A senior lawmaker from president Barack Obama’s Democratic party has compared US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden with Mahatma Gandhi, saying the controversial whistleblower was engaged in a ‘non-violent’ act of ‘civil disobedience’.
John Lewis, one of USA’s most revered civil rights leaders, says Snowden was continuing the tradition of civil disobedience.
‘In keeping with the philosophy and discipline of non-violence, in keeping with the teachings of Henry David Thoreau and people like Gandhi, if you believe something is not right or unjust and you are willing to defy customs, traditions, bad laws, then you have a conscience. You have a right to defy those laws and be willing to pay the price,’ Lewis told Guardian newspaper.
Lewis, the man whom Obama called the ‘conscience of US Congress’, said Snowden could claim he was appealing to ‘a higher law’ when he disclosed top secret documents showing the extent of NSA surveillance of both Americans and foreigners.
The congressman, one of the last surviving lieutenants of Martin Luther King, said Snowden was ‘engaged in an act of civil disobedience’.
‘That is what we did. I got arrested 40 times during the 60s. Since I’ve been in Congress I’ve been arrested four times. Sometimes you have to act by the dictates of your conscience. You have to do it, Lewis added.
John Lewis, one of USA’s most revered civil rights leaders, says Snowden was continuing the tradition of civil disobedience.
‘In keeping with the philosophy and discipline of non-violence, in keeping with the teachings of Henry David Thoreau and people like Gandhi, if you believe something is not right or unjust and you are willing to defy customs, traditions, bad laws, then you have a conscience. You have a right to defy those laws and be willing to pay the price,’ Lewis told Guardian newspaper.
Lewis, the man whom Obama called the ‘conscience of US Congress’, said Snowden could claim he was appealing to ‘a higher law’ when he disclosed top secret documents showing the extent of NSA surveillance of both Americans and foreigners.
The congressman, one of the last surviving lieutenants of Martin Luther King, said Snowden was ‘engaged in an act of civil disobedience’.
‘That is what we did. I got arrested 40 times during the 60s. Since I’ve been in Congress I’ve been arrested four times. Sometimes you have to act by the dictates of your conscience. You have to do it, Lewis added.