'Non-violent Resistance in South Asian History' a conference at Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (NMML), Teen Murti House, Teen Murti Marg > 9am onwards on 20th & 21st February 2014

Time : 9:00 am

Entry : Free (Seating on First-Come First-Served basis)

Place : Seminar Room, Library Building, Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (NMML), Teen Murti House, Teen Murti Marg, New Delhi - 110011
Venue Info :  Events | About | Map | Nearest Metro Station - 'Race Course(Yellow Line)'

Event Description : The Nehru Memorial Museum and Library cordially invites you to a Conference on ‘Non-violent Resistance in South Asian History’ in association with Prof. David Hardiman, University of Warwick, UK and Prof. Tridip Suhrud, Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad

In recent years, non-violent methods have proved a potent force in bringing the downfall of oppressive regimes and in fighting for civil and other rights within a range of societies.  There has been a wave of books in response, mainly coming from a tradition of writing that originated in peace studies, but has evolved into what we can now distinguish as a separate field – that of the study of nonviolent resistance. This literature generally focuses on the strategies that have been adopted in such movements, with the emphasis being on discovering the most effective techniques and methods that can be applied in future campaigns of this sort.  In examining the Indian nationalist movement, this school of writing mainly analyses the best-known of Gandhian satyagrahas, in particular the salt satyagraha of 1930, while downplaying or ignoring the failures of non-violence, as seen in the attraction of violence for many nationalists, and in the communal violence that gripped the subcontinent as it was split into India and Pakistan in 1946-47.  The overall impression conveyed by such literature is that independence was won primarily through non-violent protest – when the actual reasons are far more complex.  The aim of this conference is to bring together people working in the tradition of non-violence and Gandhian studies with historians and social scientists who have studied mass movements from different perspectives – in particular those that look to Marxism, or subaltern, feminist or Dalit studies for theoretical guidance. The latter have in general been highly critical of Gandhian methods.  It is hoped that a constructive dialogue can be generated that will go beyond existing impasses.
Some issues that may be addressed are as follows. Are there precursors to such methods in earlier periods of Indian history, and what significance – if any – might they have for a history of non-violent resistance?   What were the historical conditions that gave rise to protest in South Asia that was consciously non-violent in the early twentieth century?   What can we learn from different movements waged at both local and national levels in their particular historical contexts? Which social groups, including women, were mobilised, and which were marginalised?  How did the method fare over time? How did it relate to nationalist and communal violence?   How did the method develop after independence in 1947?   Has it, and can it provide an effective counter to the communalising of politics? What is the fate of satyagraha in a globalising South Asia?

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