Evolution of Peace Movements:

  As a civilisation, India has been a champion of peaceful and dignified life for all in an unparallel manner. The classic case has been that of Gautam Buddha who, despite being born in a royal family, was so disturbed by the pathetic and miserable conditions of common people that he renounced the worldly comfort to become the messenger of peace and social harmony not only in India but also other parts of the world as well. Similarly, emperor Ashoka also became a torchbearer of futility of war and value of peace even after emerging victorious in one of the bloodiest wars he fought. He even sent his beloved ones as special emissaries to different parts of the world on peace expeditions to spread the message of peace and harmony in social life. Moreover, value of peace is intrinsic and natural in the Indian psyche as all religions, great personalities; socio-cultural value systems as well as daily chores of life reflect unmistakable appreciation for the value of peace. 

 In modern times, the roots of peace movements in India may be traced back to the mammoth nationalist movement conducted under the spirited leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi reinvented the classical Indian concepts of Ahimsa and Satyagraha and therefore, the biggest peace movements in pre-independent India such as non-cooperation movement, civil disobedience movement etc. were initiated. Gandhi carried out constructive programmes of nation-building in order secure swaraj or self-rule, not only in terms of political independence but also social, economic and spiritual emancipation for the common people.

Types of Peace Movements:

 The existence of a variety of social movements apparently working on the issues of peace and dignified life for people creates a mosaic of peace movements in the country. Scholars have tried to classify peace movements in India into two categories on the basis of approach towards peace that these movements adopt. 

 In this regard, the first group consists of the Gandhian institutions, scholars, activists and sympathisers who advocate and practise a non-violent approach of alternative models of peace and development embedded in the Gandhian thought and action. Such activities and thinking are rooted in an intrinsic critique of modernity and modern methods of socio-economic development that inherently involve pain to one for the gain of others.

 The second category of peace movements is an amalgam of various autonomous movements working in different walks of life with the common purpose of securing dignified life in peace for the people. This group consists of both the conventional social movements such as socio-religious reform movements, civil rights movements, peasants and workers movements as well as new social movements like student’s movements, women’s movements, anti-nuclear protest movements, environmental movements, human rights movements, right to information movements, anti-corruption movements and movements for good governance. Owing to the primacy of a given issue, though these movements are usually single issue movements, yet they are not oblivious of the overlap that their cause unmistakably has with the cause of other social movements going on at different places and times.