leurs "soumis dociles" un avenir guerrier et terrible. Soyez confortés dans votre choix vers une vie sociale apaisée mais surtout un changement radical de votre propre vie, car la voie gandhienne est la solution pour notre monde. Gandhi devrait même être enseigné dans toutes les universités et aussi proposé comme leader dans le plus petit village afin d'y développer des économies non-violentes où le pouvoir est au centre du village pour la promotion de chaque personne. Vaste programme à mettre en route.
Merci pour votre courage, vous ne perdez pas votre temps et promettez un monde nouveau.
Louis Campana, Président de Gandhi International, France