The theory of Passive Resistance and Non-Violence

The American author Henry David Thoreau was the pioneer of the modern theory behind this practice with his 1849 essay Civil Disobedience (available at Wikisource), originally titled "Resistance to Civil Government".

The main idea behind the essay was that of self-reliance, and how one is in morally good standing as long as they "get off another man's back"; so you don't have to physically fight the government, but you must not support it or have it support you (if you are against it). This essay has influenced many later practitioners of civil disobedience and non-violent or passive resistance.

Passive Resistance has served as a major tactic of nationalist movements in former colonies in Africa and Asia prior to their gaining independence. Most notably Mahatma Gandhi developed civil disobedience as an anti-colonialist tool. Gandhi said " Civil disobedience is the inherent right of a citizen to be civil, implies discipline, thought, care, attention ".

In seeking an active form of passive resistance, one may choose to deliberately break certain laws, for example forming a peaceful blockade. Protesters practice this non-violent form of civil disorder with the expectation that they will be arrested, or even attacked/beaten by the authorities. Protesters often undergo training in advance on how to react to arrest or to attack, so that they will do so in a manner that quietly or limply resists without threatening the authorities. For example, Mahatma Gandhi outlined the following rules:

• A civil resister (or satyagrahi) will harbour no anger.
• He will suffer the anger of the opponent.
• In so doing he will put up with assaults from the opponent, never retaliate; but he will not submit, out of fear of punishment or the like, to any order given in anger.
• When any person in authority seeks to arrest a civil resister, he will voluntarily submit to the arrest, and he will not resist the attachment or removal of his own property, if any, when it is sought to be confiscated by authorities.
• If a civil resister has any property in his possession as a trustee, he will refuse to surrender it, even though in defending it he might lose his life. He will, however, never retaliate.
• Retaliation includes swearing and cursing.
• Therefore a civil resister will never insult his opponent, and therefore also not take part in many of the newly coined cries which are contrary to the spirit of ahimsa.
• A civil resister will not salute the Union Jack, nor will he insult it or officials, English or Indian.
• In the course of the struggle if anyone insults an official or commits an assault upon him, a civil resister will protect such official or officials from the insult or attack even at the risk of his life.

Gandhi distinguished between his idea of satyagraha and the passive resistance of the west.

Satyagraha is the philosophy of nonviolent resistance most famously employed by Mohandas Gandhi in forcing an end to the British Raj and also against apartheid in South Africa.

Satya is Sanskrit for Truth, and Agraha is used to describe an effort, endeavor. The term itself may be construed to mean any effort to discover, discern, obtain or apply Truth . The word is rooted in Sanskrit, Hindi and Gujarati.

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