European Scientific Journal, ESJ

Echoes of Ahimsa: The Historical Roots of Indian Philosophy of Peace and Its Relevance in Present Times

2026-01-10T13:40:16+00:00

The idea of Ahimsa (non-violence) has been a central theme in Indian thought and a key principle in building peace for centuries. This paper traces the historical journey of Ahimsa–from its early mentions in Vedic texts and the Upanishads to its more explicit expressions in Jainism, Buddhism, and the Bhagavad Gita. A significant turning point came during the rule of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka. After the Kalinga War, his edicts promoted tolerance, social welfare, and nonviolent diplomacy, demonstrating how Ahimsa influenced governance and relations between states. In later centuries, the Bhakti and Sufi movements spread the message of non-violence and compassion in everyday life, encouraging harmony among diverse communities. In the modern period, Mahatma Gandhi gave Ahimsa a new meaning–as a way to resist injustice peacefully. His idea of Satyagraha not only guided India’s struggle for independence but also inspired global movements such as the U.S. Civil Rights Movement and the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa. This paper examines how Ahimsa transcended religious and cultural boundaries to become a principle for resolving conflicts, preserving the environment, and promoting intercultural dialogue. It draws on methods from history, philosophy, political science, and peace studies to argue that Ahimsa offers a valuable approach to addressing today’s challenges–such as climate change, communal conflicts, and ethical concerns in emerging technologies. By revisiting these past moments, this study demonstrates that peace is not merely the absence of war; it is also the presence of harmony. It is an active process based on empathy, fairness, and shared responsibility. The Indian philosophy of Ahimsa still offers lessons for building fairer and more sustainable paths to peace in the 21st century.

Viral Utterances of Grief and Empathy: A Case Study of Two Major Moments of Social Shock in Bangladesh (2024–25)

2026-01-10T13:40:25+00:00

In the modern era of accessible digital technology, certain spontaneous utterances of common folks, spoken in moments of distress, moral dilemma, or crisis, reach wide audiences through social media like Facebook and become viral expressions of collective emotion, grievance, or solidarity. This study examines how four viral utterances from two major moments of social shock in Bangladesh, which happened in July 2024 (student uprising regarding a political issue) and in 2025 (the Milestone School aircraft tragedy), became viral and transformed into symbols of social justice, human rights advocacy, and public consciousness. Using discourse analysis, cultural semiotics, and affect theory, the study analyzes how expressions such as “Pani lagbe, pani?”, “Why have you killed my son?” “They are my children too...” and “I knew you would come” became markers of moral courage, solidarity, and public grief. To complement the qualitative analysis, a short questionnaire was distributed among 86 university students to explore how these utterances were interpreted and how users perceive the role of Facebook in transforming private emotions into public symbols. Responses on a 5-point Likert scale reveal that participants overwhelmingly viewed these utterances as expressions of empathy, resistance to inequality, and calls for social justice rather than mere personal cries of distress. The findings demonstrate that viral speech acts in Bangladesh’s digital public sphere can mobilize emotional communities, amplify marginalized voices, and contribute to broader discourses on human rights and peacebuilding.

Brazil’s Indigenous Peoples Articulation (BIPA) Statements on the EU–Mercosur FTA (2019–2025): Human and Environmental Security Implications

2026-01-10T13:40:13+00:00

Drawing upon the decolonial approach within Peace Studies, this paper assesses human and environmental security issues identified in all statements adopted by Brazil's Indigenous Peoples Articulation (BIPA) and published on its webpage concerning the EU-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement. The five official statements issued by BIPA throughout the twenty-five-year negotiation period were located and analyzed, with all documents having been identified within the 2019–2025 period. Employing Content Analysis (CA), utilizing ATLAS.ti software, the paper is structured in two main parts. First, it establishes the decolonial theoretical framework, specifically the Indigenous perspective in Peace Studies, and contextualizes it within current struggles involving Indigenous peoples in Brazil. Second, it systemizes the coding results from the analyzed documents to identify potential implications. The central hypothesis posits that BIPA was predominantly opposed to the EU-Mercosur agreement, emphasizing in its discourse how the strengthening of economic sectors, such as agribusiness and mineral extraction, has the potential to undermine Indigenous land rights and the protection of environmental reserves. The findings reveal a consistently critical position toward the agreement, evidenced by the predominance of the Human and Environmental Security issues category, which accounted for 68 units out of the 117 multiple associations across all subcategories within the coded data. These findings highlight the academic debate on the agreement's potential to exacerbate human insecurity, threatening the livelihoods of Indigenous communities in Brazil.