DANDI (Navsari District), July 19: Nearly seven decades after the Mahatma picked up a fistful of salt at the sea-shore here and shook the foundations of the British empire, Gandhians in this little town are all set to revive and implement the principles of ahimsa and persuasion in settling all inter-personal local disputes.``Between 1937 and 1988, not a single criminal or civil case was registered here'', says Dhirubhai Patel, secretary of the Dandi Namak Satyagrah Smarak Trust, - founded last year when the Gujarat government re-enacted the Dandi March - which is now spearheading the Gandhian revival.Locals admit that was the achievement of the Dandi Yuvak Mandal, a now-defunct organisation, which showed the way in settling disputes through negotiation and persuasion. ``The half-a-dozen-odd cases that were reported are due to petty politics'', maintains Patel.A year after the DYM's founder died, the Smarak Trust - chaired by Rajmohan Gandhi, the Mahatma's grandson, and comprising leading citizens like Kumudben Joshi and Mahesh Kothari - is ready to pick up where it left off. ``We will hold prayers and fasts before those involved with disputes to bring about a change of heart. The idea is to prevent quarrels from reaching the court'', says Patel.A training centre for `Shanti Sainiks' is also on the cards, though the Trust is yet unsure what they will be taught. ``It's still in the conceptual stage'', says Patel.Despite the Trust secretary's enthusiasm, scepticism about the project's effectiveness abounds. ``It's easier said than done'', says former MLA Dinkar Desai. ``(After all), an entire generation has passed by. Earlier, the Jain muni Sandalji tried to do something similar elsewhere in the State, but the experiment came a cropper.''Maintaining that the DYM succeeded because there were few problems in the first place in Dandi - whose population now is a little less than 1300 - Desai says, ``Persuasion might have limited success. But you might have to fall back on legal means sooner or later.''``We'll have a tough time selling the concept to the youngsters'', agrees Patel. But 30-year-old Prakash Patel, who lives right next to the Gandhi Memorial, believes otherwise. ``The hype of the Surajya Dandiyatra 1998 did create awareness about Gandhian philosophy among the younger generation'', he says.Apart from the `peaceful settlement' plan, the Trust has suggested establishment of a multi-purpose complex that will facilitate research on Gandhi, a library, separate halls for prayer and meditation and a permanent exhibition.``A `Gateway of Freedom' will also be built at the village entrance, for Dandi is where the civil disobedience movement began and proved to be source of inspiration for people like Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King'', says the trust secretary.
