Class 11 Political Science Chapter 19 Peace — ASSEB HS 1st Year Question Answer
Welcome to HSLC Guru’s complete solution for Class 11 Political Science (Political Theory) Chapter 19 — Peace, prepared strictly for the ASSEB HS 1st Year syllabus. This chapter explores the meaning of peace beyond the mere absence of war, the concept of structural violence, the distinction between positive and negative peace, Johan Galtung’s peace theory, the Gandhian and Buddhist traditions of non-violence, and the major contemporary threats to peace including terrorism and nuclear weapons. Every NCERT in-text question, additional short and long answer question, and multiple-choice question is answered in detail to help students score full marks in board examinations.
Summary
The chapter “Peace” begins by clarifying that peace is not simply the absence of war or open hostility but a positive condition in which human beings can live with dignity, freedom and justice. Conventional thinking views peace merely as a quiet interval between two wars, but modern political theorists argue that genuine peace requires the elimination of every form of violence — physical, psychological and structural. Violence is not always direct or visible; very often it is built into the social, political and economic structures of society and operates silently, harming millions without a single shot being fired. This deeper, hidden violence is called structural violence, and removing it is the precondition of lasting peace.
Structural violence takes many forms. The caste system in India institutionalised the idea of “untouchability” and denied dignity, education, occupation and worship to millions for centuries. Class inequality divides society into the haves and have-nots, leaving the poor without adequate food, shelter, healthcare or schooling — a slow violence as deadly as war. Patriarchy subordinates women through female foeticide, denial of nutrition and education to the girl child, child marriage, dowry, domestic battery, sexual harassment and honour killings. Colonialism and imperialism reduced entire peoples to subjects, plundering their resources and crushing their cultures. Communalism turns religion into an instrument of hatred and triggers riots, while racism — most notoriously in apartheid South Africa and segregated America — denied basic rights on the basis of skin colour. Each of these is a structural form of violence because the harm is built into everyday institutions and rules, not into the act of any single person.
Political theorists distinguish between negative peace and positive peace. Negative peace simply means the absence of direct violence, war or open conflict. Positive peace is a richer condition: it means the presence of justice, equality, cooperation and harmony in social relations, along with the removal of structural violence. A society where two communities are not fighting but where one is silently exploited by the other is at negative peace, not positive peace. The Norwegian sociologist Johan Galtung, regarded as the father of modern peace studies, gave this distinction its sharpest form. According to Galtung, violence has three faces — direct violence (war, killing, assault), structural violence (poverty, caste, patriarchy built into systems) and cultural violence (the ideas, religions, ideologies and even media that justify the first two). Real peace, he argued, is achieved only when all three are dismantled, and this requires not only treaties and ceasefires but also social and economic restructuring.
War remains the most visible enemy of peace. Modern wars cause immense human suffering — killing soldiers and civilians, displacing populations, destroying homes, schools and hospitals, breeding famine and disease and traumatising entire generations. The two World Wars of the twentieth century killed close to seventy million people. The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 demonstrated the unprecedented destructive capacity of modern weapons; today’s nuclear arsenals can wipe out human civilisation many times over. To prevent such catastrophes, the international community founded the United Nations Organisation in 1945, with the maintenance of international peace and security as its first purpose. Movements for arms control, non-proliferation and disarmament — and treaties such as the NPT and CTBT — are part of the same effort, although India has rejected these particular treaties as discriminatory because they freeze the privileged position of existing nuclear-weapon states.
Alongside formal diplomacy, ordinary citizens have also organised peace movements. The anti-nuclear protests after 1945, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), the Vietnam War protests of the 1960s, the global movement against apartheid, environmental and women’s peace movements, and India’s Bhoodan and Sarvodaya movements led by Vinoba Bhave and Jayaprakash Narayan have all sought to build a culture of peace from below. The deepest moral resource of these movements has been the philosophy of non-violence. Mahatma Gandhi’s satyagraha — literally “insistence on truth” — combined ahimsa (non-injury) with active resistance to injustice. For Gandhi, non-violence was not the weapon of the weak but of the strong; it converted the opponent through self-suffering rather than defeating him through force, and produced just and lasting outcomes. Gandhian techniques inspired Martin Luther King’s civil-rights movement in America, Nelson Mandela’s struggle in South Africa and many other movements worldwide. The Buddhist tradition of peace, drawing on the Eightfold Path and the principles of compassion (karuna) and loving-kindness (metta), similarly teaches that hatred is never appeased by hatred — only by love. The Dalai Lama and the Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh are contemporary voices of this tradition.
The threats to peace today are different from those of the Cold War era. Terrorism uses indiscriminate violence against civilians to spread fear and force political change; September 11, 2001 in New York, the Mumbai 26/11 attacks and countless other tragedies show its reach. Nuclear weapons in the hands of more states, and possibly non-state actors, threaten human survival. Ethnic conflict, civil war, religious fundamentalism, narrow nationalism, the arms trade, and ecological breakdown add further pressure. Yet the chapter ends on a hopeful note: peace is not a utopian dream but a practical project that begins in the human mind, deepens through just institutions, and is sustained by the everyday choices of ordinary citizens.
সাৰাংশ
“শান্তি” অধ্যায়টোৱে শান্তিৰ প্ৰকৃত অৰ্থ ব্যাখ্যা কৰে। সাধাৰণ অৰ্থত মানুহে শান্তি বুলিলে যুদ্ধৰ অনুপস্থিতি বুজে, কিন্তু ৰাজনৈতিক তত্ত্বৱিদসকলৰ মতে এইটো এটা অসম্পূৰ্ণ ধাৰণা। প্ৰকৃত শান্তি মানে কেৱল প্ৰত্যক্ষ যুদ্ধ বা হিংসাৰ অনুপস্থিতি নহয়, ইয়াৰ অৰ্থ হ’ল মানুহে স্বাধীনতা, ন্যায় আৰু সমতাৰে জীয়াই থকা পৰিৱেশ। বহু সময়ত হিংসা চকুৱে দেখাকৈ নহয়, সমাজৰ গাঁথনিৰ ভিতৰতেই লুকাই থাকে — ইয়াকেই কোৱা হয় গাঁথনিগত হিংসা (Structural Violence)।
গাঁথনিগত হিংসাৰ কেইবাটাও ৰূপ আছে। জাতিভেদ প্ৰথাই শতিকাজোৰা ভাৰতীয় সমাজত কিছুমান লোকক “অস্পৃশ্য” বুলি গণ্য কৰি তেওঁলোকক শিক্ষা, ব্যৱসায় আৰু মৰ্যাদাৰ পৰা বঞ্চিত কৰিছিল। শ্ৰেণীভেদই সমাজক ধনী আৰু দুখীয়াত বিভাজিত কৰে, যাৰ ফলত কোটি কোটি মানুহ পৰ্যাপ্ত খাদ্য, বাসস্থান আৰু চিকিৎসাৰ পৰা বঞ্চিত হয়। পিতৃতন্ত্ৰই কন্যা ভ্ৰূণ হত্যা, বাল্যবিবাহ, যৌতুক, ঘৰুৱা হিংসা আৰু সন্মান হত্যাৰ দ্বাৰা মহিলাসকলক অৱদমিত কৰে। উপনিৱেশবাদই সমগ্ৰ জাতিকেই দাসত্বলৈ নমাইছিল আৰু তেওঁলোকৰ সম্পদ লুট কৰিছিল। সাম্প্ৰদায়িকতা আৰু বৰ্ণবাদই ধৰ্ম আৰু গাত্ৰবৰ্ণৰ ভিত্তিত মানুহক পৃথক কৰি হিংসা সৃষ্টি কৰে।
ৰাজনৈতিক তত্ত্বত শান্তিৰ দুটা ধাৰণা আছে — নেতিবাচক শান্তি (যুদ্ধ বা প্ৰত্যক্ষ হিংসাৰ অনুপস্থিতি) আৰু ইতিবাচক শান্তি (ন্যায়, সমতা আৰু সহযোগিতাৰ উপস্থিতিৰ সৈতে গাঁথনিগত হিংসাৰ অপসাৰণ)। নৰৱেৰ সমাজবিজ্ঞানী জোহান গাল্টুংক আধুনিক শান্তি অধ্যয়নৰ পিতৃ বুলি কোৱা হয়। গাল্টুঙৰ মতে হিংসাৰ তিনিটা ৰূপ আছে — প্ৰত্যক্ষ হিংসা, গাঁথনিগত হিংসা আৰু সাংস্কৃতিক হিংসা — আৰু এই তিনিওটা দূৰ নকৰাকৈ প্ৰকৃত শান্তি সম্ভৱ নহয়।
যুদ্ধই মানৱজাতিৰ ওপৰত অপৰিসীম দুখ-কষ্ট আনিছে। বিংশ শতিকাৰ দুখন বিশ্বযুদ্ধত প্ৰায় সাত কোটি মানুহ মৃত্যুমুখত পৰিল। ১৯৪৫ চনত হিৰ’ছিমা আৰু নাগাছাকিত পৰমাণু বোমা বিস্ফোৰণে পৰমাণু অস্ত্ৰৰ ভয়াৱহতা প্ৰদৰ্শন কৰিলে। এই ভয়াৱহতাৰ পৰা ৰক্ষাৰ বাবে ১৯৪৫ চনত ৰাষ্ট্ৰসংঘ স্থাপন কৰা হ’ল। অহিংসাৰ দৰ্শনত মহাত্মা গান্ধীৰ সত্যাগ্ৰহ অমূল্য অৱদান। গান্ধীজীৰ মতে অহিংসা দুৰ্বলৰ অস্ত্ৰ নহয়, সবলৰ অস্ত্ৰ। বৌদ্ধ ধৰ্মৰ শান্তি দৰ্শনত কৰুণা আৰু মৈত্ৰীৰ শিক্ষা আছে — ঘৃণাৰে ঘৃণা শান্ত নহয়, প্ৰেমেহে শান্ত হয়। বৰ্তমান যুগত সন্ত্ৰাসবাদ আৰু পৰমাণু অস্ত্ৰই শান্তিৰ ওপৰত মূল ভাবুকি কঢ়িয়াই আনিছে। কিন্তু শান্তি অসম্ভৱ নহয় — ই মানুহৰ মনৰ পৰাই আৰম্ভ হয় আৰু ন্যায়পৰায়ণ প্ৰতিষ্ঠানৰ যোগেৰে স্থায়ী হয়।
NCERT Textbook Questions and Answers
Q1. Do you think that a change towards a peaceful world needs a change in the way people think? Can mind promote peace and is it enough to focus only on the human mind?
Answer: Yes, a movement towards a peaceful world certainly requires a transformation in the way people think. Most conflicts begin in the human mind — in feelings of greed, fear, prejudice, hatred and the desire to dominate others. The Preamble to the UNESCO Constitution declares that “since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed.” If individuals cultivate values of tolerance, compassion, fellow-feeling, justice and respect for diversity, the seeds of war and violence are weakened at their root. Education, ethics, religion and culture all play a role in shaping such a peaceful mindset.
However, focusing only on the human mind is not enough. Violence does not arise only from individual psychology; it is also rooted in the structures of society — in the caste system, class inequality, patriarchy, colonial domination, communalism and racism. These institutional arrangements harm people every day even when no individual is consciously hostile. To build a genuinely peaceful society we must therefore reform social, political and economic structures alongside transforming minds. Peace requires both inner change and outer change — inner change to remove hatred, and outer change to remove injustice.
Q2. A State must protect the lives and liberties of its citizens, but it has been seen that often the State itself is a source of violence against its own people. Discuss with examples.
Answer: The primary purpose of the modern state, as theorised by Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau, is to safeguard the life, liberty and property of its citizens. Yet history is full of examples in which the state itself has become the most powerful agent of violence against its own people. (i) Authoritarian regimes like Nazi Germany under Hitler exterminated six million Jews in the Holocaust; Stalin’s Soviet Union sent millions to gulag labour camps. (ii) The apartheid regime in South Africa systematically denied basic rights to the black majority through state-enforced racial segregation. (iii) The Khmer Rouge in Cambodia killed nearly two million of its own citizens. (iv) Even democratic states have used the police, military and intelligence agencies to suppress dissent — the Emergency in India (1975-77), state repression in Chile under Pinochet and many others. (v) Encounter killings, custodial deaths and excessive force against protestors are everyday examples. The chapter therefore reminds us that peace requires not only protection by the state but also protection from arbitrary state power, through the rule of law, fundamental rights, an independent judiciary and a free press.
Q3. Peace can be best realised when there is freedom, equality and justice. Do you agree?
Answer: Yes, I fully agree that peace can be best realised only when freedom, equality and justice prevail in society. Peace is not the silence of the cemetery; it is the harmony of free, equal and dignified human beings.
Freedom: When people are denied liberty of speech, conscience, occupation or movement, resentment builds up and erupts in violence — as the freedom struggles against colonial rule across Asia and Africa demonstrated. Equality: Hierarchies of caste, class, gender and race generate structural violence. Where some live in luxury and others starve, peace is impossible. Equality of opportunity and dignity is therefore essential. Justice: Without legal, social and economic justice, grievances accumulate. The Naxalite movement, ethnic insurgencies and many separatist conflicts in India have their roots in perceived injustice. When laws are fair, courts impartial and resources distributed equitably, citizens have no reason to resort to violence. Hence peace, freedom, equality and justice are not separate goals but four pillars of the same edifice. As Pope Paul VI famously said, “If you want peace, work for justice.”
Q4. Use examples from any one historical or contemporary violent conflict to show how peace is more than the absence of war.
Answer: The conflict in apartheid South Africa illustrates this point clearly. For decades there was no formal war on South African territory, yet the country was far from peaceful. The white-minority government enforced racial segregation, denied black citizens the right to vote, restricted their movement through pass laws, imposed inferior education, and crushed dissent through massacres such as Sharpeville (1960) and Soweto (1976). Millions lived in fear, poverty and humiliation — a condition of structural violence even though no army was on the march. Genuine peace returned to South Africa only after Nelson Mandela’s release in 1990, the dismantling of apartheid, the establishment of universal franchise and the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The example proves that the mere absence of war is not peace; peace also requires the removal of injustice, equality of citizenship and reconciliation among communities.
Q5. Differentiate between the major approaches, discussed in the chapter, to the establishment of peace in the world.
Answer: Three broad approaches to establishing peace are identified: (i) The State-centric approach sees the sovereign state as the permanent unit of world politics and locates peace in a stable balance of power, deterrence and strong militaries. Realists such as Hans Morgenthau represent this view. Its strength is realism about state interests; its weakness is that arms races and rivalries themselves often produce war. (ii) The Liberal/Interdependence approach argues that growing economic, social and cultural cooperation among states reduces the chance of war because the costs of conflict become unbearable. Trade, treaties, international institutions like the UN, regional groupings like the EU and ASEAN, and global civil society all promote this kind of peace. (iii) The Cosmopolitan or Supranational approach regards the present state-system as transitional and looks forward to a world federation or strong global governance, where shared rules, human rights and global citizenship prevent conflict. Each approach captures part of the truth; lasting peace probably requires elements of all three — strong but accountable states, deep cooperation, and a growing sense of global humanity.
Additional Short Answer Questions
Q1. Define peace in the broad sense.
Answer: Peace, in the broad sense, is not merely the absence of war or direct violence; it is a positive condition in which freedom, equality, justice and harmony prevail and every form of violence — physical, psychological, structural and cultural — is removed.
Q2. What is structural violence?
Answer: Structural violence is the indirect harm built into the institutions, customs and rules of a society. It is not caused by an identifiable aggressor; it is the silent damage caused by exploitative economic systems, discriminatory laws, caste hierarchies, patriarchy and racism that deny human beings their full life chances.
Q3. Distinguish between negative peace and positive peace.
Answer: Negative peace is the mere absence of direct violence or war; positive peace is the presence of justice, equality and cooperation along with the absence of structural violence. Negative peace can exist between unequal partners, but only positive peace endures.
Q4. Who is Johan Galtung?
Answer: Johan Galtung is a Norwegian sociologist born in 1930, regarded as the founder of modern peace studies. He coined the terms “negative peace,” “positive peace,” “structural violence” and “cultural violence,” and founded the International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO) in 1959.
Q5. What are the three forms of violence according to Galtung?
Answer: Galtung identifies (i) direct violence — physical harm such as war and assault; (ii) structural violence — harm built into social systems like poverty and caste; and (iii) cultural violence — ideologies, religions and symbols that justify the first two.
Q6. Give two examples of structural violence in Indian society.
Answer: (i) The caste system, which historically denied dalits education, temple entry and dignified work, and (ii) patriarchy, which manifests in female foeticide, child marriage, dowry deaths and unequal wages.
Q7. What is patriarchy as a form of structural violence?
Answer: Patriarchy is a social system in which men hold dominant power and women are systematically subordinated. As structural violence, it operates through selective abortion of female foetuses, denial of education and nutrition to the girl child, child marriage, dowry harassment, domestic violence, sexual harassment, rape and honour killing.
Q8. How does colonialism amount to structural violence?
Answer: Colonialism reduced entire peoples to political subjects, plundered their natural resources, destroyed indigenous industries, imposed alien languages and laws, and caused famines that killed millions — all without classical battlefield combat. The colonial system itself was a form of permanent, institutionalised violence.
Q9. Define communalism.
Answer: Communalism is the political use of religious identity to create hostility between religious communities. It treats one religion as superior to another and encourages its followers to view members of other faiths as enemies, leading to riots, segregation and structural inequality.
Q10. What is racism? Give one historical example.
Answer: Racism is the belief that human beings can be divided into superior and inferior races on the basis of physical features such as skin colour, and the practices that follow from this belief. The apartheid system in South Africa (1948-1994), which legally separated whites from blacks and denied non-whites political and economic rights, is a classic example.
Q11. What is meant by satyagraha?
Answer: Satyagraha, literally “insistence on truth,” is the technique of non-violent resistance developed by Mahatma Gandhi. It combines truth (satya), non-injury (ahimsa) and willingness to suffer for one’s cause, aiming to convert the opponent through moral pressure rather than defeat him by force.
Q12. Why did Gandhi say non-violence is the weapon of the strong?
Answer: Gandhi argued that the coward who runs away from danger is not non-violent; only one who has the power to retaliate but chooses self-suffering and moral persuasion is truly non-violent. Non-violence therefore requires courage, discipline and inner strength, far greater than physical force.
Q13. What is the Buddhist contribution to peace?
Answer: Buddhism teaches the Eightfold Path of right view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness and concentration, with compassion (karuna) and loving-kindness (metta) as central virtues. The Buddha’s saying — “Hatred is never appeased by hatred; it is appeased by love” — is one of the foundational texts of the world’s peace tradition.
Q14. What is terrorism?
Answer: Terrorism is the deliberate use of indiscriminate violence — bombings, hijackings, mass shootings, hostage-taking — against civilians by non-state or state-sponsored actors to spread fear and force political, religious or ideological change.
Q15. Why are nuclear weapons a threat to world peace?
Answer: Nuclear weapons can destroy entire cities in minutes, kill millions, contaminate land and water for decades, and trigger climate disruption (“nuclear winter”). Their very possession encourages arms races and miscalculation, and proliferation among unstable states or non-state actors raises the risk of catastrophic use.
Q16. What are NPT and CTBT?
Answer: The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT, 1968) seeks to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons beyond the five recognised nuclear-weapon states. The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT, 1996) bans all nuclear explosions for testing or any other purpose. India has not signed either, considering them discriminatory.
Q17. Why has India refused to sign the NPT and CTBT?
Answer: India considers both treaties discriminatory because they freeze the privileged position of the existing five nuclear-weapon states while demanding that others remain non-nuclear. India favours universal, non-discriminatory and time-bound nuclear disarmament instead.
Q18. Mention any two major peace movements in modern history.
Answer: (i) The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), launched in Britain in 1958, drew millions to march for the abolition of nuclear weapons. (ii) The anti-Vietnam War movement of the 1960s mobilised global protest against U.S. military intervention. (iii) Gandhi’s Non-Cooperation and Quit India movements were peace movements directed against colonial violence.
Q19. What is the Panchsheel?
Answer: Panchsheel (“five virtues”) is the set of five principles of peaceful coexistence agreed between India and China on 29 April 1954: mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence.
Q20. What is the role of the United Nations in promoting peace?
Answer: The United Nations, founded on 24 October 1945, maintains international peace and security through the Security Council, sends peacekeeping missions (“Blue Helmets”) to conflict zones, mediates disputes, promotes disarmament, runs humanitarian and human-rights bodies, and fosters cooperation among 193 member states.
Long Answer Questions
Q1. Explain the meaning of peace and discuss why peace is more than the absence of war.
Answer: The word peace comes from the Latin pax, meaning a binding agreement that ends conflict. In ordinary language people use it to describe the absence of war, riot or fighting; in this narrow sense the cessation of armed hostilities is itself called peace. But political theorists insist that this is a thin and incomplete definition. A society in which there is no open war but where millions starve, women are abused, minorities are persecuted and dissent is silenced is not at peace; it is at the brink of explosion.
Modern peace studies therefore define peace positively as a condition of (i) absence of all forms of violence — direct, structural and cultural, (ii) presence of freedom, justice, equality and human dignity, (iii) cooperation among individuals, communities and nations, and (iv) inner harmony of the human personality. Negative peace — the mere absence of war — may exist between a master and a slave, but it is unjust and fragile. Positive peace, by contrast, requires the removal of the causes of violence — exploitation, hierarchy, prejudice and ignorance.
Examples make this clear. India in 1947 was politically free but had not yet achieved peace because of communal violence, partition refugees, caste oppression and grinding poverty. South Africa under apartheid was nominally peaceful but seething with structural violence. Even the Cold War was called “peace” because the superpowers did not fight directly, yet proxy wars killed millions. True peace requires not only the silencing of guns but the creation of just, equal and humane societies.
Q2. What is structural violence? Discuss its main forms with examples.
Answer: Structural violence is the term coined by Johan Galtung to describe harm that is built into the institutions and structures of society rather than inflicted by an identifiable individual. It works silently — through laws, customs, economic arrangements and cultural norms — but its damage is real and often greater than that of direct violence. Its principal forms are:
- Caste: The traditional Indian caste system divided society into hereditary, ranked groups and labelled some communities “untouchable,” denying them temple entry, education, water and dignified work. Even today caste atrocities continue despite constitutional prohibition.
- Class: Economic inequality between the rich and the poor leaves billions without adequate food, shelter, healthcare or schooling. Hunger and avoidable disease kill more people every year than war.
- Patriarchy: Male dominance shows up in female foeticide, denial of nutrition and education to girls, child marriage, dowry deaths, domestic violence, workplace harassment, rape and honour killings.
- Colonialism and Imperialism: European empires plundered Asia, Africa and the Americas for centuries — destroying indigenous economies, languages and cultures, and causing famines that killed tens of millions.
- Communalism: The political use of religion to set communities against each other has caused riots in India (1947, 1984, 1992, 2002) and elsewhere.
- Racism: Apartheid South Africa, Jim Crow America and contemporary discrimination against immigrants and refugees show how skin colour and ethnicity can be made into a basis of unequal citizenship.
Removing structural violence requires not just goodwill but legal reform, redistribution of resources, affirmative action, education and a culture of equality.
Q3. Discuss Galtung’s theory of peace.
Answer: Johan Galtung’s theory of peace is the most influential framework in modern peace studies. Galtung distinguishes between three forms of violence: direct violence (war, killing, assault — visible and physical), structural violence (harm built into social, economic and political systems), and cultural violence (the ideologies, religions, languages and symbols that justify or normalise direct and structural violence). Each face of the “violence triangle” supports the others, so true peace requires the removal of all three.
Correspondingly, Galtung distinguishes negative peace — the mere absence of direct violence, achievable through ceasefires and treaties — from positive peace, the presence of justice, equality and cooperation along with the abolition of structural and cultural violence. Negative peace is short-term; positive peace is sustainable. Galtung’s approach also distinguishes peace-keeping (separating combatants), peace-making (negotiating settlements) and peace-building (reconstructing institutions, healing trauma, promoting development), arguing that all three are needed in post-conflict societies. By widening the definition of violence, Galtung also widened the agenda of peace: it now includes development economics, gender equality, environmental sustainability and cultural dialogue, and not merely diplomacy and disarmament.
Q4. Examine the Gandhian philosophy of non-violence and its relevance today.
Answer: Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violence (ahimsa) was both a moral creed and a practical political technique. He fused it with the pursuit of truth (satya) into the strategy of satyagraha — “insistence on truth.” For Gandhi, ends and means are inseparable: a just end cannot be achieved by unjust means, and violence breeds only further violence.
Key principles of Gandhian non-violence include: (i) non-violence is the weapon of the strong, requiring greater courage than armed combat; (ii) the satyagrahi must be willing to accept suffering rather than inflict it; (iii) the aim is not to defeat the opponent but to convert him; (iv) means and ends must be morally consistent; (v) self-purification and discipline are preconditions of effective resistance. Through Champaran (1917), the Salt March (1930), Quit India (1942) and countless smaller campaigns, Gandhi demonstrated that mass non-violent action can defeat even the mightiest empire.
Its relevance today is undeniable. Martin Luther King’s civil rights movement in America, Nelson Mandela’s later turn to negotiated transition in South Africa, Lech Walesa’s Solidarity in Poland, the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, the Arab Spring’s peaceful phases, and India’s Chipko, Narmada Bachao and farmers’ movements have all drawn on Gandhian techniques. In a nuclear age where war can annihilate humanity, non-violence is not just a moral preference but a survival strategy. It also offers a model for resolving everyday conflicts in family, school and workplace.
Q5. Discuss the major peace movements of the twentieth century.
Answer: The twentieth century, soaked in the blood of two World Wars and the threat of nuclear annihilation, also gave rise to the most powerful peace movements in human history. (i) The anti-war movement after World War I produced the League of Nations and pacifist organisations such as the War Resisters’ International. (ii) Mahatma Gandhi’s Indian freedom struggle showed the world the power of mass non-violence. (iii) The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), launched in Britain in 1958 with the famous “peace symbol,” led the call to ban the bomb. (iv) The anti-Vietnam War movement of the 1960s drew students, intellectuals and ordinary citizens worldwide. (v) The civil rights movement in the United States, led by Martin Luther King Jr., used non-violent direct action against racism. (vi) The anti-apartheid movement mobilised global solidarity with South Africa’s oppressed majority. (vii) Women’s peace movements such as the Greenham Common camp opposed cruise missiles in Britain. (viii) Environmental peace movements link ecological survival with global peace. (ix) In India, the Bhoodan and Sarvodaya movements led by Vinoba Bhave and Jayaprakash Narayan applied Gandhian principles to land reform and political renewal. Together, these movements have built a global culture of peace that complements the work of governments and the United Nations.
Q6. What are the major threats to peace in the contemporary world? How can they be tackled?
Answer: The contemporary world faces a complex set of threats to peace: (i) Terrorism — non-state and state-sponsored groups using indiscriminate violence against civilians, as in 9/11, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, and continuing insurgencies in many regions; (ii) Nuclear weapons — held now by nine states and threatened by proliferation to others, including possibly non-state actors; (iii) Inter-state conflict over territory, resources and prestige; (iv) Civil wars and ethnic conflict in fragile states; (v) Religious fundamentalism and communalism; (vi) Narrow nationalism, jingoism and an unregulated arms trade; (vii) Climate change and environmental degradation, which can trigger resource conflicts and mass migration; (viii) Cyber-warfare and weaponisation of artificial intelligence; (ix) Inequality, poverty and unemployment, which feed extremism.
Tackling these threats requires (a) strengthening the United Nations and international law, (b) universal and verifiable nuclear disarmament, (c) international cooperation against terrorism with respect for human rights, (d) inclusive economic development that reduces inequality, (e) education for tolerance, secularism and global citizenship, (f) protection of the environment through binding global agreements, and (g) revitalising the philosophy of non-violence at the level of individuals, communities and states.
Q7. Explain the Buddhist approach to peace.
Answer: The Buddhist approach to peace begins from the inner life of the individual. Gautama Buddha taught that suffering (dukkha) arises from craving (tanha), and that its cure is the Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration. Two cardinal virtues — karuna (compassion) and metta (loving-kindness) — extend ethical concern to all sentient beings. Buddhism also stresses interdependence: nothing exists in isolation, so violence against another is ultimately violence against oneself.
From this foundation flow several peace teachings: hatred can never be ended by hatred but only by love; right livelihood excludes occupations that involve harming others, including the trade in weapons; mindfulness helps to dissolve anger before it becomes action; and the practice of meditation cultivates inner peace as the basis of social peace. Modern Buddhist peace activists such as the 14th Dalai Lama and the Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh have applied these principles to non-violent resistance, environmental ethics and inter-religious dialogue. The Buddhist approach therefore complements Gandhian non-violence: while Gandhi emphasised political action rooted in moral courage, Buddhism emphasises inner transformation as the ultimate source of outer peace.
Q8. “Peace is not just a goal but a process.” Discuss.
Answer: Treating peace as a final state to be reached once and for all is misleading. History shows that no peace settlement, however carefully drafted, lasts forever — the Treaty of Versailles ended one war and helped to start another. Peace is better understood as an ongoing process by which conflicts are continuously prevented, managed and transformed.
This processual understanding has several implications. First, peace must be built daily — through education, dialogue, fair laws, just economic policies and democratic institutions. Second, conflicts are inevitable wherever human beings differ, but the question is whether they are resolved violently or peacefully. Third, peace requires the active participation of citizens, civil society, media, religious leaders, scientists and artists, not just governments. Fourth, peace at the international level depends on peace within states, which in turn depends on peace within communities, families and individuals. As Mahatma Gandhi put it, “There is no path to peace; peace is the path.” Recognising peace as a process keeps us vigilant against complacency and reminds us that every generation must win it anew.
Forms / Types of Violence — Comparative Table
| Type of Violence | Nature | Examples | Impact on Peace |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct (Physical) Violence | Visible, intentional bodily harm by an identifiable actor | War, riot, murder, assault, terrorism | Destroys negative peace immediately |
| Structural Violence | Harm built into social, economic and political systems | Caste, class inequality, patriarchy, colonialism, communalism, racism | Destroys positive peace; produces lasting injustice |
| Cultural Violence | Ideologies, religions, art and symbols that justify direct or structural violence | Glorification of war, casteist scriptures, racist stereotypes, hate speech | Legitimises and perpetuates other violences |
| Psychological Violence | Mental and emotional harm through fear, threat, humiliation | Bullying, verbal abuse, intimidation, propaganda | Erodes inner peace and trust |
| Ecological Violence | Harm to nature that ultimately harms humans | Pollution, deforestation, climate change | Triggers resource conflict and migration |
Negative Peace vs Positive Peace
| Basis | Negative Peace | Positive Peace |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Absence of direct violence and war | Presence of justice, equality, cooperation along with absence of structural violence |
| Scope | Narrow and minimal | Broad and substantive |
| Means | Ceasefires, treaties, deterrence | Social reform, economic justice, education, dialogue |
| Duration | Often short-lived and fragile | Durable and self-sustaining |
| Example | Cold War “long peace” | Nordic welfare democracies; post-apartheid South Africa |
Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)
1. Peace is best defined as —
(a) Absence of war alone
(b) Presence of justice, equality and absence of all violence
(c) Silence in society
(d) Strong military
Answer: (b) Presence of justice, equality and absence of all violence
2. The term “structural violence” was popularised by —
(a) Mahatma Gandhi
(b) Karl Marx
(c) Johan Galtung
(d) Martin Luther King
Answer: (c) Johan Galtung
3. Negative peace means —
(a) Bad peace
(b) Mere absence of direct violence or war
(c) Peace imposed by force
(d) Peace without rules
Answer: (b) Mere absence of direct violence or war
4. Positive peace involves —
(a) Only ceasefires
(b) Justice, equality and removal of structural violence
(c) Only treaties
(d) Strong armies
Answer: (b) Justice, equality and removal of structural violence
5. Which of the following is NOT a form of structural violence?
(a) Caste
(b) Patriarchy
(c) Colonialism
(d) Earthquake
Answer: (d) Earthquake
6. The Sanskrit term for non-violence is —
(a) Satya
(b) Ahimsa
(c) Dharma
(d) Karma
Answer: (b) Ahimsa
7. “Satyagraha” literally means —
(a) Search for power
(b) Insistence on truth
(c) Civil war
(d) Diplomatic agreement
Answer: (b) Insistence on truth
8. The Salt Satyagraha was launched in —
(a) 1917
(b) 1922
(c) 1930
(d) 1942
Answer: (c) 1930
9. Apartheid was practised in —
(a) Algeria
(b) South Africa
(c) Egypt
(d) Kenya
Answer: (b) South Africa
10. The United Nations was founded on —
(a) 24 October 1945
(b) 26 January 1950
(c) 15 August 1947
(d) 14 July 1789
Answer: (a) 24 October 1945
11. Which leader led the American civil rights movement on Gandhian lines?
(a) Abraham Lincoln
(b) Martin Luther King Jr.
(c) John F. Kennedy
(d) Barack Obama
Answer: (b) Martin Luther King Jr.
12. The Panchsheel agreement was signed in —
(a) 1947
(b) 1950
(c) 1954
(d) 1962
Answer: (c) 1954
13. NPT stands for —
(a) National Peace Treaty
(b) Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
(c) Nation Pact Treaty
(d) New Pacific Treaty
Answer: (b) Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
14. The atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in —
(a) 1939
(b) 1942
(c) 1945
(d) 1949
Answer: (c) 1945
15. Which of the following best illustrates patriarchy as structural violence?
(a) An earthquake
(b) Female foeticide and dowry deaths
(c) A car accident
(d) A flood
Answer: (b) Female foeticide and dowry deaths
16. The Eightfold Path is associated with —
(a) Hinduism
(b) Christianity
(c) Buddhism
(d) Islam
Answer: (c) Buddhism
17. “Hatred is never appeased by hatred; it is appeased by love” was said by —
(a) Karl Marx
(b) Buddha
(c) Aristotle
(d) Plato
Answer: (b) Buddha
18. The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) was started in —
(a) USA
(b) Britain
(c) France
(d) Germany
Answer: (b) Britain
19. Cultural violence refers to —
(a) Direct armed attack
(b) Beliefs and ideologies that justify violence
(c) Loss of culture
(d) Cultural exchange
Answer: (b) Beliefs and ideologies that justify violence
20. Which is the body of the UN primarily responsible for international peace and security?
(a) General Assembly
(b) Security Council
(c) ECOSOC
(d) Trusteeship Council
Answer: (b) Security Council
21. Bhoodan movement was started by —
(a) Mahatma Gandhi
(b) Vinoba Bhave
(c) Jayaprakash Narayan
(d) B. R. Ambedkar
Answer: (b) Vinoba Bhave
22. CTBT means —
(a) Common Treaty for Border Talks
(b) Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
(c) Common Trade Border Treaty
(d) Combined Test Ban Tactic
Answer: (b) Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
23. Apartheid in South Africa officially ended in —
(a) 1990
(b) 1994
(c) 1999
(d) 2001
Answer: (b) 1994
24. Which is NOT one of the principles of Panchsheel?
(a) Mutual respect for sovereignty
(b) Non-aggression
(c) Peaceful coexistence
(d) Military alliance
Answer: (d) Military alliance
25. Terrorism is best described as —
(a) Lawful war between states
(b) Indiscriminate violence against civilians for political ends
(c) Civil disobedience
(d) Peace march
Answer: (b) Indiscriminate violence against civilians for political ends
Prepared for ASSEB HS 1st Year Political Science students by HSLC Guru. For more chapter solutions visit hslcguru.com.