Ahimsa the Ultimate Winner

Author(s): N P Jain
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

Page 88

transformation, promote both human rights as well as animal rights and to ensure equality and justice through persuasive methods. Without non-violent behaviour, all these modern concepts would become devoid of any meaning and content. Exploitation - mental and physical, political and economic, social and racial would continue. Violence as an easy option would sharpen its cutting edges ever more. Non-violent conduct alone can prevent in a durable manner the current universal drift towards crisis, confusion and chaos.
Teachings and practices of Jainism have a lot of relevance in persuading individuals and groups to shed "the violent ego complex", and the temptation to assert authority or suppress or oppress others through sheer violence and brutal force.
What the world of today needs is a widespread grass root education and training in non-violence in thought and practice. It must become part of school and University education. It must find a mention in the Charter and Covenants of the United Nations. Search for durable peace has to be on the formulations of the compassionate concept of non-violence. Non-violence along can be stable and convincing deterrent. United Nations has so far undertaken many peacekeeping operations but they have always been through armed forces. It is about time an international brigade of multinational volunteer force is raised which would seek to bring peace in troubled regions through non-violent methods.
There are institutions like the UN University for peace at Costa Rica providing education in peace. Education in peace is incomplete unless reinforced by a well thought out, coordinated and planned programme of education in the virtues and strength of non-violent thought and behaviour pattern in day-to-day life for tackling crisis points and situation as they begin to emerge in a society.
Such education can more persuasively strengthen environmental awareness and responsibility. Jain religion may
Ahimsa: The Ultimate Winner ★ (65)