The Role of Peace Education

EDUCATION, 11 Jan 2016

Surya Nath Prasad, Ph. D. – TRANSCEND Media Service

For Good Governance: Saints and Sages as Ministers and Judges; Inventors and Innovators as Bureaucrats

Today the leaders in the nation-states, whether they are democratic or non-democratic, have failed to provide good governance to their people, hence they miserably suffer not only to meet their basic daily needs, but they become victims of violence committed by them, which has created much cruel violent non-state leaders to rule them worst than slaves.

The author of these lines would like to cite the observation of a renowned Russian American Sociologist Pitirim A. Sorokin who said, “During the catastrophes of this century, humanity has childishly followed in this quest one leader after another and has credulously tried various plans of salvation. In vain! None of the leaders and none of the plans have delivered the goods they promised. Instead of peace they have produced two world wars. Instead of happiness and plenty they have brought mankind into an inferno of misery. These facts irretrievably condemn these leaders and their plans as dismal failures, guilty of irresponsible promises of inability to prevent catastrophe, of ignorantly leading humanity toward destruction.”

Due to bad governance in democratic, semi-democratic and non-democratic nation-states, 80 per cent of the world population out of about more than 7 billion people lives on less than $10 a day. And nearly 1/2 of the world’s population – more than 3 billion people – live on less than $2.50 a day, and more than 1.3 billion live in extreme poverty – less than $1.25 a day. 1/3rd of the world’s hungry live in India, and 836 million Indians survive on less than Rs.20 (less than half-a-dollar) a day, and they have to face a lot of problems to suffer physically, mentally and spiritually along with their dependents, while the world has enough resources to meet the needs of more than 15 billion people. But corruption at higher places prevents to reach the fruits of development to all.

The partners in governance are elected members of the people including ministers, judges and bureaucrats in democratic and quasi-democratic nation-states, and kings, queens and dictators in non-democratic nation-states. Mostly they are not good in governance due to being either corrupt and or criminals, it does not mean that those, who are not corrupt and or criminals, are good in governance, because they are party in bad governance treating themselves as masters of the people, not as their servants.

Pustak Mahal publishers of the book entitled World Famous Corrupt Politicians have observed in its Preface that “In each and every walk of life, corruption is rampant. This malady has turned into an epidemic taking into its grip the whole of nations. Politics is perhaps worst affected by it as Dr. Samuel Johnson observed, ‘Politics is the last resort of a scoundrel’. Unscrupulous and immoral ways to usurp political power are the order of the day. Today a statesman considers it as his birthright to grease his palm in the form of gifts or donations. This is on account of widespread corruption throughout the length and breadth of the world that humanity appears to it on the brink of a volcano that can explode any moment. If leaders of a nation are corrupt, how can common men are expected of honest living?” Corrupt activities of the statesmen are stated in the book. Almost all the corrupt statesmen of the world have been thoroughly exposed with proven documentary evidences, the publishers have stated.

According to Transparency International India (TII), India ranked 85th among 175 countries and Denmark retained its position as least corrupt country in 2014 with a score of 92 while North Korea and Somalia shared the last place, scoring just 8, China 100th place, Pakistan and Nepal were at 126th position, Bangladesh was145th and Bhutan 30th in the ranking, Sri Lanka was ranked 85th and Afghanistan was at a bleak 172.

30 percent of India’s M. Ps. (Member of Parliament) – law-makers faces criminal charges. Going by the records of the Election Commission, the Association of Democratic Reforms says that 162 out of 545 MPs (Members of Parliament) and 1258 out of 4,032 sitting MLAs (Member of Legislative Assembly) have declared that there are certain cases pending against them.

Besides them, bureaucrats, with a very few exception, though they are intelligent, but not good, are mostly corrupt. They violate the Government Resolutions (GRs), Articles of the Constitution and dishonor the orders of the Courts. Even that they are rarely held responsible and punished for their wrong doings. The report by Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy ranks bureaucracies across Asia on a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being the worst possible score. India scored 9.21.  It also said that Indian bureaucrats were rarely held accountable for wrong decisions.

Judiciary is also not free from corruption. Justice Markandey Katju, Former Judge of Supreme Court of India has written in his article: Corruption in the Indian judiciary, and told, “In 2001 the then Chief Justice of India, Justice Bharucha, said that 20% High Court Judges in India could be corrupt. My own estimate is that today that figure could be as high as 50%.” And in lower courts, corruption is more and rampant. Former Law minister Kapil Sibal admitted in an Interview and said, “There is corruption in the judiciary. This has been admitted by no less than several previous chief justices of the Supreme Court. The worry is that this malaise, some say, is “rampant” in the lower echelons of the judiciary, where the common man seeks justice”. 

Prior to these citations, observations made by then Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs P. Shivshanker (who himself was a Former High Court Judge) on corruption in judiciary, who said that Supreme Court had turned into “a haven of anti-social and smugglers”; and Justice Chinnappa Reddy, Former Judge of Supreme Court reacting on the Minister’s remarks asked, “if one of the judges says that the government is a den of corruption, what would be the situation” show that there is corruption in the government and in the highest court of the land. Hence there is no any hope for good governance by the corrupt ministers, judges and bureaucrats and therefore the sufferings of people will sustain.

Corruption is violence; it is seed of bad governance and enemy of good governance. The reasons to be corrupt and criminals, and to be a party in bad governance are mis-education for a few privileged people and non-education for many deprived people in every society of the world. Hence it destroys those to whom it reaches and it destroys those to whom it is denied. Therefore people need such type of education which makes them man (human). And such education, one may call it, is peace education, which the author of these lines, developed after continuous study of about 45 years. His peace education is global because it is based on universally inherent five elements, viz. body, vitality, mind, intellect and spirit in every man and women without any discrimination of caste, creed, color, and race, nationality, gender or any other differences. And opportunity and practice for integral manifestation of five these elements throughout his and her life to enable him and her to be just, nonviolent and man (human) leading them to be fit for good governance. It is not for a certificate, diploma and degree course for a certain period, it is life-long learning process. However, it requires much time, resources and will of the policy-makers to understand it and to implement it for their own good and good of the people.

A world renowned thinker Confucius of China advised, “Practice justice for a century, all violence will disappear from the earth.” Confucius has set 100 years for men and women to be just or man or human for being genuinely democrat and naturally fit for good governance. Peace education based on the five elements as cited above and their integral manifestation in every man and woman, which is the foundation of justice, can minimize the time-limit to achieve the goal for nonviolence. This peace education is the only solution for corruption, terrorism and violence, and means for attainment of nonviolence and its sustenance.

Mahatma Gandhi, the father of Indian Nation, wanted the governance in the state politics like rule of Rama, who was a well-educated political and spiritual saint – a perfect human and an ideal man (Maryada Purushottama) for serving the people through his democratic traits of good governance. And it is said that under the rule of Rama: “There were no physical, mental and spiritual sufferings to anybody. All loved each other. No one died in early age of his life; all people were free from sorrow and pain, disease, poverty and ignorance.” These were the features of good governance under the rule of King Rama, which may be considered as universal and global for the well-being of all people everywhere, if this type of good governance is provided to them.

Therefore till the people including rulers, judges and bureaucrats around the world are integrally educated in the treasure of their five elements; let the real saints and sages (including political saints) to be rulers and ministers, and super saints to be judges, and inventors and innovators to be bureaucrats to provide good governance (services) to the common people of their respective nation-states.

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Dr. Surya Nath Prasad is M. A. (Sociology), M. Ed. (Experimental Education), M. Phil. (Nonviolence and Peace Studies), and Ph. D. (Education). He is a recipient of Honorary D. Lit. (Peace Education) at the hands of Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma then Former President, Government of India and has taught for three decades as Assistant and Associate Professor of Education in India.  He is Former Visiting Professor of Peace Studies at the Graduate Institute of Peace Studies in Kyung Hee University, Republic of Korea and former President and Currently Executive Vice President of International Association of Educators for World Peace.  Dr. Prasad is recipient of several peace and human rights awards to the cause of peace and peace education. Website of his Journal is: http://www.sites.google.com/site/peaceeducationsnp/ One may reach him at: dr_suryanathprasad@yahoo.co.in.

 

This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 11 Jan 2016.

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