PEACENIKS PAST

    In 1931 Mahatma Gandhi traveled to London to attend the Second Round Table Conference on the implementation of the Indian constitution and the county's future under British colonial rule. As Hitler came to power in Germany and Mussolini's black shirt fascists controlled Italy, the talks faltered and failed. But Gandhi's refusal to stay in a four star hotel, instead residing in a small rooftop room at London's East End Kingsley Hall captured the public's attention and he extended his stay. At the invitation of rich girls turned socialists Muriel and Doris Lester, Gandhi took up residence at the Kingsley Hall community center from September 12 to December 5,1931. Who prepared his simple vegetarian meals while he was at Kingsley Hall? Mildred Osterhout.

     Canadian socialist Mildred Osterhout had met Muriel Lester while attending graduate school at Bryn Mawr in Philly and accepted an invitation to come to London and volunteer at Kingsley Hall. She had no idea that Gandhi would be staying there or that she would have such intimate access to the man. As World War II brewed Gandhi's position was clear. He opposed India's participation in any conflict on the side of Britain as the imperialists continued to maintain political control over the Indian people. 2.5 million Indians ignored Gandhi's call to anti-war nonviolence and joined the British army during WWII. When confronted with the unfolding Holocaust Gandhi suggested that the Jews lie down and refuse to move. The German and Ukrainian death squads had the same instructions as they machine gunned their victims. Gandhi's tone-deaf attitude towards the Jewish genocide never gained much traction or purchase in the world press.

    Mildred Osterhout's life would never be the same after meeting Gandhi. As difficult as it is to oppose ALL war and maintain a philosophy of complete non-violence today, imagine being a Canadian woman voicing anti-war dogma in 1931. When Gandhi went back to India after his London visit, Mildred followed as a devoted acolyte. She would repeatedly profess her love and devotion to Bapu and plead with him to give her greater responsibilities in the global struggle for peace. Gandhi was consistently dismissive, flattering Mildred with the sexist, "You are quite a good little dish washer."

     Despite Mildred's inability to get Gandhi to direct her path through life, her devotion to the peace movement and later participation in the Civil Rights Era never wavered.  She met all the giants of the Civil Rights movement and traveled to Montgomery, Alabama with Bayard Rustin in 1956 to meet Martin Luther King, Jr. and participate in the bus boycott. Born in 1900, Mildred lived to be 92-years-old. She not only protested World War II, but every violent conflict since. In 1991 the elder pacifist was awarded the Vancouver Peace Award. Her legacy as a staunch advocate for peace through non-violence is unchallenged and one of the rarest commodities to come across in the twenty-first century. How would Mildred and Gandhi respond to Putin's invasion of Ukraine? I think we can be assured that their positions wouldn't have changed. PEACE MUST PREVAIL.