Gandhi’s non–Violence Peace Protests – Is This the right way to fight against evil?

At another meeting that Gandhi held, there were much more turn ups than the previous meeting which showed he had made an immense impact. At this meeting Gandhi made a speech, and at that end he wanted to know who would stand by him. Then one by one someone stood up showing that they would stand by him, until eventually everyone did stand up and showed that they would stand by Gandhi. One of the Asians that stood here at the meeting threatened aloud to kill a white person who caused his family trouble. Everyone agreed with that person and began to cheer. Despite everyone sticking up for Gandhi and taking his side, Gandhi said no to this. Gandhi was not happy at the fact that the Asians were going to cause rioting. He still stood by what he said about non - violence protests. He said ‘We will fight their anger, not provoke it’.

A white man named Rev. Charlie Andrews who arrived in South Africa agreed with what Gandhi believed in. Charlie gave out a speech in church about how Gandhi’s beliefs were right. Not all Christians agreed with this and one by one the Christians began to walk off. There were however a few Christians who agreed with what Rev. Charlie Andrews was saying. For example when Charlie was giving out the speech he looked around and saw an old lady is shown nodding her head at him in acknowledgement to what he was saying.

Gandhi was released from prison for the burning of the passes, after the strong speech he made. When he was released he asked for a shilling (which is in the region of £5) for a taxi to go to his destination. The man he asked a shilling for didn’t have any money, and so when another officer came along he had to give a shilling to Gandhi for his taxi ride. The officer gave the shilling reluctantly and Gandhi was on his way. When Gandhi was being walked to the door he said that he didn’t need to be walked to the door as he could find his own way out.  

        Can this be a good what of dealing with evil? Some people believe that what Gandhi did was a good way of dealing with evil. They think this because what Gandhi did turned out very successful. Martin Luther King followed the same teachings Gandhi and he became very successful at stopping racism in America. Martin Luther King also believed in non – violent peace protests, and instead did things such as boycotts to make a stand for what he believed in. Both Gandhi and Martin Luther King became very famous for this which means what they believed was a very successful idea.

        Other people believe however that what Gandhi did was not a good way of dealing with evil. They think this because if for example when Gandhi was burning those passes he was getting beaten pretty seriously, and in other circumstances or on another day he may have been killed. Other people may think that non – violence is a bad way of fighting against evil because if you fought back then that may put someone in his/her place. Another point is that if you violently fight back it will show everyone that you are not an easy target for someone evil.    

        In my opinion I think that Gandhi’s non – violent peace protest were very successful, and was a very good idea. The quote that I stick by the most was when Gandhi said ‘We will fight their anger, not provoke it’. I believe that fighting back physically, will only make others angry and as a result will not resolve any problems at all. Even though I think non – violence protests is a good theory, I am also aware that there can be certain consequences which must be faced. These consequences involve things such as people getting hurt.