Gandhian Catholic priest lectures in India

A Gandhian Catholic priest from Michigan in the United States visited a village in West Bengal to strengthen people’s non-violent resistance to a planned nuclear power project in their village.

Father Charles Peter Dougherty talked to people of Haripur about the value of non-violence and the strategy and tactics they should adopt to resist the federal government’s move to set up the nuclear plant.

Father Dougherty is in India to receive this year’s Jamnalal Bajaj Award for promoting Gandhian thought and philosophy outside India. He visited the village in East Midnapore on Nov. 10 to see how people were non-violently facing the power of the state.

“I came to India to receive an award. And I wanted to see places where people are fighting for their rights in a non-violent manner. So my friends took me to Haripur,” the septuagenarian Catholic priest told the Times of India.

The central government plans to set up a nuclear power plant in the village with the help of a Russian firm. The plans were firmed up two weeks ago ignoring people resistance that began when the plan was initiated in 2006.

The villagers forced to return a team of experts from the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd without visiting the proposed site for the plant two years ago, although policemen accompanied the team.

“It was a wonderful experience meeting the villagers. I told them a few things and learned a lot myself from them. I came to know how three years ago thousands of people had challenged a police force with non-violence. It was really remarkable,” said Father Dougherty.

“He visited several hamlets here and took a class on non-violence at Boguran Jalpai village. Around 15 of us attended the class,” said Robin Bunia, a fishermen activist of Haripur.

The priest told us about the Gandhian movement, shared with us his own experiences and taught us a few tactics.”

Debashis Shyamal, a leader of the non-violent movement in the village, said the priest told them how to face the police in a non-violent way, how to prevent policeman from attacking one of them and how to control a fellow activist if he loses his cool and goes to attack the police.

The visit was “very timely and very important” for the village, Shyamal said adding the priest even told them how to tackle the situation if police or politicians “deliberately try to create a situation of unrest.”