Prophets Of Violence - Prophets Of Peace: Understanding the Roots of Contemporary Political Violence

367 Pages·2004·4.15 MB·English

by  K. Sohail

What they are saying about this book…
Dr. Sohail offers readers a fascinating exploration of ideas con-
cerning freedom and non-violence as represented by prominent
twentieth century leaders who he selects in his stimulating book
Prophets of Violence, Prophets of Peace.
Can humans love God or live according to moral values and
yet kill to achieve their version of heaven on earth is a basic
question Dr. Sohail asks. He presents Nelson Mandela as a stark
example of a leader who accepted the necessity of violence to
free black South Africans from the tyranny of apartheid and
then earned worldwide respect and admiration later in his life
for negotiating peace without violence both with the white
government leaders of the country and also with Zulu Chief
Butheleze to ensure that South Africa would not be partitioned.
The Dalai Lama is offered as an intriguing contrast because
he is a respected leader who also embodies his own firm belief
in living life in complete peace, inner peace as well as acting
without violence in society. Yet Dr. Sohail points out that he may
not achieve the free Tibet which Tibetans hope for and have
struggled for over so many decades. He hopes that the Dalai
Lama will succeed, but asks the difficult question whether it is
realistic for a nation to achieve freedom without armed struggle.
Dr. Sohail states his own support for harmonious multi-
cultural and multi-religious societies, but he does not simply
illustrate leaders’ beliefs in order to conclude with a plan of how
to build an ideal society where people respect one another in
peace. He discusses the ironies shown by Mohandas Gandhi
winning support and renown for leading a peaceful salt march
to provide a dramatic example of how non-violence can confront
an empire to win freedom from colonialism, and yet how this
peaceful icon was unable to resolve his differences with
Muhammad Ali Jinnah so that their success in spurring the
independence of India and the creation of Pakistan also resulted
in the loss of millions of lives.
Martin Luther King serves as a clearer advocate of peace
since Dr. Sohail observes that he learned to fight unfair and
unjust policies, but that he distinguished those policies from the
people who argued for them. Indeed, Dr. Sohail makes clear that
he believes that people should be taught not only to empathize
with a victim of violence but to be able to go beyond that and to
feel compassion for a person who commits violent acts.
I have picked just a few amazing examples of the leaders
who Dr. Sohail presents to illustrate the crucial dilemma posed
by their belief in peace and yet who consider or even accept
violence to achieve the goals they believe are worthwhile.
Hopefully, a person inspired by Dr. Sohail’s ideas will be
able to write a book where peace will have been achieved without
violence. Hopefully, that will be the kind of world where women
will also be among the leaders to inspire and lead people to
peace.
— John Argue, Amnesty International
Ontario Coalition for Social Justice
I had the privilege of reading the first draft of Prophets of
Violence, Prophets of Peace and also the honor of translating
some of the articles from this book into Urdu. The thoughtful
and well-organized essays portray the lives and struggles of a
number of prominent 20th century intellectuals, revolutionaries
and political activists who have left a significant mark on our
history. Sohail has presented a wide spectrum of cultures,
struggles for freedom, and problems of developing and developed
societies. The essays include personalities of international fame
like Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Jr., Che
Guevara, and the Dalai Lama. Sohail has beautifully brought to
light some realities of which most history students are unaware,
and has condensed volumes of history into a few pages
describing global rivalries, the impact of imperialism, and mass
struggles for freedom and peace.
Istrongly recommend this book both to serious students of
history and to the general public. Prophets of Violence, Prophets
of Peace educates the reader in the dynamics of the ongoing
struggle for world peace at this difficult point in our history
where one imperial power is seeking to become the world’s
policeman. If I understand correctly, the book’s message is “peace,
not violence”, for which we should strive individually and
collectively.
— Rafiq Sultan
APakistani Intellectual
Dr. Sohail wishes to study a series of prominent men (“prophets”)
who struggled for justice in the 20th century. He is interested in
the inner lives of these men; he is fascinated by their unusual
creativity and boldness. He is unwilling to accept the views of
others about these prophets, so he insists on reading their works
and drawing his own conclusions. He asks himself what set
these men apart from others. He asks himself why some refused
to engage in violence while others accepted it—reluctantly in
most cases, but sometimes with enthusiasm. Deeply drawn to
peace and nonviolence himself, Dr.Sohail nonetheless refuses to
condemn all armed struggle. Instead he patiently works his way
through the contradictions and ambiguities of the inner lives of
his subjects. In doing so he helps us get beyond our own stereo-
types and he assists us to release our own creativity. He
encourages us to make our own choices as mature people facing
the uncertainties of the 21st century.
— Graeme MacQueen
Centre for Peace Studies, McMaster University
In bringing together these close to a dozen portraits of 20th
century leaders of political change, Dr. Khalid Sohail provides a
fascinating glimpse into the factors that led these men into
choosing between violent and peaceful approaches. Dr. Sohail is
to be congratulated for attempting to use the complex of
psychological-political-contextual nexus to shed light on the
similarities and differences that led these men—and they are all
men—to their choices. In shaping the creative expressions of
these agents of change, a rebellious personality deeply
committed to societal change emerges as an interesting common
factor just as important as the vast dissimilarities of the
exigencies of their political contexts. As a sobering thought,
peaceful change comes through as isolated islands, and mostly
ineffectual, in the otherwise violent sea of political change
during the century, When violence was chosen by the leaders,
whether or not it was as “the last resort” it is seen by the author
as the key question, and the volume provides rich material to
shed light on it as well as on the ethics of the “ends-versus-
means” debate—a timely debate in the terrorist-ridden politics
of the first decade of the 21st century.
— Dr. Abrar Hassan
Head, Educational Policy Division,
Director for Education, Organization for Economic C-operation
and Development, Paris (Contributed in a personal capacity)
“Prophets of Violence, Prophets of Peace” is a novel approach to
understanding the historyofthe recent past and the psychology
of leaders who made history. This book is based upon analyses
of lives of leaders from Gandhi to Mandela. It provides an
insight not only into the personalities of the individual leaders
but also into the wide range of struggle methodology. Mahatma
Gandhi on one hand chose the spiritual approach and Che
Guevara on the other believed in armed struggle and died in the
field for his cause. The subject matter has been chosen carefully
to describe the spectrum in which the struggle could be carried
out.
Dr. Sohail portrays mass psychology and provides many
examples chosen over a wide range of time. Thus it becomes
impor-tant reading for students of politics and for aspiring
leaders.
Prophetsis a successful attempt to systematically dissect the
personalities of great leaders, an insight into history and social
perspective and a discussion of how extraordinary circum-
stances transformed those leaders.
This book will appeal to a wide readership because of the
timely nature of its subject combined with ease of reading. I
commend Dr. Sohail for writing with such clarity and consis-
tency of approach.
— Tahir M. Qazi MD
Clinical Neurophysiology, Neuromuscular Diseases
Clinical Assistant Professor and Associate Director of Residency
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehab.
State University of New York at Buffalo
PROPHETS OF VIOLENCE—
PROPHETS OF PEACE
—•—
AMessage from the Publisher
In keeping with White Knight Publication’s mandate
to bring great works of social value to the reading public
across North America, we feel indeed fortunate as a dedicated
non-fiction publisher to have been closely involved with this
important publication.

PROPHETS OF VIOLENCE—
PROPHETS OF PEACE
Understanding the Roots of
Contemporary Political Violence
Dr. K. Sohail
White Knight Publications
Toronto, Canada