by Irshad Ahmad
When the air reeks with the acrid smell of war, fear seeps into our souls. Life loses meaning, and the future turns bleak. Amidst the chaos, friends and foes alike obsess over statistics—counting losses like arithmetic equations to declare victory. Yet scarcely anyone hears the whispered pleas for help or acknowledges the silent suffering of victims.
This is humanity’s tragedy: our youth, glorified as heroes, are reduced to mere fuel for war—all in the name of bravery, medals, and hollow applause. But war remains what it always has been—an enemy of humanity. It destroys prosperity, happiness, chirping birds, children’s laughter, and the beauty of nature.
War is never inevitable. Alternatives exist. Compete on football fields, cricket pitches, or marathon races. Wage wars of intellect, innovation, or economic growth. Why must we still reach for weapons in this century when we possess deadlier tools—dialogue, diplomacy, and reason? War defies logic and resists justification, yet millions labor to legitimize it.
War murders more than people. It kills aspirations, flowers, trees, animals—life itself. Life, God’s greatest gift, is granted but once. War steals that singular chance to experience Earth’s beauty and sorrow. Blessed are those who live untouched by war’s dread, spared its paralyzing fear.
This madness even silences Parag Khanna’s thesis in The Future is Asian, where he envisions Asia’s 21st-century rise. Recall Napoleon’s warning: “Let China sleep, for when she wakes, she will shake the world.” Yet our rulers seem determined to lull all South Asia into eternal slumber. This is our region’s grim reality.
Change will come only when love’s flowers bloom and hatred’s thorns wither. Until then, we remain prisoners of our own creation.
To cultivate hope in this landscape of violence, we must first plant the seeds of peace. India, as the largest democracy in the region, has a profound legacy of nonviolence embodied by Mahatma Gandhi—a philosophy that once inspired the world. Rather than pursuing divisive ambitions like “Akhand Bharat,” which belong to another era, there is wisdom in revisiting Gandhi’s teachings on peaceful resistance and coexistence.
Gandhi demonstrated that true leadership lies not in domination, but in moral courage—the strength to resist oppression without mirroring its brutality. His philosophy offers a path forward: one where economic progress and regional stability are achieved through cooperation, not conflict. Imagine the potential if India were to champion this legacy anew, leading South Asia not through militarization, but through the power of example.
The vision of a united subcontinent cannot be forced through aggression or nostalgia for bygone empires. Instead, it must grow organically from mutual respect, shared prosperity, and a rejection of warmongering. The 21st century demands leaders who build bridges, not walls; who trade goods, not threats; and who remember that the strongest societies are those that value every life—oppressor and oppressed alike.
Let us return to the wisdom we’ve shelved: that liberation lies in lifting others up, not in crushing them down. Only then can the thorns of hatred give way to the blossoms of a shared future.
About the Author:
Irshad Amad is a visiting professor in the Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab, in Lahore, Pakistan.
