War and peace

War. This three letter word is playing a major role across the globe. BBC, CNN and all the other news channels often mention nothing else besides this word. Every day we hear about the Indian-Pakistan war, the war in Kosovo, the outbreak of violence in Aceh, the war between Iran and Iraq and the Israel-Arab war.

Every country wants to assert its supremacy over other countries. So every nation spends a lot of money in maintaining its army and furnishing it with up-to-date weapons.

War is an inescapable evil. A glance at history will show how war has been a recurrent phenomenon in the history of nations. No nation has been free from the devastating effects of war.

War brings horror and scars to many. Victories are bought by sacrificing lives. Its a dreadful calamity which engulfs the entire world.

War may be grand and heroic, yet it's a dreadful calamity where the butchery and slaughter of human beings takes place. War can bring us victory, but can one feel happy about it? Seeing mutilated bodies cannot give happiness. Seeing ruined cities cannot give happiness. War cannot give cherished happiness. War can only give us bitterness, anger and untold havoc.

We had Mahatma Gandhi, Buddha and Jesus Christ, but yet we still employ weapons and military force. War ends in victory on one side and defeat on the other, but both sides share in the loss of human beings.

Let's look at the other side of the coin. Even the pronunciation of the word "peace" is soft. The victories of peace are gained over the forces of nature. The conquests of peace are bloodless and nonviolent. They cause no grief to humanity and do not damage life or property. The victories of peace are harmless. The victories of peace are like that of the tenderness of a flower. Peace gives us eternal love. It's free from animosity. Wars are like glass beads, while the purity of peace is like that of diamonds.

Social reform is possible only during peace. It is only during peace that a literacy campaign can be undertaken and the standard of living of the masses raised. There can be no elections and no government of the people when a country is in the throes of war. Peace promotes democracy, decency and morals.

But will we ever see a nation where only peace exists. I think such a state can be imagined in utopia.

UMA RAMAKRISHNA

Jakarta