It is at once a philosophical requirement, a spiritual wisdom, a strategy of struggle and resistance, and a method of conflict resolution. The coherence between the end pursued and the means employed makes it possible to reconcile efficiency in action with the ethical requirement of respect for others.
Source:
Non-Violence XXI, a group of leading French non-violence organizations.
The history of the 20th century is distinguished by the number of political leaders who won their cause by opting for this philosophy of non-violent action, including Mohandas Gandhi (South Africa, India), Nelson Mandela (South Africa), Martin Luther King (USA), and also Lech Walesa (Poland) and Ibrahim Rugova (Kosovo), to name but the best-known. Others, such as the Dalai Lama or Aung San Suu Kyi (Burma), have avoided bloodshed while awaiting the demands of their own people. Finally, civil movements have also won their cause, or at least raised public and media awareness of their cause, by respecting these principles of respect without violence. Examples include the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo (Argentina), and non-violent movements to defend farmers’ rights in the face of spoliation (Ekta Parishad and others in India, various movements in Palestine, Brazil and elsewhere).