The legacy of Martin Luther King Jr remains resonant
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday is celebrated on 15 January every year to honour the life and legacy of the civil rights leader who was assassinated in 1968 at the age of 39 in Memphis, Tennessee. King’s dream of freedom and rights for African-Americans was closely linked with the Swaraj dream of Gandhi for Indians.
King often referred to Gandhi as “one of the half-dozen greatest men in world history." He read Gandhi in the mirror of Sermon on the Mount and other teachings of Jesus, and approached non-violence through the doctrine of love, while Mahatma Gandhi found his path to the philosophy of non-violence through the idea of Truth. King affirmed: “Non-violent resistance does call for love, but it is not sentimental love.
It is a very stern love that would organize itself into collective action to right a wrong by taking on itself suffering." As such, King remained first and last a Christian thinker and his view of suffering was inspired by the Gospels. He argued: “Like the Apostle Paul, I can now humbly yet proudly say, ‘I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.’" King was aware of the fact that violent struggle, even if briefly victorious, can never permanently be successful.
Thinking of the future of American society and the world, he observed: “The aftermath of non-violence is the creation of the beloved community, while the aftermath of violence is tragic bitterness." In King’s eyes, the faith that kept the non-violent resister going through all the humiliation and suffering was fuelled by the conviction that the universe is on the side of justice. For King, justice meant an improvement of the social order by the enforcement of goodness and love among humankind.
Read more on livemint.com
