An Inquiry into The Concept of Peace

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After taking her Master's Degree in polities from Kerala University Smt. Lay Bharucha obtained a degree in Law from the Bombay University in 1991 This book is a revised version of her Doctoral Thesis.

She has been part of Mani Bhavan Gandhi National Memorial, an Institute of Research on Gandhian Thought & Rural Development which she served from 1961 to 1992 when she took voluntary retirement as its Executive Secretary only to broaden her area of work in promoting PEACE She continues to be a Member of its Museum Committee.

She has been an Honorary Adviser to Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund, New Delhi for over ten years in its project on films on Jawaharlal Nehru.

Licy Bharucha has been a visiting Fellow and an External Examiner of Mahatma Gandhi University (Kerala) in its School of Gandhian Thought & Peace Science.

She has been long associated with the National Youth Project and has been the Managing Trustee of NYP Trust since 1993 She is also the Editor of YOUTH CULTURE, a Quarterly of National Youth Project Lacy Bharucha has been an active Sarvodaya worker and has been actively associated with several voluntary organisations ever since she was a young undergraduate.

She is also the Managing Trustee of the recently formed Public Trust called "National Museum of Indian Freedom Movement The objective of the Trust is to educate the present and future generations with the ideals of the Indian Freedom Movement such as Truthfulness, Service and Sacrifice, Communal Harmony, Non-violence, Fearlessness, Swadeshi or National Spirit and Pride and, most importantly, WORLD PEACE.

Peace both within and without, has been the highest goal (parama purusartha) for human existence, according to our age-old but ever relevant Sanatana Dharma.

Liberation (moksa) is the attainment of blissful peace. To achieve this, our Vedic Seer, emphasised tolerance ever acceptance and respect for the opinion of the other. Hence the seers of India declare: "Truth is one; the sages describe it in many ways" (ekam sat viprah bahudha vadanti), and "Let noble thoughts come to us from all sides" (a no bhadrah kratavo yantu visvatah). The Vedic mind could see and appreciate the integral unity and harmonious blending between man and nature (prakti and purusa).

From time immemorial, man has been striving for peace which is reflected in his attempt at eliminating areas of conflict, tension, discord and disharmony thereby converting them into areas of agreement and harmony. Conscious of the presence of conflict in every situation, humanity has been incessantly striving to achieve peace and harmony through various constructive programmes at local, national and even international levels.

True to his belief in the integral relationship of the peace of the individual and that of the society Mahatma Gandhi prescribed a code of conduct consisting of 11 vows for disciplining the mind of the individual towards peace and non-violence and an 18-point constructive programme for the transformation of the society.

My own experience of working in several voluntary organisations since the days of my undergraduate years has convinced me that peace activities can be more effective if there is a proper perception of the concept of peace, its meaning and its various dimensions, both at individual and social levels as envisaged in traditional religions as well as organisations devoted to the promotion of peace at micro and macro levels. The discussions I had with some of the peace activists, specially those who visited the Mani Bhavan Gandhi Memorial at Bombay for the last 31 years have only confirmed this conviction. It is this conviction that has prompted me to take up a study of the concept of peace.

This book is a revised version of my doctoral Thesis 'A Philosophical Study of the Concept of Peace' which was submitted to the University of Bombay in February 1990. An attempt has been made to study the concept of peace with an inter-disciplinary background so as to bring out its various aspects and multidimensional character.