It is an established fact of the worldhistory that wars have never solved any problems but have on the contrarydestroyed civilisations. The sub-continent has witnessed three major wars inlast 70 years or so. All the three wars instead of solving any problems haverather created more of these and prevented all the countries in the region frombecoming true welfare states. We have only succeeded in pushing more and moreof our people below the poverty line by diverting our most precious resourcesfor purchasing armaments to kill each other! As per global surveys we are thelargest buyers of deadly weapons of all types manufactured by most of the socalled developed countries. Their economies thrive on the sale of weapons to usfor killing each other! Peace in the world means lesser jobs for their citizensemployed in armament manufacture!
It is has been observed that in most casesthe war frenzy is fanned by some media groups. The war like situation and thefeeling of enmity too has always been basically fanned by them. Whether it isthe Kargil War, the Parliament attack or the Mumbai assaults, the fuel to thefire has always been added by the media especially the electronic one. On theother side too, Jihad to liberate Kashmir or to establish an Islamic State ispromoted by the media. There are war mongers and the peaceniks. There have beenmany attempts by the peaceniks to start a dialogue for peace. For pastsometime, there have been many initiatives from the Civil Society to start aprocess for ushering in peace in the sub-continent. However, the process hasbeen awfully slow and has always been derailed by the Warmongers who appear tobe much stronger than the Peaceniks. The reason for this is that the Peaceniksdo not have any substantial material interests other than bringing peace tothis troubled land teeming with millions of deprived human beings. They aspireto live a life of peace with honour and care for the down trodden. On thecontrary, the Warmongers have immense material interests in the continuation ofhostilities. In fact, these people have a global reach as well as committedagents in all conflict areas. In a number of cases, they themselves create theconflict situations.
The main problem with Peaceniks is theirelitist approach. Lighting candles at the border and discussing problems infive star hotels are symbolic gestures which fail to reach their biggestconstituency. The Peaceniks main resource is the common people on both sides ofthe divide. Most of them want peace and the basic amenities for a decentliving. This constituency if tapped intelligently can virtually move themountains. However, to energise and move the constituency of peace one requiresa charismatic leader. For a long time one has not seen a peace lovingcharismatic leader in the sub-continent. The present day political leaders arein the field for money or power or both. Hardly anyone stands for the commonpeople. Politics has become a lucrative and a dynastic business dominated byvirtual mafia dons! Honest, sincere, and peace loving people are rare to find.
While as the Peaceniks have to wait for aGandhi to take rebirth, the Warmongers are busy reaping a rich harvest in themeantime. They have tremendous resources and access to the people wielding thelevers of political power everywhere. Global sales of newer and lethal weaponsare growing by leaps and bounds. The market is already in excess of a thousandbillion dollars of which the Americans’ share is almost the half. The greatestWarmonger in history has been USA.
The major chunk of the budgets of both thecountries in the sub-continent is eaten up by their defence outlays. The socialservices and poverty alleviation get the least part of the budget, thanks toWarmongers. Added to this are the Weapons of Mass Destruction foolishly havingbeen prepared by both sides without even thinking that the use of these willmean the ultimate end of civilisation in this part of the world. Somehow theyseem to be enamoured by the prospect of Mutually Assured Destruction. Even someGenerals have been speaking of a cold start which in other words means surgicalstrikes under the threat of nuclear overhang. How can people be so naïve? Hasany conflict in the sub-continent remained limited or confined? There areenough mad people to push the button when it comes to that and especially onthe other side in the prevailing situation of free for all! Incidentally, quitea few former Generals are working as liaison officers of arms manufacturers forsubstantially fat salaries. The business of conflict has so many beneficiariesand vested interests that it is virtually impossible for the Peaceniks to makea dent in this global set up.
The recent episode at Pulwama put the entire sub-continent on Red Alert. One thought that the nuclear war was minutes away! Here, it may be mentioned that the most of the war frenzy had been created by some anchors of the electronic media truly confirming the saying, “Those who are furthest away from the battleground, cry the loudest for war.” However, the situation got somewhat diffused after the crash of an Indian Airforce Fighter Jet and the safe return of the captured pilot. While returning the pilot an offer of dialogue to sort out all basic political issues has been made by the other side. Common sense demands that the offer be accepted and a comprehensive dialogue to sort out all issues be started. The sooner it is done better it would be not only for the sub-continent but entire South Asia and the rest of the world. Let us hope and pray good sense prevails!
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