The Global Peace Index 2024 reports that 92 countries
are currently engaged in conflicts beyond their borders, marking the highest
number since World War II. The latest conflict between India and Pakistan is
not included in that statistic.
What do these wars achieve? As
Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish wrote, “The old woman will keep waiting for
her martyred son. That girl will wait for her beloved husband. And those
children will wait for their heroic father.” The leaders will shake hands, he
said. History will be rewritten. New heroes will be born. But the ordinary
citizens pay the price for every war.
Wars kill people, first of all. World
War II killed 70 to 85 million people. Millions of people are displaced by
wars. The present Ukrainian crisis alone has displaced more than 14 million
people from their homes, 6 million of them are refugees in other countries. Famine
and starvation are the next problems. The endless civil war in Yemen, for
example, has driven 17 million people to food insecurity.
The collapse of infrastructure is all
too obvious. Many of my fellow country-people must have watched on their TV
screens how houses and other buildings came crashing down to dust in the past
few days both in India and Pakistan. Environment bleeds too. Forests burn,
rivers are polluted, and a huge lot of toxic remnants are left behind.
A staggering portion of human
creativity, intellectual energy, and material resources is consumed by war.
Just imagine that: we spend a huge proportion of our wealth, potential, and
resources for killing one another. In 2023, the human world spent $2.4 trillion
on defence. This amount could fund global education, eliminate hunger, and
provide clean water many times over.
As Pope Francis wrote in his
autobiography, “If no weapons were manufactured for a year, the world’s hunger
would completely end; one single day without military spending would save
thirty-four million people…”
Imagine the world using science and
technology for good purposes instead of developing sophisticated weapons and
drones and war-robotics… We could prevent so much crime by using the
surveillance systems in better ways than for wars.
As Albert Einstein said, “The unleashed
power of the atom has changed everything, save our modes of thinking, and thus
we drift toward unparalleled catastrophe.” We need to change our modes of
thinking. Pope Francis put it this way: “We must replace the cowardice of arms
with the courage of reconciliation.”
Reconciliation ultimately depends on
courageous leadership—leaders willing to take political risks and challenge
hardline narratives. Leaders willing to let go certain pet themes like
nationalism and religion.
Hari OM
ReplyDeleteThank you... for the stats, the courage to call it out. I look at our line up here in the UK and yet again... despair... but at least, for now, we are not under the threat of broken buildings, limbs, lives... YAM xx
Hope turns disillusioning.
DeleteWars are to feed the egos of the powerful. Saddening,
ReplyDeleteIndeed... All these so-called leaders!
Delete“If no weapons were manufactured for a year, the world’s hunger would completely end; one single day without military spending would save thirty-four million people…”
ReplyDeleteI mean, that sounds good. I wish it were true. But sadly, if no weapons were manufactured for a year, they would find something else to do with that money rather than feed people. Too many people are destructive.
Too much negativity and violence. That's the sad truth.
DeleteThanks for the morning Meditation. A very soulful and elevating piece... Added beauty is that I am reading it, while sojourning under your very roof. To mirror and echo the Palestinian poet, I quote Tennyson" The nobles fought, the clergy prayed and the people paid.."
ReplyDeleteIt was our pleasure to have you with us.
DeleteTennyson is so apt!