Dreaming with King and Gandhi

There are two current issues that undermine our common quest for peaceful existence; the conflict concerning the ownership of Sabah triggered by the presence of the royal army of Sulu in the province and its clashes with the Malaysian soldiers, and the belligerent threats of North Korean President King Jong-un to South Korea, US, and possibly, the US allies like the Philippines. To these two issues, I am bringing in the ideas of two great men to give this opinion on the conflicts in Sabah and the Korean peninsula. Hence, two is to two.

Gandhi was the champion of the ideology of non-violence or ahimsa, which actually follows from the teachings of Hinduism, his religion. He used this ideology when he fought for the independence of India from their British colonizers, using the method of passive resistance to the oppressive orders of the British. For instance, he walked 241 miles from his village to the sea to gather salt to show his peaceful protest to the British monopoly in making and trading salt.

Martin Luther King, Jr., on the other hand, was the champion of the fight against racial discrimination of the Blacks in the US with his famous speech “I Have a Dream.” Here is a striking excerpt from his speech:

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of “interposition” and “nullification” — one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

Gandhi dreamed of an India free from the oppressive and discriminatory policies of the British invaders in their country, while King dreamed of an America where the sons and daughters of former slaves will sit down at the table of brotherhood or sisterhood with the sons and daughters of former slave owners, and where little black boys and girls join hands with little white boys and girls. Both paid dearly for their visions and ideologies with their lives as both of them were assassinated by those who did not agree with their aims and ideas.

I find it fitting to apply their ideas to the conflicts in Sabah and the Korean peninsula. Gandhi did not like an armed or a violent confrontation with the British soldiers while other Indian revolutionaries resorted to such. Our President Noynoy should explore all peaceful means to settle the dispute over the ownership of Sabah with the government of Malaysia. It can be by sending emissaries to talk with Malaysian authorities if he himself cannot go there as he has to attend to many other concerns facing our country. His inaction over the alleged three letters sent by Sultan Kiram to him made the Kirams impatient to assert their ownership of Sabah (or there may be other people behind them). Now is the time for him to negotiate with the Malaysian authorities to come up with a peaceful solution to this contestation of ownership. Violence begets violence; sending more troops by any of the Kirams (or their backers) to Sabah will result to further bloodshed, deaths, and discrimination of Filipinos living in Sabah. To take from Martin Luther King’s ideas, I also dream of a Sabah where its Filipino residents are neither discriminated nor violated but are treated like brothers and sisters by the Malaysians who after all have the same racial origin as we have. Most of the Filipinos come from the Malay race like the majority of the Malaysians. Apart from racial similarity, the Malaysians are our neighbors who share the same geographical location and we have formed an association with our fellow South East Asian nations for the sake of economic cooperation

Gandhi’s ideology of non-violence contributed to India’s independence from the British as his followers continued to fight for independence and just treatment using the ideology of peaceful disobedience or nonviolent protest. Men who had belligerent, inhumane ideologies like Hitler and Stalin ended up tragically. Hitler committed suicide while Stalin was allegedly assassinated through poisoning. It appears that Kim Jong-un of North Korea possesses the ideology that might is right, that the might of the military is the measure of a nation’s strength and power. There is clearly a veil of delusion hanging over the North Korean government: the delusion of military might and ego-exaltation. While Pyongyang looks prosperous, the countryside of North Korea wallows in hunger, poverty, and militarization.

I dream, just like the dream of Martin Luther King, of a peaceful co-existence and brotherhood of the Malaysians and Filipinos in general and especially of those in Sabah, and likewise with the South and North Koreans. I envision that Kim Jong-un will treat Park Geun-Hye of South Korea as his mother since she is already 64 years old and he looks young (and chubby), and I imagine them hugging each other as a long-lost son comes back to the arms of his mother. I envision that the partition of hatred and animosity between the North and South Koreans will be torn down with the ideology of brotherhood, peace, and love. This must have been the long-time desire of many ordinary Koreans, I suppose. After all, they are a people of one race and one peninsula. To these dreams, all I can offer is this advice for peaceful settlement of the conflict over the ownership in Sabah and lots of prayers for the Korean people, especially the North Koreans.

About the author: Belinda F. Espiritu is a faculty member of the University of the Philippines Cebu. She holds a Master’s degree in Comparative Literature and a PhD degree in Communication. She would like to hear from the readers about their feedback or comments on her articles through her email address: belinda.espiritu@gmail.com to set a conversation going even after her articles have been published.