We are living in an era of mindless, brutal blood shedding and violence. Often, the war is for some cause or the other. The dreams, aspirations, ambitions, love, lust, greed, agony, anguish, anger, frustrations all spill out in the form of bullets and swords. Even petty feuds and silly arguments end up in large scale destruction and communal clashes.

 We live in an age of heroes who seek to build their empire atop the graveyards. The Osamas, Prabhakarans, myriad forms of Naxalism, extreme Maoism, communal and caste hatred and all forms of oppressive idealisms seek to establish their dominance on the world order. Saner voices like that of the Dalai Lama are drowned in the midst of the loud, fervent war cries. Even devil’s hell would be a better abode than man’s earth.

 When I saw the reports of Prabhakaran’s death, I couldn’t but wonder what the moral of his life is. His fight was against the oppression of Tamils by the Sri Lankan government and the Sinhalese community. But, what did he achieve for his people? What did the Tamils gain?

 Wasn’t it Prabhakaran’s mistake that he could not make use of the good will and the support that he initially got from world over and especially from India? Perhaps his biggest blunder was the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. This ill advised move left India totally incapable of interfering on his behalf, no matter what the situation in Lanka became. Rajiv had committed an equally big mistake by signing a pact with the then Sri Lankan President and sending IPKF to the Lanka. But, two mistakes never add up to anything more than a bigger mistake. Prabhakaran never had the courage and vision to lead his men on the path of reconciliation and participatory politics.

The same is true for the Osamas and other pretenders who seek to salvage their tribe from something or the other. The common man’s sufferings are the same whether it is in Lanka, Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Somalia,  Zimbabwe or in any other place. He is betrayed and oppressed by the same leaders who seek to champion his cause and take him to the Promised Land. The story is the same, only the names change. A mass of oppressed and impoverished junta kept in the shackles by a visionless coward at the helm.

 For it takes more courage to face the bullets than to shoot them. As these thoughts raced through my mind, I was struck by a lightning bolt. Suddenly, I found myself awe struck at what had happened in India in the last century, the leader who took us from slavery to freedom.

 The Mahatma. I just cannot fathom the enormity of a non-violent movement, that too against the most powerful imperial force that ever existed in the world. Like every Indian, I have also learned about the Mahatma in my history books. I come across references to him at least on his birthday and the day of his martyrdom. I have read his autobiography too. Still, the gory visuals from Lanka splashed across the news channels triggered an unprecedented wave of disbelief and awe in my mind.

 I suddenly recalled what the great scientist Albert Einstein said:

 “Generations to come will scarcely believe that such a one as this (Gandhi) walked the earth in flesh and blood.”

Indeed, it is difficult to believe such a man existed. May be they should start teaching more about Mahatma in schools and colleges ALL OVER THE WORLD. Preserve whatever Mahatma memorabilia available to perhaps try and convince the future generations. Start a global campaign on non-violence as an effective and most powerful political tool.

 Resurrect the Mahatma and bring him back in to our lives. Or else, not many generations would survive to wonder whether he existed or not...