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Hinduism and international humanitarian law

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 April 2010

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between Hinduism and war and the extent to which the fundamental concepts of humanitarian law are recognized in Hinduism. After reviewing the sources of Hinduism, it considers the permissibility and types of war in ancient India, explores the rules of warfare and investigates whether war was a matter of course or regarded as a ruler's last choice. It then sets out the humanitarian principles that already applied at that time. Finally, it considers how far the concepts of Hinduism have helped in the development of international humanitarian law.

Type
Religion
Copyright
Copyright © International Committee of the Red Cross 2005

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References

1 The Bhagavad Gita, quotation at <http://wrc.lingnet.org/hindueth.htm> (last visited 4 February 2005).

2 The humanitarian principles are largely articulated in The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 and the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their two Additional Protocols. For the texts see Handbook of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, ICRC, Geneva, 1994Google Scholar.

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5 The Vedas, philosophical teachings written by ancient inhabitants of India, serve as the foundational texts of Hinduism.

6 The word Desa Dharma combines two words of Sanskrit, Desa, which means land, and Dharma, which means duty.

7 Chacko, C. J., “India's contribution to the field of international law concepts”, Recueil des Cours, 1958 (I), Vol. 93, pp. 121221Google Scholar.

8 See generally, Penna, Lakshmikanth, “Traditional Asian approaches: An Indian viewAustralian Yearbook of International Law, 1985, Vol. 9, pp. 168206Google Scholar.

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14 The support for the principle of sarva dharma sambhava can be found particularly in the words of Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita: “Whosoever desires to worship whatever deity (using whatever name, form, and method) with faith, I make their faith steady in that very deity” Sarva Dharma Sambhava and Religious Freedoms, available at <http://www.globalengage.Org/issues/2002/ll/hinduism-2.htm> (last visited 6 February 2005).

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21 V. Nagarajan, “Manusmriti as Socio-political Constitution”, available at <http://www.geocities.com/vnagarajana402/manusmrtil.htm> (last visited 2 March 2005).

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30 Edicts available at <http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/ashoka.html> (last visited 17 February 2005).

33 Sastry, op. cit. (note 3), p. 530.

34 Ibid., p. 530.

35 Ibid., p. 132.

36 Chacko, op. cit. (note 7), p. 138.

37 Boesche, op. cit. (note 28)

38 V. Nagarajan, op. cit. (note 21).

41 Handbook, op. cit. (note 2), p. 223.

42 Ibid., p. 224.

43 Penna, op. cit. (note 8), pp. 180–191.

46 Chacko, op. cit. (note 7), pp. 126–128.

47 Penna, op. cit. (note 8), pp. 191–192.

50 Boesche, op. cit. (note 28).

51 Alexandrowich, op. cit. (note 24), pp. 301–320.

52 The word Aryans is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘arya’ which means noble. It is applied to foreigners who entered India through the north-west sometime between 1,500 and 1,200 BC <http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Parthenon/2104/aryans.html> (last visited 5 March 2005).

53 Boesche, op. cit. (note 28).

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