Peace & Social Justice: A Case Study From India

Today after our morning practice we talked about peace (shanti). In the spiritual realm, peace is an individual affair. The yogis say there will never be collective emancipation of the unit beings. Rather as one advances in their meditation they gain realisation and experience true peace, or perfect peace.

On the social plane, it is an entirely different matter. Peace is a collective endeavour – and a constant endeavour. This universe is dynamic and always unfolding in new ways, as is society. So communities and peoples can experience phases of relative peace, but permanent peace on the social plane is not possible.

The question then becomes how to achieve that type of relative peace on the social plane. One key ingredient is: Justice. Where there is justice – where exploitation is not allowed to rear its ugly head – where the voice of the people is heard, there is the ability to cultivate a peaceful society.

Justice ideally results when there is law and order that is maintained by the government and honored by the people. But when the authorities are not responsive to public outcry, then justice can be achieved to varying degrees by public uprising.

Then I told the story of one gang leader and the women of Nagpur. When the authorities failed to pay heed to the cries of the people, then those women took justice into their own hands – literally.

Warning: Please know that this is a graphic account with explicit language that was reported by The Guardian Newspaper (UK).

For those who would like to read it, here is that article:

Arrest Us All:  When hundreds of women descended on Nagpur district court armed with knives, stones and chilli powder, within minutes the man who raped them lay dead.