Uncovering the Culture of Peace within Subaltern: The case of Non-Violence and Positive Peace in the Traditional Sub-Continent

Abstract

The world of social sciences is divided between two poles: what is truth and what is false? This dichotomy of the ontological reality remained contested to this day; however, modern sciences have monopolized the epistemic and ontological realities to their favor, devising an uncultivated space for the traditional sciences. This study revitalizes the need to address this exact precarious issue caused by the desacralization of knowledge within the traditional sciences. Under the ambit of sacred sciences, it becomes a necessity to navigate between the subaltern question and the culture of peace; wherein the ultimate reality is still based upon ‘revelation’ and ‘intellect’, and it has not been corrupted by the modern western ideas of empiricism and rationalism. Traditional sub-continent sciences – in all their universal and particular attributes - provide the basic tenets of the culture of peace among humans, and in the broad context of mother nature. Humanism in its true manifestation existed centuries ago in the traditional sub-continent society; however, subhuman cultures ushered by the modernization drive by the west undermined the beauty of harmony

in

the sub-continent. Under this hindsight, imagine a glorious past of the sub-continent region wherein predominantly peace prevailed in most of the cases, it is – at the present moment - mired either with a general state of conflict or there exists a phase in which a cyclic pattern of war and peace can be seen at all systemic levels. Additionally, rigorous indigenous research on knowledge – attaching even binaries to the knowledge whereby what is western is scientific and what is nonwestern is anti-scientific - would be fatal if it is seen through a modern lens wherein the traditional

knowledge is relegated to the rank of an abysmal piece of art. Therefore, the true normative and

structural

aspects of the culture of peace that existed in the traditional sub-continent cannot be visualized without understanding its traditional sciences. For this reason, this thesis will dissert the wisdom existing in the traditional sciences - whereby they achieved positive peace - and how they can be utilized to address not only the contemporary regional conflicts within the sub-continent but also be able to highlight the re-conceptualization of peace at the global level.