Forgiveness can’t come without truth: King

Martin Luther King III, the son of the civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, Jr, was in Ahmedabad on Friday to retrace his father’s visit here five decades back. King, along with his wife, Arndrea Waters King, have visited Delhi and Mumbai, and were in the city on the last leg of their tour. Recounting the emotional trip, they spoke to DNA about continuing the legacy of Gandhi and King 

Did you enjoy your trip to India?
Martin: It has been an honour to be here. People have been very warm and generous. In my visits around the world, what is compelling to me is that people who have the least to give, give the most, whereas people who have everything may not always want to give.

Arndrea: It has been a fascinating trip. Coming here, I’ve renewed my commitment to non-violence and I hope to be able to instil the same values in my (nine-month-old) daughter.

In your addresses, you spoke of forgiveness and love overshadowing hatred. Do you feel in the instances where the state has perpetrated violence on its people, the people should forgive and move ahead?

Martin: Well, you have to start from the truth. If people are not willing to apologise for wrongs done in the past, then it’s a bigger task for the oppressed to employ a strategy of not harbouring any hatred. Different countries have employed different strategies, for example the Truth and Reconciliation Council in South Africa. You can only apologise, you can’t go back and make things right. But apologising is important and helpful.

My father was assassinated when I was 10. At 16, my grandmother was assassinated. I could easily have adopted hatred but my mother helped me see that love overshadows hatred. I take this message wherever I go because this message is transformative.

Is it difficult to practise Gandhiji’s philosophy of truth and non-violence, given the violent times we live in?
Martin: No, it isn’t. In fact, the philosophy of non-violence is more relevant now than ever. What is difficult is to see that the acts of terror are unnecessary and we should be able to resolve conflict without violence. In all my visits to different countries, I have found that people want this message of Gandhi and my father.
Arndrea: No, carrying on Gandhi’s legacy is no more difficult for us now than it was for them at the time they lived. Gandhi’s family faced up to troubles. I believe, terror has always existed. But Kasturba and Coretta (Martin Luther King, Jr’s wife) have left us blueprints to deal with violence.

How strong is Gandhiji’s influence in the US today?
Gandhi’s influence and indeed that of Martin Luther King, Jr is wider now, especially with President Barack Obama’s administration in place. The president has in his office photographs of Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr and Mahatma Gandhi. Under the previous president, there was not much discussion at the academic level. But these pictures are reflective of the desire and commitment of the new presidency to embrace these values. With Obama, there seems to be a real prospect of re-emergence of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr in the US.