Satyagraha

(“Holding Fast to the Truth”)
Organized campaign of nonviolent
resistance or non-cooperation as a
political tool, a technique best refined
by Mohandas K. Gandhi. For Gandhi
himself, the basis of this technique
was rooted in his commitment to the
truth and his conviction that his opponents could be swayed by the power of
truth, if it was put before them.
Gandhi’s satyagraha campaigns would
begin by publicly pointing out the
injustice in question, in the hope that
this alone could lead to the matter
being rectified. If nothing was done, a
campaign would then begin, but the
adversary would always be informed
of what was to happen next. The real
goal was not to humble the adversary
but to persuade the other party to see
the rightness of one’s position and to
accept it. The most important thing of
all was to retain one’s own commitment to the truth and never to compromise it, even if doing so could gain
one some immediate advantage. For
Gandhi, in the end the truth was the
only thing that mattered, and winning
or losing could only be measured insofar as one kept this in perspective.