Ever Elusive Peace

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 21^st  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, 22^nd 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 111^th birth anniversary on 11^th 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  

Battling the Bottle

We will observe the annual dry day on 2^nd October, the Gandhi Jayanti, when all liquor shops and bars in Goa will remain closed. It is a tribute to the father of the nation who espoused non-violence as a means to achieve small and big ends. Gandhiji’s aversion to liquor may be considered as his personal trait, and we don’t have to commemorate or follow personal preferences of any leader, however great. But we can’t overlook the deep connectivity between alcohol and violence. It is an accepted fact that alcohol can trigger violence. It has been said that too much alcohol can bring out “the beast in man”, which to be politically  correct, may be amended to “the worst in a man or a woman”. It is no more appropriate to attribute the worst human behavior to the good animals, not even to the wild ones. The good and the evil are within us.

Alcohol beyond limits is the catalyst of our destruction: at the personal level, the family level, the friendship level, the work environment, the social fabric and the economic progress of the state. Alcohol has led to the degeneration of our physical and mental health. It has been the cause of disease, accidents and untimely death. It has left on its trail orphans, widows and now an increasing number of widowers too. Sad but true.

Alcohol has incapacitated many a promising youth. It has led some from the music and the dancing floor to ugly sounds and to measuring roads. It has broken hearts of parents, siblings, friends and lovers. What more could it do? Loss of production at offices and factories has been attributed to it. Foul language and provocative remarks have caused  breach of peace. Hands and legs have been used to abuse, hit, kick, break; and to destroy peace and happiness. We do not require a debate to firmly state that it isn’t worth it. And yet more and more people get into it just for the kick of it.

“I am now giving you the choice between life and death….Choose life.” (Deuteronomy 30:19)

We are worried about peace in the world and in our country. We discuss it; we praise some, despise others; love some, hate others. We can’t do much about it except prayers and good   wishes when it comes to the Bomb. Governments and other organizations have to act, we can only contribute. But when it comes to the Bottle, we can and should do something about it in our own little way, in our own little world. We can diffuse the Bomb in the Bottle, and thus contribute to peace: peace within the individual, peace within families, and peace in the neighborhood.

The dry day should be a day to ponder how we can be proactive in curtailing consumption of liquor. It is within our power to take some initiative along with others of goodwill, and with some of the organizations we belong to. It could be the mahila mandal, a study group, a social service group, a prayer group, a parent-teacher association. It is not going to be easy because those who promote liquor are big barons of the liquor industry. It is the big profits that matter. I wonder what is their agenda on corporate social responsibility. And our politicians have their interests too. Come elections, and the bars run full day and night. Election workers, including youth, are offered free liquor. Many who have become victims of liquor must have been initiated into drinking during election time. The election season is indeed gala time. Can we expect anything from the politicians? With apologies to Karl Marx, may I say that liquor is the opium of the people, some people?

If the election commission enjoins prohibition of sale and distribution of liquor on the days preceding and on the election day, it means that the destructive properties of alcohol have official recognition. I am not building up a case for total prohibition but for laws that restrain the sale of alcohol by further reducing the timings of the liquor shops and bars, demarcating and strictly following No Liquor Zones, introducing a Dry Day every month instead of once a year, inserting statutory warning on all liquor labels, bar entrances and advertisements that consumption of liquor is injurious to physical, mental and social health. My list is not exhaustive and groups willing to engage in the crusade can add their own demands. A letter to the editor in a local daily this week has highlighted that Chief Minister Parrikar should implement strictly his own resolution to ban liquor bars with religious names, moved and passed in the Goa Assembly when he was the opposition leader in 2008 (Herald). Another local daily has reported that Goa government has revoked its May 2013 moratorium imposed on liquor licenses, and has started “clearing all the pending  applications and also accepting new ones” (Gomantak Times). The new notification under which applications will be cleared should be given wide publicity so that the public is aware of those who break the rules. And there should be an upper limit that is strictly followed.

Restrictions imposed by governments can only have limited effects as per the letter of the law. It is for the people and civil organizations to carry on a spirited, positive campaign for life with limited liquor.

Published in The Navhind Times, Panorama 29.09.2013