We would apparently be living in times of peace, if the only
meaning of peace were the absence of war between nations. Presently there is
peace between India and Pakistan, India and China, and between any other two
countries of the world. Even the cold war between two superpowers has become a
matter of the past after the decline of USSR in the nineteen nineties. And yet,
can we say that there is real peace on earth? We are far from it.
The attainment of true
peace has only become more complicated. Armies and warplanes may not be crossing national boundaries, and
incursions may be few and exceptional, but the battle zones have shifted from
the boundaries to the areas within nations and states. No declaration of war
anywhere, but an undeclared war almost everywhere!
Political agitations everywhere are taking a violent turn.
The Egyptians demonstrated to the world two years back that a change of regime
could be brought about by the might of people on the streets and public squares,
empowered by the internet and communication technology. A well entrenched
dictator, Hosni Mubarak, had to surrender his presidency bowing to the people.
Hardly two years down the line, and after an election, Egypt is once again on
the boiling point of a conflict between the Muslim Brotherhood and forces
opposed to it including the military. This stage has been preceded by violence
against Coptic Christians by the majority.
On 21st
September, terrorists attacked the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, killing
in an instant at least 67 people including some Gujaratis, injuring almost 140, and
holding others in a four-day siege. The next morning, 22nd
September, a twin suicide attack killed about 80 people, including children,
and injured over 100 at All Saints Church in Peshawar, Pakistan. On the second last
day of September, we had the sad news of 50 students killed during sleep in their
college dormitory by suspected militants in north-east Nigeria. And on the last
day of the month 12 car bombs killed about 47 and wounded another 140 persons
in Baghdad as a consequence of the Sunni-Shiite conflict that has been going on
for years. The chemical weapons allegedly used in Syria have been the focus of
the world for almost two months while the strife continues causing immense
suffering to civilians. The poison of sectarian strife in Nairobi seems to be
spreading to Mombasa if we are to go by reports in the first week of October.
So much tension and violence within nations while international borders are presently
intact, benefiting from détente.
Coming to India and Pakistan, both countries have become
victims of terrorism, the latter of its own making. The democratic impulse of
Pakistan is on the ascendant but the political leadership is not yet in full
control. The so called non-state actors operate both within and beyond the
Pakistani territory. There is no open war between India and Pakistan, and yet
there is a hidden one. Is not what is covert worse than what is overt?
Communal and sectarian violence is definitely on the rise in
India. There have been small and big riots ever since independence on various
occasions and pretexts. It is never spontaneous but always incited by so called
leaders of groups and parties. How can people, who have lived in harmony for
decades if not centuries, suddenly turn hostile and violent on sectarian basis
unless indoctrinated by internal or external vested interests? Reports that
come out after every riot point out the extreme inhumanity of those involved in
violence, resulting in refugee camps inhabited by campers who just do not want
to return to the locality to which they belonged. The situation is much worse
for them than for the refugees of traditional wars because it is their own
neighbors and known people who have inflicted terrible wounds on their psyches,
unlike unknown soldiers of another country in conventional wars.
The recent riots in Muzaffarnagar and the increasing
sectarian tension in western Uttar Pradesh is too fresh in our minds to need
any further elaboration. The caste and the communal cards have been played by
political parties to polarize people for the 2014 electoral battle. People from
outside the area of the conflict can see very well the nefarious games some
politicians play. Human lives and property mean nothing to them in their
pursuit of power. Erstwhile emperors would wage wars on other peoples to expand
their territories but modern politicians manipulate their own people for riots
to gain power. The current Andhra Pradesh situation is another glaring example.
How do we achieve or at least strive for peace under these
circumstances? How do we initiate dialogue or negotiations with hidden forces? Is it possible to reach out to those beyond
reach? I was looking at the cover of the fiftieth year old encyclical of Pope
John XXIII, titled ‘Pacem in Terris’, “on establishing universal peace in
truth, justice, charity and liberty”. Each of the four values is imperative in
the pursuit of peace: there can’t be peace without justice being kissed by
truth and charity in a free atmosphere.
Peace is difficult but possible. Many great saints and
leaders have shown us the way. It is pertinent to remember Jaiprakash Narayan
on the occasion of his 111th birth anniversary on 11th October
this year. With his sarvodaya movement, Gandhian ideas, and the concept of
total revolution, Narayan convinced
hundreds of dacoits from India’s Chambal Valley to surrender voluntarily in 1972. Sincerity of
purpose and purity of method can win the day.
Published in The Navhind Times, Panorama 13.10.2013
