Economic disparities between the United States and Third World nations fuel terrorism against the West, according to a grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, and he believes the world is tired of the “superpower mentality” that defines American foreign policy.
“Our foreign policy in the United States is based on what is good for the United States,” Gandhi said. “For the kind of lifestyle that we experience here today, the affluence we experience in this country, we consume 45 percent of the world’s resources. And we are only 4 percent of the world’s population.
“Only 10 percent of the world can aspire to live at this level of affluence. What happens to the other 90 percent of the world?” he asked. “This is the kind of disparity we didn’t even think about, but it’s a disparity that is growing … and unless we do something about this, we’re going to experience more and more acts of terrorism and violence.”
Gandhi also said the way the United States went to war with Iraq – in part because of supposed weapons of mass destruction, and because Saddam Hussein was a dictator – flies in the face of how America today is reacting to political turmoil in Pakistan.
President Pervez Musharraf is also a dictator who controls his nation’s Army and who suspended Pakistan’s constitution in early November as the Supreme Court was about to rule on the legality of his presidency. And Pakistan, unlike Iraq, has already proven it possesses nuclear weapons.
But the United States has done nothing more, at least in public, than offer condemnation of his actions, Gandhi said. Political dissidents in Pakistan who see that reaction will likely feel the United States does not care about creating a more democratic government.
“The whole nation of Pakistan, those who have been fighting for a democratic government, are going to run on us and say the United States is not supporting us, that the United States wants to perpetuate a dictatorship in our country,” Gandhi said. “They are going to turn against us and become our enemies.”
Musharraf has been a U.S. ally in fighting al Qaeda terrorists that arrived in the mountainous regions of Pakistan after the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Gandhi challenged the students in attendance to change the way America conducts business around the globe. Rather than protecting its own self-interests, he said, the United States should help everyone raise their own living conditions.
“If you make the right choice, you can save this world from destruction,” he said. “You can create a world where peace and harmony prevail.”
Arun Gandhi was born into apartheid South Africa in 1934. He dealt with discrimination from peers throughout his childhood because of his Indian ethnicity. At the age of 12, Gandhi had an 18-month stay with his grandfather in India. Mahatma Gandhi taught him to seek a nonviolent philosophy when dealing with the discrimination he faced.
“When we have the opportunity to hear from and dialogue with someone who has direct experience with action for the common good, it helps us better define our own paths for good in the world,” said Janet Warman, director of general studies at Elon, which is co-sponsoring the visit.
Gandhi founded the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence in 1991 to provide education, support and inspiration for communities who resist violence. The Institute is currently headquartered at the University of Rochester in New York and works on a variety of community outreach programs.