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War and Meaning of Victory


In the summer of 1999, while the rest of India was soaked in monsoon and Cricket World Cup, the country’s soldiers were clawing up frozen cliffs daring the bullets that came shooting from above. India’s incorrigible neighbour had sent its soldiers and militants to capture the snow-covered peaks of Kargil. It was an act of deception, a capture of India’s land stealthily. The terrain was harsh and hostile, testing the limits of human courage with every jagged step. The Kargil War was not just against a human enemy, but against peaks of stones and snow where the air itself was an adversary.

Three months of bitter conflict and subhuman killing ended in India’s victory over the invading Pakistan. Victory! July 26 is celebrated ever after as Kargil Vijay Diwas by India.

What is victory, however? Philosophically, I mean. We are supposed to be rational (philosophical) creatures, after all.

War does not determine who is right,” Bertrand Russell said famously, “but who is left.” Every victorious nation in a war boasts of killing so many hundreds or thousands of the enemy people across the border. Is killing fellow human beings victory? Of course, when they encroach upon our land, it is our duty to defend our property. But can we go beyond that sort of clannish thinking for a while? Remember we are rational creatures.  

“Peace cannot be kept by force,” as Albert Einstein, Russell’s illustrious and worthy contemporary, said. War is never a solution. War is a problem. Always. And it creates more problems. It is not a celebration of the Kargil victory that is called for on this anniversary of that horrendous conflict. It is a philosophical (yes, let us start using that dying faculty of ours) contemplation that we need to embark upon. That’s why I have invited Russell and Einstein here in this humble space.

Peace can only be achieved by understanding,” Einstein said. Education, dialogue, and empathy – Einstein advocated those for international peace. And education meant for him a lot more than what we are imparting in our schools and colleges these days. A lot, lot more.

India is now doing just the opposite of what Einstein suggested. India’s present government is stifling rational thinking by suffusing everything including mathematics with emotions like nationalism and parochial pride. While history classes now echo with hymns to Hindu glory, math lessons summon Aryabhata as if he were a foot soldier in a war for cultural supremacy.

“I want the new generation to come forward to scientifically prove the astronomical formulas in the scriptures of India, and to study them anew.” India’s Prime Minister said in no less scientific a place than ISRO [Indian Space Research Organisation] two years ago after the successful launch of Chandrayaan-3. He has made too many claims which are all founded on gross emotions masked as nationalist pride.

Such emotions don’t ever create peace. They create wars. As Russell said, wars are products of nationalism, fear, and greed.

Both Russell and Einstein together produced a Manifesto in 1955 whose spirit may be summarised in one sentence: “Remember your humanity, and forget the rest” [their own words in the Russell-Einstein Manifesto].

As we remember our great soldiers who sacrificed much, including their lives, on the merciless Kargil cliffs in 1999, let us also pause to ask what kind of world we are building on the peaks they won for us. Aren’t we forgetting our shared humanity – across borders, beyond flags? True victory lies not in reclaiming land, but in reclaiming the conscience of a nation.

PS. This post is a part of ‘Tricolour Tales Blog Hop’ hosted by Manali Desai and Sukaina Majeed under #EveryConversationMatters

Comments

  1. Hari OM
    All the leaders of the world just now could do to read your post and be reminded what those great minds brought forth... YAM xx

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  2. War sucks. And yet, nations keep doing them. Sigh. You're very right about how to look at this anniversary.

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    Replies
    1. We're more inclined to glorify war and our 'victory'.

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  3. Victory is meaningless when it is at the expense of humanity.

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  4. I think you’ve just shifted the lens through which we view Kargil Diwas. Your post is a powerful reminder that true victory lies in reclaiming our humanity.

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  5. A poignant impression of war. No one wins. I believe lives are lost by all and it’s irreversible. Once gone, lives are mourned by mothers, fathers, spouses, siblings, friends and children. Does it impact the man who commanded ‘Fire!’ On either side love and grief are the same.
    I dream of a world without conflicts. Just like you!

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  6. That's such a sane and holistic advice in the last paragraph. I wish everyone reads this blog atleast once.

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  7. This is such a deep post sending reminder to all of us about the sacrifices of our soldiers.

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  8. A wonderful post on the futility of war and the significance of upholding humanity and service above everything. My husband was part of the Kargil war and the experience left an indelible impression on all our minds. We need to uphold the ideas of great thinkers like Einstein, Bertrand Russell and think about remembering our humanity and forgetting the rest.

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  9. Such a deeper perspective of the humanity and the darkness that still haunts us till date. I wish more people talked about this!

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