Solidarity

Its a lot easier for people to join a peaceful protest than a violent one. That is the secret of success to gather people of the likes of Gandhi and Martin Luther King. Injustice is distasteful to many no matter who or where they are but not many will want to involve in activities propagated by hooligans. Consensus of people is required to face many issues facing the world today. Nothing says it louder than an orderly group of decent men, women, and children. A society that can organize such gatherings are only a step from attaining and retaining its freedom. If such meetings are not possible governance is not possible once freedom is attained.

Peaceful methods however are not successful without mass participation. Aung San Suu Kyi remains in jail in Burma. This is a failure of the Burmese people. Peaceful methods can win only in elite societies and so India is one of those. The salt march always is a matter of personal pride for me. People in these societies are aware, will protest, and demand rights as long as it does not involve doing wrong themselves. Whenever there is mass participation in achieving a goal the society evolves since they learn to recognize the enemy within themselves. Mass participation usually involves societal reform and I for one am all for it.