This paper examines how Mahatma Gandhi's philosophical principles — particularly his views on self-discipline, civil disobedience, and non-violence — apply to debates over mandatory fingerprinting policies. Drawing on Gandhi's historical resistance to fingerprint registration laws targeting Indian and Chinese immigrants in South Africa, the paper argues that Gandhi would have viewed such policies as insulting and unjust. It further explores the right of individuals, specifically professors, to engage in non-violent civil disobedience against invasive identification requirements, and considers whether students should similarly be exempt from mandatory fingerprinting in academic settings.
Today's environment features far more security measures that seem to border on the notion of a police state. With the threat of terrorism constantly looming over the American public, there have been many more allowances made in the name of security. This, however, would be seen as a violation of rights and privacy by many philosophers — including Mahatma Gandhi.
Gandhi was a powerful force in the fight against oppression and public injustice during the English occupation of India. His philosophies captured the attention of the world and helped demonstrate that violence need not be met with violence to achieve victory. Gandhi preached the importance of self-discipline as a way to ensure good citizenship and lawful behavior. According to his principles, "Brahamacharya means control of all the organs of sense. He who attempts to control only one organ, and allows all the others free play is bound to find his effort futile" (Manu Bhavan Gandhi Sangrahalaya, 2014).
When one lives a self-disciplined life, one becomes a better human being and thus a responsible member of a functioning society. Those who possess this quality should be trusted, and not implicitly told they are not trusted through actions such as requiring fingerprint documentation of all individuals under a nation or organization. For responsible individuals, there is no need for such heightened security measures, and instilling them within an academic institution is a flagrant insult to those who work within it. Gandhi would have seen such procedures as both insulting and a breach of justice within the organization.
In fact, Gandhi had a direct history with the issue of fingerprinting. Research suggests that "Gandhi organized popular resistance to a law that subjected Indian and Chinese immigrants to a stigmatizing system of fingerprint identity registration" (Breckenridge, 2011). He viewed it as a clear injustice — the use of fingerprinting for documentation purposes applied to non-criminals amounted, in his view, to a form of racial profiling. Although the current case is not so clear-cut in terms of being an overtly oppressive practice, it is evident that Gandhi would have seen such intense security measures as aggressive and insulting.
If such a measure were to be implemented, professors would ultimately have the right to stand against it. Gandhi wholeheartedly believed in the principle of civil disobedience. One has the right to engage in civil disobedience if it is "in response to an instance of substantial and clear injustice" (Brownlee, 2013). From this perspective, if one feels that one's rights are being denied by an authority, one has the right to challenge that authority in an attempt to reinstate one's legal and natural rights. This is possible through conscious, principled action that refuses to comply with an injurious policy or law.
Such measures can then "serve to inhibit departures from justice and to correct departures when they occur; thus it can act as a stabilising force in society" (Brownlee, 2013). They help restore the balance between those in authority and the individual citizens under that authority. Professors do, therefore, have the right to refuse fingerprinting if they feel it violates their own principles and their expectations when working with the institution.
"Ahimsa and non-violent protest as superior resistance"
"Author's views on professors and student fingerprinting"
"Security versus citizens' rights and constitutional values"
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