What war hides, is the failings of us as humans. (India - Pakistan)
Thus, proved. People love war. Then be it that they are away from the imaginary lines where soldiers from economically backward categories fight to earn bread. They post catchy lines like “Justice served” “Picture isn’t finished” on social media while they drool in their lounge in their AC apartments. The fat-ridden, diabetic, heart-patient uncles and aunties spread whatsapp forwards about war without ever stepping foot on the ground.
War comes with firecrackers and beating drums. War comes with pride. It never comes with content. It always asks for more. More land, more bombings, more adrenaline rush, more blood!
Urban elites who get scared when they see a lizard in the corner of their room, speak of war. Young minds who are filled with blood rush are now filled with blood lust. That is what this theatrics of war provides.
People who we think of as peaceful and well-minded, they too try to project their patriotism by sharing the same whatsapp forwards. The Greeks knew it well, give the people sport and circus and they will never revolt. Become a herd because having love for the “other” means you are a terrible person.
What war hides, is the failings of us as humans. It hides love. It doesn’t allow for people to be kind. An endless repository of hatred transforms each individual. Even the Gods are not spared.
“Dharmo rakshati rakshitaha” is shared widely. Wherein its meaning is twisted to feed the orgasmic hatred of the masses. Are we really capable to save Gods? Are we really capable of protecting the one who created all beings?
Instagram influencers who fear messing their hair, who fear getting tanned by being too long in the sun, they too share the videos of bombings. They share the videos of terror attacks asking for revenge. We will take it, they say.
Nature is wild. It demands co-existence. Humans have always failed to understand this simple fact. Yes, we should be on our guards as a nation, but actively asking for war?
Being joyous by depriving common people of its water which God created freely for all beings, that to me is an act of the Devil. Slowly this devilish energy envelops the entire nation, it asks for blood, it cries for war, it demands revenge. No kingdom, no nation, who has gone through war, in this mighty human past, has existed forever- nor will we.
We have more pressing issues, the tribes and kingdoms who fought with each other, some ten thousand years back, they were swept away by the forces of nature. A huge flood and all the history was washed. A tremendous volcanic eruption gulped down cities who were known for its military might. An earthquake stirred the earth like some aunty had put atta in a chakki.
The great king Asoka, who killed many in his wars across India, ended up with a simple question, what did this give me? Millions have come and millions have left this planet— without ever finding an answer to what exactly did that war provide. Did it provide security? Did it provide economic well-being? Did people within their own nation gave up their internal fights of caste, creed, religion and economic divide when the war was over?
Whenever we scream for war, we must remember to re-visit the past. In the recent past, the might USSR fell, the Nazi Germany tumbled down, even the USA backtracked from Vietnam. What was left behind, was an endless amount of pain and misery of the ones grieving for their loved ones.
We have degraded as a society. When a victim’s wife chose peace over war, we thrashed her because she didn’t ask for more blood.
What do we forget? This Indian nation is being corroded with corrupt politicians on all sides. Its land and water is being sold to private companies to make profit. People are dying by eating chemical laced food. Thousands of farmers are committing suicide as we speak. The climate is changing. Waters are rising. Floods are becoming more common. We forget that these are the real issues that we have forgotten in this theatrics of war. The media doesn’t care a bit.
If we forget that we too are like the people from those kingdoms who were fighting with each other until nature decided to end it with volcanoes, floods and earthquakes, we will think that what we wanted was war, but what we really wanted was co-existence. Nature was shouting PEACE which went unheard under the sirens of war.
-Ashutosh Joshi