About Us

VISION

The core vision of Jai Jagat is to create a space where groups and movements can come together to make change nonviolently and address issues related to justice and peace. The urgency of having such convergence is to change global public opinion to enhance the emergence of an alternative development process that is pro-people, pro-poor and pro-nature. 

The Jai Jagat draws from Mahatma Gandhi’s principle of sarvodya (social inclusion); it was formulated by Gandhi’s associate, Vinoba Bhave to mean planetary unity. In modern parlance it may be said: “All for the planet and the planet for All (Everyone)”.  Some people translate it as “victory for all” so no one is a loser but we are all winners.

The Jai Jagat campaign works from the local is central to the Jai Jagat vision. This is the place where people have the potential to have self-governing and self-sufficient communities. This can be in rural or urban areas, and if in place, it guarantees a more sustainable relationship with nature and the larger ecosystems, and enables diverse development practices that draw from individual and group actions..

Strengthening many local communities with bottom-up decision-making and inclusive development that is linked to changing global institutions like the WTO, IMF and World Bank; as well as global policies like the SDGs, assists  people to have less dependence on the state and more local autonomy.

In contrast to other such forums, the Jai Jagat is also an organization that draws inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy, and has facilitated a Global Peace March for six months in 2019-2020 from India to Armenia. .Marches are an important element of action as they require people to suffer for their convictions and this attracts respect and solidarity. Out of these actions people begin to transform in various ways to become more nonviolent in their individual and group lives.

MANIFESTO

The Green and White Book came about as a response to the two planetary issues that pose the greatest existential threat to humankind: climate change, and the acceleration of wars and conflicts that are leading to mass migration and poverty. The Jai Jagat Manifesto refers to these existential crises in order to refocus the imperative of social action. Human beings have never before faced a situation where our survival is being threatened; and this may well be the motivator of change.

Jai Jagat attempts to instill courage by offering a vision. This vision is meant to give people, especially the young, a sense of their own power to make changes, based on individual and collective ingenuity, rather than a dependence on large external systems that are beyond people’s control. Hu-man prowess links local action to global change, but the local action encouraged in this Manifesto is to integrate nonviolence. In the case of climate, there are literally thousands of local grassroots’ innovations across the globe that have been/are being developed. However, because they are small, and be-cause nonviolence is not overtly manifest, they have not been given the required public support, and have had limited impact. Assembling such diverse initiatives on a single platform may well tip the balance in favour of local action that is working to reduce the violence perpetuated on the earth’s resources, and, in the process, ameliorate the climate crisis.

Similarly, Jai Jagat responds to the unleashing of force in many countries that are making human socie-ty pliant to authoritarian and centralized rule. Arms sales are at an all time high. Marginalizing people from the mainstream, ‘keeping people poor’, promoting social divisions, and ‘keeping people divided’ are increasingly commonplace strategies that lead to a violent political economy. Such economies need weaponry, ostensibly to deter war and maintain civic peace. In reality, the stockpiling of armaments, whether conventional, nuclear, chemical or biological, only risks a greater possibility of war.
Such violence occurs in many places, and is especially prevalent in developing countries. There is a stand-off between people holding onto natural resources for basic livelihoods, and those who need cheap resources for a kind of development that only leads to conflict. Basic human needs should be the priority of governments, particularly if industrial development involves adverse consequences such as mass dispossession from lands, loss of remunerative prices for small farmers, contamination of water bodies, and so on. The acquisition of unlimited resources for production is in direct relation to the climate crisis. The government needs to balance development interventions in such a way that people, not profit, are the determining factor.
The vision of Jai Jagat lies in the title of this Manifesto : ‘green’ for recovering a balanced relationship with planet earth; and ‘white’ for finding ways to promote peace based on justice. The Jai Jagat Manifesto is meant to inspire a form of action that enables better interaction between local action and global change .

CHARTER OF COMMITTMENT

This included both allies and those associated with Jai Jagat  in Europe that had decided to take up ten of their own marches in addition to the global peace march that was meant to travel 11,000 kilometers from Delhi to Geneva. This was suspended half-way in Armenia.. The plan was to hold a convergence forum in Geneva in late September 2020 up until October 2nd (International Day of Nonviolence and Gandhi’s 150th Birth Anniversary), and groups were planning to join from Latin America, Africa, South and South-East Asia, and North America. Because the march was suspended due to the coronavirus, it was decided to have a virtual meeting in late September until October 2nd, and then a planning meeting in December on 10th to 13th, 2020 before considering rescheduling the global peace march in Georgia in April 2021.

What Gandhi said so many years ago still stands: “Peace is not an end, it is the way”. “The means may be likened to a seed, the end to a tree, and there is just the same inviolable connection between the means and the end as there is between the seed and the tree.”

Goal, Objectives and Convergent Actions 

Goal: Transforming to Nonviolence

The main goal of the Jai Jagat is to transforming to nonviolence in social, political and economic structures and processes and to reflect that in human behaviour.

Objectives: Four Pillars

The four pillars are the objectives of the Jai Jagat::

  • Eradicating Poverty
  • Stopping Social Discrimination
  • Mitigating the Climate Crisis
  • Reducing Conflict and War

These are applicable at both local situations across the world and to global policy making. They are both the means and the end of sound development planning. They also give benchmarks for the local actors of civil society and the national actors of government.

Four Areas of Convergent Action:

  • Nonviolent Governance and Conflict Resolution
  • Developing Capacities for Justice and Peace
  • New Economic Development Paradigm
  • Environment and Climate Justice

HISTORY

The Jai Jagat movement emerged from the work of an Indian social movement, Ekta Parishad that led the struggle of marginalized people for land, forest and water rights over three decades. This was done with a large team of committed activists with its founder,  Mr Rajagopal P.V., a Gandhian practitioner who had practiced social mobilization even before Ekta Parishad came into existence. Rajagopal was deeply influenced by Gandhi and Vinoba Bhave. Through his experience of building a large social movement,  methods and techniques were developed that gave the basis for thinking of alternatives. Nonviolent movements are based on “engaging the other” rather than setting up confrontational relationships. This new form of social movement of building ‘dialogue’ with the Indian State while mobilizing large movements at the grassroots was known as ‘struggle and dialogue’.  (See mass mobilizing in 2007, 2012 and 2018 at www.ektaparishadindia.org.)

In 2012 the largest nonviolent mobilization on land reform took place,  known as Jan Satyagraha, and the following year, the Jai Jagat took these nonviolent techniques to other groups/movements in different parts of the world. Visiting thirteen countries, mostly in the developing world in the space of five years, Rajagopal and Jill Carr-Harris, the founder of South-South Solidarity, built up a network focused on action programs that was the beginning of a movement for influencing global policies. Dozens of groups supported the principles and techniques of nonviolence, because civil society was increasingly losing ground in a rising tide of nationalism and intolerance. Thus in 2014 Ekta Parishad with fifty other groups began to chalk out the Jai Jagat movement globally to commit to a common  action. The campaign was shaped around a global peace march.

In February 2019 the Green and White Booklet: the Jai Jagat Manifesto was prepared. A month later the European friends made a charter. These were meant to circumscribe the campaign. The Manifesto can be found below.

AIM: Transforming to Nonviolence

The main aim of the Jai Jagat is to transforming to nonviolence in social, political and economic structures and processes and to reflect that in human behaviour.

THE GOALS: FOUR PILLARS

The four pillars are the objectives of the Jai Jagat::

  1. Eradicating Poverty
  2. Stopping Social Discrimination
  3. Mitigating the Climate Crisis
  4. Reducing Conflict and War

These are applicable at both local situations across the world and to global policy making. They are both the means and the end of sound development planning. They also give benchmarks for the local actors of civil society and the national actors of government.

FOUR AREAS OF CONVERGENT ACTIONS

  1. Nonviolent Governance and Conflict Resolution
  2. New Economic Development Paradigm
  3. Micro-Sustainable, Eco-Friendly and Climate-Just Initiatives
  4. Developing Capacities for Justice and Peace

Nonviolent Governance and Conflict Resolution

We need to stop war. The UN Secretary General called for a ceasefire on all global conflicts on March 23rd.  We need to lift economic sanctions to prevent hunger. The UN Rapporteur on the Right to Food is calling for sanctions being lifted currently on: Syria, Venezuela, Iran, Cuba and Zimbabwe. 

New Economic Development Paradigm

We need to cancel debt repayments to developing countries. The World Bank-IMF are proposing to cancel all external debt payments for 2020 to the 76 of the poorest countries. The debt cancellation should be extended subsequently. 

Micro-Sustainable, Eco-Friendly and Climate-Just Initiatives

Developing Capacities for Justice and Peace

Jai Jagat is a movement initiated and carried forward by both people/groups working on the ground and those at the systemic levels for justice and peace. Detailed list of members of the movement can be found here

International Advisory Committee
S.No. Name
1 Yves Berthelot, Chair
2 Olivier de Schutter, Belgium
3 Salil Shetty
4 Miloon Kothari, India
5 Irene Santiago, Philippines
6 Anne Pearson, Canada
7 Hans Willensward
8 Mazide N’Diaye, Senegal
9 Jagat Basnet, Nepal
10 Margrit Hugentobler, Switzerland
11 Benjamin Joyeux
12 Daniel Wemus
13 Liliane De Toledo
14 Rajagopal PV
15 Ramesh Sharma
16 Jill Carr Harris
17 Aneesh Thillenkery
18 Vandana Shiva
19 Sonia Deotto
20 Arsen Kharatyan
21 Reva Joshee
22 Sulak Sivaraksa
23 Liz Theoharis
24 Irakli Kakabadze
25 Gabriela Monteiro

.

Jai Jagat International
S.No. Name Designation
1 Olivier de Schutter President
2 Margrit Hugentobler Vice President
3 Erik Todts Treasurer
4 Ginny Wollaston Ex. Member
5 Daniel Wermus Ex. Member
6 Clotilde Bato Ex. Member
7 Yves Berthelot Member (GB)
8 Jacques Vellut Member (GB)
9 Emile Etienne Member (GB)
10 Ala Dangoisse Member (GB)
11 Birthe Pederson Member (GB)
Geneva Association
1 Liliane de Toledo
2 Benjamin Joyeux
3 Daniel Wermus
Jai Jagat India
1 Abhishek Joshi
2 Anuradha Singh
3 Bharat Dogra
4 Mazher Hussain
5 Shivani Chaudhary
6 Miloon Kothari
7 Dr. Praveen Jha
8 Arif Mohammad Khan
9 Vikram Nayak
10 Shilpa
11 Anupam Nidhi
12 Sudarshan Iyer
13 Abhishek Thakore
14 Manish Jain
15 Ransingh Parmar
16 Ramesh Sharma
17 Aneesh Thillenkery
18 Kamla Bhasin
Information and Communication Hubs
1 Nabil Singh (Garry)
2 Monica Elizabeth
3 Janmajeya Singh
Regional Leads
1 Europe ‘JJ EC’- Luc Andre’ Defrenne, Ginny Wollaston
2 South Asia- Jagat Basnet, Mazher Hussain, Karamat Ali, Thayapan
3 West Asia- Pooyan
4 South East Asia- Hans Van Willensward, Wallapa , Don Marquez, Saurlin Siagian
5 Middle East- Damodaran
6 South Caucasus- Arsen Kharatyan, Davit Petrosyan, Irakli Kakabadze, Tinatin Asatiani
7 Central America- Sonia Deotto, Monica Elizabeth
8 North America- Reva Joshee, Liz Theoharis
9 South America- Gabriela Monteiro, Laurena Julio, Mikael Peric
10 West Africa- Ardow Abdul Sow
11 East Africa- Sidney Kairu
12 South Africa- Ela Gandhi

ALLIANCES

Following are the list of organisations and groups that have come into an alliance with the Jai Jagat movement.

S.No. Organization
1 SERPAJ
2 Communauté de l’Arche
3 Fundacion Ambiente Y Recursos Naturales (FARN)
4 EURASIA PARTNERSHIP FONDATION
5 Restart
6 Ecolog
7 Maison de la Paix MIR – IRG
8 COADY – International Institute
9 Voice of Women for peace
10 Voices for Creative Nonviolence
11 Nonviolent Peaceforce
12 Christian Peace Maker Team
13 Quakers Birmingham
14 Dignity International
15 The Greens/European Free Alliance
16 Terre des Hommes
17 Frères des Hommes
18 MAN (Mouvement pour une alternative Non violente) – Arche
19 SOL – Alternatives Agroecologiques Et Solidares
20 International Gandhi Foundation
21 National Youth Project
22 Jal Bhagirati Foundation
23 Ekta Foundation Trust
24 Center for Experiencing Socio Cultural Interaction
25 Prayog
26 Manav Jeevan Vikas Samiti
27 Mahatma Gandhi Seva Ashram
28 Nairobi Peoples Settlements Network
29 Federation of Paysannes
30 CSRC  – Struggling for Land Rights
31 UCL (Universite Catholique de Louvain) Sustainability Unit
32 National Fisheries Solidarity Movement (NAFSO)
33 SONAD Sudanese Org. for Nonciolence & Development
34 BLLF Sweden
35 Gandhi Foundaiton Georgia
36 Gandhi Foundation Armenia
37 Poor Peoples Campaign
38 Alternatiba
39 The Meal
40 Jai Jagat Geneva Association
41 Jai Jagat International (and Jai Jagat European groups)
42 Alternatiba Léman

SOLIDARITY GROUPS

Following are the list of organisations and groups that are in support to the Jai Jagat movement.

S.No. Organization
1 OXFAM GB
2 UNIPAZ
3 Water Aid Ghana
4 University of Victoria
5 Ottawa Valley Food Coop
6 St.Francis Xavier University
7 Ecole de la Paix
8 Réseau Colibri
9 Europe Initiative Rhône-Alpes
10 Initiatives et Changements Dialogue entre Agriculteurs
11 AgroParisTech / END WATER POVERTY
12 Ville de Nantes
13 Peuples Solidaires – Rennes
14 International Centre on Conflict and Negotiation (ICCN)
15 ILC Asia
16 Kenya Land Alliance
17 All Nepal Peasants’ Federation (Revolutionary)
18 Forum for Agrarian Concern and Studies in Nepal, (FACT, Nepal)
19 GREEN FORUM
20 One World Action
21 World Social Forum
22 ANGOC
23 Civicus
24 Center for Global Non Killing
25 Forum for Democracy
26 Maison Internationale des Associations Geneva
27 University of Geneva: Center for International Studies
28 World Water Council
29 ESCR-net
30 Rights in Development
31 Carter Foundation
32 War Resisters International
33 ICAN
34 WIMB

Do you know any nonviolent local action taking place? Want to learn and host training camps? Or simply wish to collaborate/ volunteer?

Write to us at contact@jaijagat2020.org