Ahimsa is better –evidence says
Posted on: 27 Aug 2011
Even staunch Gandhians are at a loss when it comes to the stock question: What would have happened if Gandhiji were applying his nonviolent agitation techniques against a violently dictatorial regime, say a Hitler or a Stalin? Nonviolence against the British succeeded mainly because it was a democratic country, some say. There are many examples of the brutal fate that awaits nonviolent protesters in dictatorial countries – the 3000 or so Chinese massacred at Tiananmen Square, the 2000 plus people killed in Syria during the last few months and on and on. So better take up arms if you are fighting against dictators, right? Wrong, the evidence from recent history suggests otherwise, says Dr Erica Chenoweth of University of Colorado . To learn more, read this story from Foreign Policy.
