Much like the rest, I too have been spending a significant amount of time reflecting on 9/11 today. Ironically, today marks the 100 year anniversary to the day that Mahatma Gandhi launched the nonviolent resistance movement, or the "Satyagraha."

The date was September 11th, 1906. Speaking before 3,000 Indians gathered at a theater in Johannesburg, Gandhi organized a strategy of nonviolent resistance to oppose racist policies in South Africa. Satyagraha was born and since then, it has been adopted by many around the world to resist social injustice and oppression.

Gandhi used it in India to win independence from the British. The Reverend Martin Luther King used it in the United States to oppose segregation and Nelson Mandela used it in South Africa to end apartheid. [link]

Democracy Now! recently did a fabulous interview of Arun Gandhi, Gandhi's grandson and co-founder of the MK Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence in Memphis, TN. He talks about that day, but it's interesting to see how applicable the words are to today's resistance.

[P]eople were wondering, how can we resist with the state so powerful, and we don't have any weapons, you know, because every time, even today, when somebody talks about resistance, everybody thinks in terms of weapons and war and fighting. And that's when grandfather explained to them that we don't need any weapons of mass destruction. We have the ability to respond to this nonviolently and with self-suffering. And that's what he encouraged the people to do. And they came out into the streets with love for the enemy. You know, grandfather didn't tolerate any hate for the enemy or any anger for the enemy. He said nonviolence has to be complete nonviolence. We have to have love and respect for the enemy, and that is the only way we can overcome them. And that's what he showed in his work.

And I am amazed that the prime minister of South Africa, General J.C. Smuts, later on he admitted that grandfather was the greatest. He called him a saint, and he said, "It was my misfortune that I had to be against him," you know. And it was that kind of feeling of reverence and awe that he inspired even in his opponents. And I think that's what we have to remember and try to make it a part of our lives, because violence is destroying us. You know, we're seeing violence growing every day in our streets, in our homes, in our towns, in our cities, in the world itself. Everywhere we turn, we see violence and hate and prejudice and anger and all of these negative emotions that are destroying humanity. And we have to wake up and take note of this and try to change our course, so that we can create a world of peace and harmony where future generations can live happily together.[link]

In many ways, I feel the parallels of these two landmark events on 9/11 is not just ironic, but symbolic. Five years ago to the day, we lost what privilege we had as the 'model minority.' The xenophobic attitude towards desis felt in the post-9/11 backlash are somewhat parallel to those felt by desis in South Africa during Gandhi's time. Different magnitudes of hate, but similar all the same.

Immediately after 9/11, no longer were we expected to be the meek/silent good-at-math kids, but we became evil doers/ terrorists by association of our ethnicity. But, in this backlash, is where the solidarity within the South Asian American community really developed, and much like the non-violent resistance movement, the South Asian American 'movement' if not created, was significantly redefined. I know now, looking back at the past five years, that it was the events after 9/11 that really defined how I approached my identity as a South Asian American, and defined my involvement in the 'movement.' Five years later, as South Asians in America, we have many more resources, people, organizations, and allies to be a strategically organized community. We still have a ways to go but if a glimmer of hope can be found in the devastations of that day, for me, it is this new sense of being a part of a 'movement' that I could finally relate to.

Is non-violence and showering our enemy with love a way to end this "war against terror"? I don't know. I don't think anyone really knows how to get us out of the mess that we are in. But I like what Sundar had to say...

Violence within manifests as violence outside and each of us is a critical link in the creation of the world as we see it
Maybe we need to remind ourselves more of a man who told us, "Be the change you wish to see in the world". [link]