India Should Stand Against War – R.K. Sinha
It is heart-wrenching for a sensitive person to hear and see the grave news and images of atrocities committed in Ukraine currently under the Russian attack. Russian forces are relentlessly advancing, destroying life and property on a massive scale. Humanity is dying as bombs rain destruction from the skies. Despite countless appeals of leaders, Russia continues to attack Ukraine.
Why aren’t all issues be resolved through debate and discussion? If a solution is not found even after that, it implies neither side is serious about peace and tranquility. They haven’t seen the cemeteries built as the final resting place for the martyrs of the First and Second World Wars in every important city of the world. In the last 100-125 years, crores of people have lost their lives in several wars. However, what did anyone achieve from the deaths of so many people?
An excerpt of a classic poem against war written by a renowned Ludhianvi Poet says:-
“Whether the blood is your own or a foreigner’s, it is the blood of the race of Adam. Whether the war happens at Mashriq or Maghrib it comes at the cost of world peace. Alas, whether the bombs fall on houses or the border, it is the one’s soul that is permanently scarred…”
It is highly unlikely that any other writer has condemned the idea of war with such a scathing attack. If you live in the capital, you must visit Delhi War Cemetery near Dhaula Kuan sometime. Here. the warriors of the First and Second World Wars are sleeping amidst lush greenery. This cemetery looks like a green field, in some parts of which there are tombs of warriors in sequence. On each of these tombs, there is a brief introduction of soldiers who sacrificed their lives in battle. One is bound to be extremely moved and saddened by the age of these martyrs. The majority of them belonged to the age group of 22 to 25 years. It hurts to realize that all these people lost their lives while in their youth due to the horrors of war. They too must have had parents, siblings, and other loved ones.
The remains of the tombs from Allahabad, Kanpur, Dehradun, and Lucknow were brought to the Delhi War Cemetery in 1951. All of them were martyrs of the First World War, and there are more than eleven hundred tombs here. This cemetery gets very populated from time to time when a group of tourists visits it. These batches usually belong to the citizens of Britain, Canada, or America. There are also tombs of British soldiers associated with the Gurkha regiment in the Delhi War Cemetery. You will find such cemeteries in multiple Indian cities as well as, in Singapore, Thailand, etc. The cemetery in Singapore houses the graves of hundreds of soldiers of the Punjab Regiment, who were martyred in World War I or II.
The British Prime Minister, PM Boris Johnson is saying that Russia has been preparing for the biggest war in Europe since the Second World War. Before this, the world has suffered two world wars and the devastation caused by those two wars showcases a horrifying picture of the devastation that could be caused by the third world war. In the two world wars, not only did crores of people die across the world, but in most countries, conditions like starvation, unemployment, and high inflation also emerged. The world is witnessing the devastation being caused by the Russian attacks on Ukraine. Amid this ghastly war and devastation, the common citizens of Ukraine are in fear. People can be seen running away, houses being destroyed by the attacks, and fires all over the place. From the elderly to the children, the helplessness is evident in their desperate and teary eyes. That is, the situation in Ukraine has become very dire.
As a journalist, I covered the 1971 war in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). There I saw with my own eyes the devastation caused by the war. Thousands and lakhs of innocent people were martyred and innumerable handicapped. Lakhs of Bengali girls and women were brutally abused by Pakistani soldiers. We were victorious in that war, but at what cost? Apart from the martyrs of that war, India has gone to war with Pakistan in 1948 and 1965 and China in 1962.
Apart from this, thousands of brave soldiers of the Indian Army have offered their lives for the country in Kargil and Sri Lanka. But, just think about those families whose members were martyred in the war. The names of the soldiers who died in these battles are inscribed in the National War Memorial at India Gate. The India Gate was built in memory of the Indian soldiers who died in the First World War.
The war memorial at India Gate also bears the names of the heroes who were part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka in 1987. Among those martyrs was Major (Dr) Ashwani Kanwa, who studied at the University College of Medical Sciences (UCMS) in the capital. He went to Jaffna, Sri Lanka in 1987 with the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF). He was engaged in the treatment of injured Indian soldiers in his camp on November 3, 1987. On the evening of that fateful day, he came to know that some of our soldiers had been attacked outside the camp. They reached there immediately. When he was giving him first aid, then LTTE terrorists sitting hiding around opened fire on him. He got hit by three bullets. There was no one to give first aid to the person who treated others. I wish LTTE had not violated the Geneva Treaty which in the first place was the reason that innocent person were martyred. A girl was being searched for the marriage of the handsome Major Ashwani when he was martyred. He was the topper of the college. The purpose of giving this example is that countless innocent people are also killed in the war. This situation is very agonizing.
India, the country of Buddha and Gandhi, will have to take an active initiative towards ending the Russia-Ukraine war. India, the world’s largest democracy, cannot remain untouched by this crisis. Taking a big initiative, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin over the phone and asked him to take steps towards peace. The talks between Modi and Putin lasted for about 20 minutes. India must take quick and effective initiatives to create an environment against war.
(The writer is a senior editor, columnist, and former MP)