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A True Kerala Story: Dismantling the Foundations of Structural Violence

By Brig Azad Sameer (Retd)

The Kerala Model of development has long been a subject of fascination for global economists like Amartya Sen. It presents a profound paradox: a region achieving human development indices – high life expectancy, low infant mortality, and near-universal literacy – comparable to advanced Western nations, despite a relatively low per-capita income. At the heart of this success is the systematic dismantling of structural violence. By addressing the invisible, systemic barriers that historically suppressed its people, Kerala transformed from what Swami Vivekananda once called a lunatic asylum of caste into a global beacon of social justice and Positive Peace. Essentially it is only when social and economic inequities are minimised do we get Positive Peace.

1.   The Concept of Structural Violence: The Galtungian Framework

The term Structural Violence was pioneered by the Norwegian sociologist and Father of Peace Studies, Johan Galtung, in 1969. To understand Kerala’s journey, one must first grasp Galtung’s expansion of what violence means. He argued that violence is not merely a physical act of hitting or killing (which he termed Direct Violence); rather, it is any social arrangement or institution that prevents a human being from achieving their full potential.

Galtung defined it as the avoidable gap between the potential and the actual. If a person dies from a curable disease because they cannot afford medicine, or if a child remains illiterate because of their social status, violence has been committed – even if no one pulled a trigger. This form of violence is silent, actor less, and often invisible because it is built into the very laws, economic systems, and social norms of a country. Furthermore, Galtung introduced two supporting concepts:

  • Cultural Violence: This refers to aspects of culture – religion, ideology, or language – that are used to justify or sanitise structural or direct violence. In India, the doctrine of Karma was sometimes historically misused to suggest that a person’s low social status was a divine consequence, making the structural inequality seem natural, preordained and unchangeable.
  • Positive Peace: Galtung argued that the absence of direct violence is merely Negative Peace. For a society to thrive, it requires Positive Peace, which is the active presence of social justice, equity, and the removal of the structures that cause harm. Kerala’s history is a deliberate march toward this Positive Peace.

2.   Two Millennia of Caste Endogamy

The Roots of Inequity: In the Indian context, the most potent engine of structural violence has been the caste system, a hierarchy sustained for nearly 2,000 years through the rigid practice of endogamy (marrying strictly within one’s own caste). As analysed by Dr. BR Ambedkar, endogamy was the mechanical method used to create enclosed units that prevented the fusion of blood and culture across society. This centuries-old practice resulted in several deep-rooted facets of structural violence:

The Monopolisation of Resources: Endogamy ensured that Social Capital – land ownership, literacy, and ritual status – remained locked within the upper tiers of the hierarchy. Wealth and knowledge were not allowed to trickle down; they were inherited only by those born into the right circle.

Systemic Deprivation: For the underprivileged sections (the Dalits and Adivasis), this meant a hereditary sentence to manual labour and landlessness. In Kerala, this was particularly brutal. The state practiced unapproachability and even unsuitability, where a lower-caste person was legally and socially barred from using public roads or entering schools.

Internalised Oppression: By maintaining these rigid silos for two millennia, the system created a psychological barrier. The marginalised were often persuaded to perceive their own deprivation as an inescapable law of the cosmos rather than a result of human-made policy, practice or norm. Breaking this 2,000-year-old structural deadlock required more than just charity; it required a total revolution of the state’s socio-economic architecture.

3.   Constitutional Deconstruction: The Union’s Post-Independence Mandate: To dismantle this multi-layered structural violence and to rectify for the errors of history the newly independent Indian state, under the chairmanship of Dr. BR Ambedkar, institutionalised a radical legal framework. The Constitution of India (1950) served as the primary tool for Positive Peace by criminalising the most overt forms of caste-based discrimination. Article 17 abolished Untouchability, transitioning it from a social norm to a punishable offense, while Article 15 prohibited discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth. Recognising that mere legal equality was insufficient to bridge the avoidable gap, the Union government introduced Articles 16(4) and 330, establishing the world’s most comprehensive system of Affirmative Action (Reservations) in public employment and legislative bodies. Furthermore, the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) Prevention of Atrocities Act was eventually conceptualised to provide a legal shield against direct violence. These national measures provided the essential legal scaffolding upon which Kerala would later build its unique, localised socio-economic interventions, turning constitutional promises into lived realities for the marginalised.

4.   Empirical Evidence: Kerala’s Lead in the Fight against Structural Violence

The most conclusive proof of Kerala’s success in dismantling structural violence lies in its consistent performance in the Sustainable Development Goals India Index (SDGI), developed by NITI Aayog. The SDGI is a comprehensive framework that evaluates Indian states and Union Territories on their progress toward the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals, effectively measuring a state’s ability to provide equitable health, education, and economic security. Since its inception, Kerala has remained the national benchmark, securing the top rank in all four editions: it shared the lead with Himachal Pradesh in 2018, held the solo top position in both 2019-20 and 2020-21, and most recently shared the first-place ranking with Uttarakhand in the 2023-24 assessment.

This sustained excellence translates directly into the lives of Kerala’s most vulnerable populations. Recent findings from the NITI Aayog National Multidimensional Poverty Index (2023) and the National Family Health Survey 6 (NFHS-6) reveal a dramatic reduction in structural violence compared to the All-India average:

  • Multidimensional Poverty (MPI): Kerala’s headcount poverty ratio is a staggering 0.55%, the lowest in India, compared to the national average of 14.96%. While poverty among SCs and STs remains over 30% in many states, the gap in Kerala is statistically marginal, proving that birth is no longer a predictor of destitution.
  • Health and Survival: A primary marker of avoidable death is the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR). Kerala’s IMR is roughly 6 per 1,000 live births, matching developed nations like the USA, while the All-India average stands at 28. Furthermore, while the national Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) is around 97 per lakh, Kerala has achieved an MMR of 19, demonstrating a systemic protection of life that transcends class.
  • Literacy and Education: Kerala’s literacy rate is nearly universal at 94-96%, compared to the Indian average of 77%. Critically, the SC/ST literacy rate in Kerala (over 90%) is higher than the general literacy rate of most other Indian states. The gender gap in literacy is also the lowest in India (under 2%), proving that structural barriers against women have been effectively dismantled.
  • Life Expectancy: A person born into an underprivileged section in Kerala can expect to live nearly 75 years, roughly 10-12 years longer than the national average for the same demographic. In Kerala, the system no longer steals years of life based on the circumstances of one’s birth.

5.   Current Prosperity and Socio-Economic Status: A Story of Upward Mobility

The contemporary prosperity of Kerala is defined by a radical shift from agrarian feudalism to a robust, service-oriented middle-class economy. Central to this upward mobility was the Land Reforms Act of 1963, which dismantled the Janmi (landlord) system and redistributed land to the tiller, effectively decapitating the primary engine of structural violence: landlessness. This foundational change allowed subsequent generations to pivot toward education rather than subsistence labour. Today, this transition is visible in the significant presence of underprivileged communities in elite professional spheres. In the medical and engineering sectors, the avoidable gap has been narrowed through sustained state support; for instance, nearly 14-15% of undergraduate engineering enrolments in the state now come from SC and ST communities. Specialised programs like the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) Empowerment Program provide targeted scholarships and research opportunities in biomedical sciences for ST students, ensuring they reach the highest tiers of medical specialisation.

Furthermore, the state’s bureaucracy has seen a democratic overhaul. Recent data from the e-Caste database indicates that SC and ST members now hold over 62,000 permanent government positions. This upward movement extends into Group A and gazetted services, where once-marginalised groups now exercise administrative agency. In the realm of private business, the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) has launched initiatives like Startup Dreams and the Backward Classes Development Department (BCDD) Grant, providing up to ₹10 lakh in early-stage funding specifically for entrepreneurs from backward classes and SC/ST backgrounds. These schemes, combined with a Migration Miracle that has democratised access to global labour markets, ensure that prosperity in Kerala is increasingly decoupled from the historical accidents of birth. The state’s rurban landscape now reflects a spatially distributed wealth where high-quality housing and modern amenities are a shared reality rather than a caste privilege.

6.   Current Status of Caste-Based Occupations

One of the most profound markers of dismantling structural violence in Kerala is the near-total decoupling of caste from occupation. For centuries, the varna system acted as a rigid professional prison; today, that prison has been razed. The state has successfully moved away from hereditary labour through a combination of aggressive trade unionism, minimum wage legislation, and universal education. In Kerala, manual scavenging – a brutal hallmark of caste-based violence elsewhere – is virtually non-existent, replaced by technological interventions.

Furthermore, the democratisation of the sacred has struck at the heart of Cultural Violence. In a historic move, the Kerala Devaswom Board (which manages temples) began appointing non-Brahmins and Dalits as priests, challenging the 2,000-year-old monopoly over ritual labour. In the secular sphere, the high density of white-collar professionals among SCs and STs – enabled by the state’s robust reservation policies and a 90%+ literacy rate—means that a person’s surname no longer dictates their tools of trade. While subtle prejudices may linger in private social circles, the economic necessity of caste-based labour has been replaced by a Dignity of Labor culture, where the minimum wage for an unskilled worker in Kerala is often three to four times higher than the national average. A plumber in the US may arrive for work in a swank car. But here in Kerala at least he arrives in a swank bike.   Much of the caste-based occupations have simply vanished. In a few generations caste-based occupations may entirely be a relic of the past.

7.  Evaluation: Current Levels of Structural Violence

Is caste-based endogamy still prevalent in Kerala? Yes, of course it does. Only 12-15% of all marriages are inter-caste. In the case of marriages below the age of 24 this is nearly 25% inter-caste. These figures are however more than double the national average. Does structural violence exist in Kerala today? The answer would have to be yes, but very little in scale. While Kerala has made historic strides toward Positive Peace, an honest evaluation reveals that structural violence has not been entirely eradicated; rather, it has evolved and shrunk into specific pockets of exclusion. The Galtungian avoidable gap persists for two specific groups: the Adivasi (tribal) communities in regions like Attappady and the coastal Fisherfolk. Despite the state’s low Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index MPI, these groups still face higher rates of malnutrition and land alienation compared to the Kerala average, representing a last mile challenge for the Kerala Model.

Additionally, new forms of structural barriers have emerged in the form of Gendered Violence. While Kerala leads in female literacy and health, its female labour force participation rate (LFPR) has historically lagged its educational achievements, suggesting that patriarchal social norms still act as a structural brake on women’s economic potential. However, when measured against the Direct Violence and Extreme Poverty prevalent in the rest of South Asia, Kerala’s levels of structural violence are remarkably low. The state has moved from a caste lunatic asylum to a deliberative democracy where the marginalised have the political agency to protest and demand their rights. Kerala’s journey proves that structural violence is not a permanent condition of the Global South, but a policy choice that can be unmade through persistent social engineering and the pursuit of equity.

8. The Mechanics of Transformation

A Tripartite Synergy: The transition from a lunatic asylum to a model of human development was not accidental; it was the result of a deliberate, century-long synergy between social movements, visionary governance, and institutional reform. This transformation can be broken down into several key catalysts:

The Kerala Renaissance: Cultivating the Grassroots:  Long before the state intervened, a powerful social reform movement—the Kerala Renaissance – began eroding the foundations of cultural violence. Figures like Sree Narayana Guru, who championed the slogan One Caste, One Religion, One God for Man, and Ayyankali, who led the struggle for the right of Dalit children to attend school, challenged the internal logic of the caste system. These movements did more than protest; they built alternative institutions – schools, temples, and community centres – that empowered the marginalised to reclaim their human agency. By the early 20th century, these grassroots agitations had successfully shifted the public consciousness, making social equity a non-negotiable political demand.

1957: The First Communist Ministry and Legislative Boldness:  A pivotal moment in the dismantling of structural violence occurred in 1957 with the election of the first Communist ministry in the world through a democratic process, led by EMS Namboodiripad – well known as EMS. This government moved beyond rhetoric to enact systemic change. The Education Bill of 1957 sought to regulate private schools and ensure better conditions for teachers, effectively democratising access to knowledge. Simultaneously, the introduction of the Kerala Agrarian Relations Bill (the precursor to the 1963 Land Reforms) struck at the heart of feudalism. By promising land to the tiller, the state began the physical process of redistributing social capital, ensuring that the underprivileged were no longer mere appendages to the soil but stakeholders in the economy.

9. Understanding the Kerala Model

The Kerala Model is a unique developmental trajectory where high human development outcomes – comparable to those in the Global North – coexist with a relatively modest per-capita income. This model was not the product of a single era but the result of a sustained ideological commitment to equity. A defining moment in this journey occurred in 1957, when Kerala elected the first Communist government in a major democratic state in the world. Under the leadership of EMS, this ministry introduced radical reforms that fundamentally sowed the seeds of the state’s future progress. By prioritising land redistribution and the democratisation of education, they struck a decisive blow against the inherited structures of feudalism and caste. It sowed the seeds of the welfare state where health and literacy developed into human rights. This focus on Human Capabilities (as Amartya Sen describes it) ensured that even those with low private incomes had access to world-class health outcomes and 100% literacy.

Political Continuity.  What makes the Kerala Model truly remarkable is its political continuity. The radical seeds sown by the 1957 ministry created a powerful social demand for welfare that no subsequent administration could ignore. Over the following decades, whether the state was led by the Left (LDF), or Centrist coalitions (UDF), the core pillars of the model – universal healthcare, food security through the public distribution system, and accessible education – were nurtured to fruition. This cross-party consensus ensured that the dismantling of structural violence became a permanent feature of the state’s governance. As a result, the Kerala Model stands today as a testament to how visionary early legislation, when consistently upheld by successive governments irrespective of their political labels, can transform a society from the bottom up.

Education, Migration, and the Global Dividend: This heavy investment in human capital directly enabled the Migration Miracle. Because the state had produced a highly literate and healthy workforce, Keralites were uniquely positioned to take advantage of the 1970s oil boom in the Gulf. This migration served as a massive economic bypass of the traditional caste-based wealth structures. Remittances flowed directly into rural households, funding the construction of modern homes and the higher education of the next generation. In this way, the state’s focus on health and education provided the wings for upward mobility, allowing the underprivileged to leapfrog centuries of domestic economic stagnation.

Kudumbashree: Economic Agency as a Tool for Liberation:  A cornerstone in the fight against gender-oriented structural violence is Kudumbashree, the State Poverty Eradication Mission launched in 1998. By organising women into a massive three-tier network of Neighbourhood Groups (NHGs), Kerala shifted the focus from traditional charity to economic agency. For women from underprivileged and below-poverty-line (BPL) backgrounds, Kudumbashree dismantled the structural barrier of financial dependence. Through micro-credit, collective farming, and small-scale entrepreneurship, millions of women gained access to independent capital for the first time. This economic empowerment directly challenged the silent violence of domestic confinement, allowing women – particularly those from marginalised castes – to bypass traditional money lenders and patriarchal control over household resources. By turning the homemaker into a breadwinner, the mission effectively narrowed the avoidable gap between a woman’s economic potential and her actual social standing.

The Intellectual Scaffolding: Missionaries, Libraries, and Civil Society: The structural transformation of Kerala was significantly bolstered by an intellectual and social infrastructure that preceded and complemented state action. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Christian missionaries played a foundational role by establishing Western-style schools and dispensaries that were often the first to open their doors to the unapproachables and untouchables. This early institutional presence was later amplified by a unique grassroots intellectualism – the Library Movement (Granthasala Sangham). By establishing thousands of village libraries, the movement ensured that literacy was not just a functional skill but a tool for political consciousness. This was further strengthened by civil society organisations like the Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP), which popularised science and rationalism. These non-state actors created a critically literate citizenry capable of identifying structural violence and holding the state accountable, ensuring that the push for equity was a persistent demand from below rather than a mere gift from above.

Institutionalising Equity: Food Security and the Decentralisation Revolution: A critical, often overlooked mechanism in dismantling the structural violence of hunger and administrative exclusion was the universalisation of the Public Distribution System (PDS) and the subsequent Big Bang decentralisation of the 1990s. While most of India struggled with chronic under nutrition among the marginalised, Kerala’s robust PDS network ensured that food was treated as a fundamental right, effectively decoupling caloric intake from caste-based land ownership. This was further solidified by the People’s Planning Campaign of 1996, which remains one of the world’s most ambitious experiments in local democracy. By devolving nearly 40% of the state’s development budget to local Panchayats, the state shifted the power of the purse and the plan to the neighbourhood level. This allowed marginalised communities, including Dalits and Adivasis, to directly prioritise their own needs – be it a local clinic, a paved road to an isolated colony, or a specialised school – thereby dismantling the bureaucratic barriers that historically silenced their voices. This institutionalised Positive Peace by giving the people at the bottom of the pyramid the political agency to dismantle any remaining local vestiges of structural violence.

Ecological Justice and the Protection of the Vulnerable:  The Kerala Model also recognised that structural violence often manifests as environmental degradation, which disproportionately affects the most vulnerable. The landmark Silent Valley Movement of the 1970s and 80s was not merely an environmental crusade but a social justice struggle that prevented the displacement of indigenous communities and the destruction of their natural capital. By successfully protesting large-scale industrial projects that threatened the ecological security of the marginalised, Kerala’s civil society demonstrated that Positive Peace also requires a sustainable relationship with the environment. This legacy of grassroots environmentalism continues to protect the commons – the forests and water bodies that the underprivileged depend on – ensuring that the march toward prosperity does not come at the cost of the ecological foundations of the poor.

10. Conclusion: Towards a Resilient and Inclusive Positive Peace

Kerala’s journey from a fractured lunatic asylum to a global benchmark for human development is a definitive testament to the power of dismantling structural violence. By systematically erasing the avoidable gap between human potential and lived reality, the state has proven that high-quality life outcomes are not the exclusive property of wealthy nations, but the result of a deliberate, multi-layered pursuit of Positive Peace. However, to sustain this legacy, the way forward must involve addressing the second-generation challenges born of its own success. This requires bridging the last mile of exclusion for Adivasi and coastal communities, transitioning from a remittance-dependent economy to a high-value knowledge society, and dismantling the remaining patriarchal barriers that limit women’s labour force participation despite their educational achievements. By evolving the Kerala Model to meet these modern complexities, the state can ensure that the foundations of structural violence are not merely dismantled for the present, but are permanently replaced by a resilient, inclusive, and equitable future for every citizen. Sooner or later the playing field will be level from where true meritocracy should evolve.

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The Murder of Sovereignty: A Moment of Global Reckoning

​By Veteran Brigadier Azad Sameer

As of today, the world stands on the precipice of a contrived calamity. The joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran represents a profound breakdown of the international rules-based order. By targeting sovereign leadership and infrastructure during active diplomatic negotiations, these actions do more than ignite a regional war; they dismantle the very concept of Just War Theory and the sanctity of the UN Charter.

​​A Violation of Law and Logic

​Under the pretext of preventing nuclear proliferation, the aggressors have sidestepped the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the UN Security Council. It is a bitter irony that the United States—the only power to have ever deployed atomic weapons and a nation currently retaining a stockpile capable of ending civilization multiple times over—is now the primary actor in an unprovoked assault to prevent a hypothetical threat.

​Just war theory requires last resort, legitimate authority, and proportionality. None of these pillars are present here. To attack while diplomats are at the table is to acknowledge that force is the first choice, not the last. To carry out political assassinations is to engage in extrajudicial state-sponsored violence that invites a cycle of retaliation, which we are now witnessing as the Middle East descends into chaos. Historically we have seen that this type of unilateral use of force has been the cause of breeding and growth of terrorism. The current situation only aggravates that problem.

The Fallacy of the Global Policeman

​A dominant rationalization offered by the aggressors is the tyrannical nature of the Iranian government and its history of internal oppression. However, this argument is primarily inconsistent and legally hollow. The in-house political struggle of a nation belongs solely to its people; it is not a mandate for foreign powers to act as global judge, jury, and executioner. By initiating a military operation for regime change under the facade of liberation, the U.S. and Israel have unilaterally appointed themselves as global policemen—a role that violates the foundational principle of state sovereignty.

​The idea that a state can be bombed into democracy is a historical absurdity. If the Iranian people seek to challenge or change their leadership, that is their inherent right and their struggle to wage. When external powers interfere through high-altitude strikes and political assassinations, they do not bring freedom; they bring chaos, martyrdom, and the destruction of the very civil society required for internal reform. International order cannot survive if tyranny becomes a subjective thumbs up for any nuclear-armed power to dismantle a sovereign neighbour.

Historical Amnesia

This historical pattern of interventionism is not an anomaly, but a continuation of a destabilizing doctrine. From the decades-long morass in Afghanistan to the 2003 invasion of Iraq—launched under the false pretences of weapons of mass destruction—the United States has repeatedly bypassed international law to pursue regime change. The 2011 intervention in Libya further illustrates this catastrophic cycle; what was framed as a humanitarian mission to protect civilians quickly devolved into the state-sponsored assassination of its leader, leaving a power vacuum that turned the nation into a failed state, a civil war and a marketplace for modern slavery. The western intervention in Iraq resulted in the country being fractured to pieces and the establishment of the dreaded Islamic state and organizations like the ISIS. Until the sanctions hit hard Iraq was near ideal secular state. What a demonic transformation? Afghanistan marked the return of the Taliban. Dreaded Terrorists have returned to power in Syria too. In every instance, the forced dismantling of sovereign structures did not yield the promised democracy. Instead, it fractured civil society, displaced millions, and created fertile breeding grounds for extremist groups like ISIS and Al-Qaeda. By ignoring the lessons of these ruins, the current aggression against Iran risks repeating a history where liberation serves only as a precursor to enduring regional chaos and the global proliferation of terror.

The BRICS Response: Rhetoric without Resolve

​The expanded BRICS+ bloc has issued a joint statement strongly condemning the violation of Iranian sovereignty. However, this response remains strategically way too insufficient. While China and Russia have categorized the attacks premeditated aggression, they have stopped short of offering any material or military deterrent. By limiting their intervention to diplomatic notes and calls for dialogue at a toothless UN, BRICS has apparently highlighted its inability to propose a functional security alternative. This disinclination signals to the aggressors that while the Global South may dissent morally, it lacks the resolve to stop the dismantling of sovereign states by force.

The Connivance of Continental Silence

Simultaneously, the response from the European Union has been characterized by a lukewarm, strategic ambiguity that borders on moral bankruptcy. Rather than acting as a principled mediator or a champion of the international legal framework it claims to uphold, the EU has issued hollow pleas for de-escalation that fail to name the aggressors or acknowledge the illegality of the strikes. This paralysis stems from a deep-seated reluctance to break ranks with Washington, yet such subservience effectively signals that the rules-based order is a selective privilege rather than a universal right. By offering only bureaucratic hand-wringing in the face of a sovereign nation’s dismantling, Brussels is setting a catastrophic precedent that erodes the security of all mid-sized and smaller states. This collective silence is not merely a diplomatic failure; it is an invitation to future lawlessness. If the sanctity of borders and the immunity of leadership can be discarded today in the Middle East without a forceful European rebuke, there is no logical or legal barrier to prevent similar military adventurism in other strategic territories. Today the target is Tehran, but a world without enforceable sovereignty is a world where even the quietest corners of the globe—perhaps even the resource-rich expanses of Greenland—could tomorrow find themselves in the crosshairs of a nuclear power’s unilateral security interests. Failure to act now transforms the EU from a bystander into an architect of a new era of global anarchy.

​The Need for Urgent Action

​The retaliation from Iran and its allies is the predictable result of a sovereign state being pushed to the brink. When the world allows one or two nations to dictate the internal politics of others through fire and steel, it signals the end of global stability.

​The rest of the world must react. If the international community does not move beyond urging restraint to an explicit condemnation and active diplomatic isolation of the aggressors, we are effectively endorsing a world where might is the only right. We must demand an immediate cessation of hostilities. The alternative is a total war where the primary casualties are the innocent millions who have no say in the games of nuclear-armed titans. Are we heading into global anarchy? Time is running out.

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More Than a Management Lesson:  Reclaiming the Mahatma from Historical Revisionism

By Veteran Brigadier Azad Sameer

Recently I was stunned by a video of Shiv Khera explaining why he is not a Gandhian. No one expects anybody else to be Gandhian. Fair enough, it’s a difficult individual choice to be Gandhian in democratic modern India. But the management Guru, chose to denigrate the national icon by selective quotes from religious scriptures to indicate that anyone who is a Gandhian should be ashamed of himself. He also implied that if you are a proud Hindu you cannot be a Gandhian. Even Caesar may have agreed that this was the unkindest cut of all. He was and is a Mahatma to so many not only in India but in every corner of the world. The moral depravity of Khera implying that he was a coward and a charlatan, somehow hurt my sensibilities deep within and like a maggot in the brain it kept growing. There is no peace until my conscience finds expression. Thus this piece.

In watching Shiv Khera’s viral dismissal of Mahatma Gandhi, I was struck by how easily the complex machinery of history is dismantled by the superficial logic of corporate management. Mahatma Gandhi is undoubtedly still a national icon. Every Prime Minister and President of India has referred to him as the Mahatma and/or Father of the nation. Visiting foreign dignitaries are taken to the Raj Ghat, as a national memorial. Plaques there and at many other places refer to him as Father of the nation. Many official sites such as the PMO, the ministry of culture and Press information Bureau often refer to him as Father of the Nation. It was none other than the great patriot Subhash Chandra Bose who first called him Father of the Nation. The Supreme Court of India has observed that while the title isn’t formal, it is a collective responsibility to respect him as Father of the Nation, noting his status is beyond any formal recognition. One of India’s three national holidays is Gandhi Jayanti. His image appears on our currency notes. All this, only to re-emphasize that he remains a national icon. In a democracy it is perfectly fine for any citizen to not accept his status as Father of the nation or The Mahatma. One may not agree with his world view or ideology. But surely no citizen, even if the blue blood of patriotism is not flowing in his veins, should be disrespecting a national icon in public spaces until there is a change in status.

Khera attempts to manage Gandhi out of our history books by using a selective reading of Indian epics, portraying the Mahatma as a peddler of passivity and cowardice. As an Indian, I find this not just historically inaccurate, but a profound betrayal of the very moral foundation upon which our Republic stands.

​The Fallacy of the Passive Mahatma

​Khera’s central argument hinges on the idea that Lord Ram and the Sikh Gurus took up arms, while Gandhi chose neutrality or tolerance. This is a fundamental misreading of Gandhi’s philosophy. Gandhi never advocated for the non-violence of the weak—the submission of the coward who is afraid to fight. He advocated for Satyagraha, which is the non-violence of the strong.

​As Gandhi himself famously wrote, “If there were only a choice between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence.” However, he saw a third, more difficult way: the courage to stand unarmed before a charging Lathi, to absorb the blow without striking back, and in doing so, to strip the oppressor of their moral authority. That is not neutrality; that is the ultimate stand, which needs a lot of courage.

The Greatest Mass Movement in History

Unambiguously, Mahatma Gandhi singularly conceptualised and led the freedom movement of India, which many scholars acknowledge as the greatest mass movement in the history of the world, excepting for some religious and totalitarian movements. He innovated and adopted a political strategy which up until then was unknown to the world. In many ways he changed the course of world history in successfully waging an anti-colonial movement and inspiring such movements in many parts of the world.

A great Political and Spiritual Leader

Mahatma Gandhi’s status as one of history’s most influential political and spiritual leaders is not just a matter of opinion; it is substantiated by his global status and honors, numerous global studies on leadership and the testimony of many world leaders. Let us not take this as a congress construct. It is not. Here is how the world formally recognizes his legacy:

  • United Nations Recognition.In 2007 The United nations General Assembly voted unanimously to establish October 2 as the International day of Non-Violence. This is a rare honour where a global community formally adopts an Individuals birthday to promote their specific philosophy as a tool for political change.
  • Global Successor Movements. Gandhi’s methods of Satyagraha provided the blue print for most significant human rights movements of the 20th century. Martin Luther King Jr. (USA): King famously stated, “Christ gave us the goals and Mahatma Gandhi the tactics.” He traveled to India in 1959 to study Gandhi’s methods, which became the bedrock of the American Civil Rights Movement.

Nelson Mandela frequently referred to Gandhi as his political role model, noting that Gandhi’s spirit helped South Africa transition out of Apartheid without a total racial bloodbath. The Dalai Lama identified himself as a follower of Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violence in his struggle for Tibetan autonomy.

  •  International Tributes and Monuments. Gandhi is one of the most statued individuals in the world outside of his home country. There are over 70 countries with official monuments dedicated to him, including high-profile locations like Parliament Square in London (placed alongside Churchill and Lincoln) and Union Square in New York. In 1999, Time magazine named Gandhi the runner-up to Albert Einstein as the Person of the Century. Einstein himself famously said of Gandhi: “Generations to come… will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth.” I asked Gemini to list 10 greatest leaders of all recorded history. This is what it said before listing out the 10 names… “Defining the greatest leaders is subjective, but these 10 figures are consistently cited for their transformative impact on world history”. At the very top spot was Mahatma Gandhi. AI simply does logical analysis of data available to it.
  • ​Academic and Intellectual Influence. Gandhi’s political strategy—using moral authority to defeat military might—is taught in political science and conflict resolution courses globally. Oxford & Harvard University hold extensive archives and dedicated chairs for Gandhian Studies, treating his writings on self-reliance and ethics as core philosophical texts.

​The Architect of the Indian Mind

​Khera speaks of management and leadership, yet he ignores the greatest management feat in human history. Before Gandhi, India was a collection of 565 princely states and British provinces. There was no Indian identity that could unite a peasant in Kerala with a lawyer in Bombay. Gandhi conceptualised a movement that didn’t just target the British; it targeted the Indian psyche, transcending religious, cultural and language boundaries

​He didn’t just lead a protest; he forged a nation. By picking up a handful of salt or sitting at a spinning wheel, he gave the common man—regardless of caste or literacy—a sense of agency. He took the geographical expression of India that the British mocked at and turned it into a psychological reality. We should be proud of him because he proved that a colonized people could regain their dignity not by mimicking the brutality of their masters, but by transcending it.

​A Debt of Gratitude

​We owe Gandhi our gratitude because he ensured that when India was born, it was born with a democratic soul. If India had won its freedom through the barrel of a gun or the muscularity that Khera admires, we might have become just another post-colonial military dictatorship. Instead, Gandhi gave us a tradition of mass mobilization and dissent that remains the bedrock of our democracy.

​To call Gandhi’s legacy cowardly while sitting in the safety of a free country that he lived and fought for is the height of historical amnesia. Gandhi managed the most difficult resource of all: the human conscience. He taught us that true power doesn’t lie in the ability to kill, but in the refusal to be intimidated. As Indians, our pride should stem from the fact that our revolution was led by a man who was strong enough to be kind and wise enough to be inclusive.  The great man’s character and reputation will surely outlive such assassination attempts.

1 Comment Posted on by Reji Koduvath Canada, Indian Army

The Lieutenant: A History of the Unguided Missile

Etymologically, Lieutenant combines the French lieu (in place) and tenant (holding) to mean – one who holds a place for another. Entering English from Old French, it described a deputy acting on behalf of a superior, a definition still central to its use in military and civil ranks (eg lieutenant colonel or lieutenant governor) and phrases like in lieu of.

Fresh from the academy, we joined our regiments as newly commissioned Second Lieutenants—eager to go, but as unguided as a nuclear-tipped missile. Fortunately, during my command tour (2002-2004), that breed had become extinct.

Despite a shared etymology, its pronunciation split into two distinct branches:

  • The British “Left-tenant”: This variant likely stems from a Middle English reading of Old French, where the letters ‘u’ and ‘v’ were often interchanged, influencing the sound to shift to an ‘f’.
  • The American “Loo-tenant”: This version hews more closely to the original French. It became standardised in the United States, partly due to the influence of spelling reformers like Noah Webster, who championed pronunciations that aligned with a word’s spelling.

The rank of Second Lieutenant is the most junior commissioned officer rank in many of the world’s armed forces, typically placed directly below the rank of Lieutenant.

Commonwealth and British Influence

  • Commonwealth militaries, following British practices, began using the rank of Second Lieutenant in 1871 to replace older ranks like Ensign (infantry) and Cornet (cavalry).
  • British Army: The rank was introduced in 1877, abolished in 1881, and then reintroduced in 1887. In 1902, its insignia was standardized as a single star.
  • Indian Army: The rank was used until the turn of the millennium (around the early 2000s).
  • Australian Army: The rank was abolished in 1986.
  • Canadian Forces: Adopted the rank in 1968 and used it until the late 2000s. The Canadian Navy briefly used it before reverting to the naval rank of Acting Sub-Lieutenant.

International Context

  • France: The equivalent rank, Sous-lieutenant, has a long history dating back to the reign of Henry II in 1674.
  • United States Army: The rank bore no insignia until December 1917, when a gold bar was introduced. This led to its common slang names:
    • Butter Bar or Brown Bar: Referring to the color of the insignia.
    • Shavetail: A derisive term from the U.S. Cavalry, referring to an unbroken mule whose tail was shaved to mark it as inexperienced and potentially dangerous.

Insignia

  • The standard NATO insignia for the rank is a single star.
  • In the British tradition, this single star was introduced alongside the two stars of a Lieutenant and the three stars of a Captain.

The young officers of the world’s militaries, whether holding the rank of Lieutenant or Second Lieutenant, are a potent force. They are defined by their readiness to accept any challenge and their commitment to learning the complex art of military leadership.

2 Comments Posted on by Reji Koduvath Canada, Indian Army

Srinagar Airport Incident: A Symptom of a Larger Crisis

Recent reports of an Indian Army officer assaulting SpiceJet staff over baggage fees shocked many. While inexcusable, this aggression may point to a deeper issue: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Unlike Canadian soldiers—who enjoy baggage allowances up to 32kg ×3 pieces without fees – Indian personnel often face logistical stressors that compound existing traumas.

Canadian Soldiers are not charged overweight/ and or oversized bag fees for in all Canadian airlines including ultra-low-cost airlines – both on official and private travel.  

This incident mirrors my own awakening to PTSD after moving to Canada. When our children teased, “Dad, PTSD is kicking in!”, I realised how ill-equipped I was as a former Commanding Officer to recognise this invisible wound in my soldiers or myself.

PTSD: The War That Doesn’t End

PTSD is a psychological injury caused by trauma (combat, accidents, witnessing death, etc.) Symptoms include:

  • Intrusions: Flashbacks, nightmares (e.g., reliving Siachen avalanches).
  • Avoidance: Shutting down when asked about operations.
  • Hyperarousal: Explosive anger, sleep disorders, constant vigilance.

Historical Context.  In the American Civil War, it was referred to as Soldier’s Heart; in the First World War, Shell Shock; in the Second World War, War Neurosis; Vietnam War, Combat Stress Reaction. Many soldiers suffering from PTSD were labelled as Combat Fatigue and many soldiers continued and in 1980, it was categorised as PTSD.

Why PTSD Goes Unchecked in the Indian Army

  1. Cultural Stigma: Mental health – Considered a weakness in hyper-masculine environments.
  2. Lack of Training: No PTSD education for both officers and soldiers.
  3. Systemic Neglect: Low reported rates (officially) may reflect fear of career impacts or denied benefits.

Devastating Consequences of PTSD

  • Relationships: Emotional numbness destroys marriages (Why won’t he hold our baby?)
  • Substance Abuse: 50% veterans with PTSD self-medicate with alcohol.
  • Work Dysfunction: Alternating between workaholism and uncontrollable rage.

Breaking the Silence: Pathways to Healing

  • Therapy: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT,) Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR), a psychotherapy technique to alleviate the distress associated with PTSD.
  • Routine: Exercise, sleep hygiene, small daily goals.
  • Community: Creation of Veteran support groups.

For the Indian Army:

  • Accept Prevalence of PTSD.
  • Mandate PTSD Screening post-deployment (especially CI ops, high-altitude postings.)
  • Train officers to recognise symptoms.
  • Destigmatise PTSD. Confidential counseling without career penalties.

For Society:

  • Stop glorifying Sacrifice while ignoring suffering.
  • Demand veteran mental health budgets (current: <1% of defense spending).

A Call to Action

That officer at the airport wasn’t just misbehaving—he was likely re-experiencing trauma. Until India acknowledges PTSD as a war injury (not a disgrace,) we fail those who defend us. Indian Army claims that prevalence rates of PTSD is much lower compared to global averages – may be to ensure that the Veterans do not claim disability benefits.  In my opinion, about 50% of the Indian Veterans suffer from PTSD.