Dr John Mohan Razu
Humans by and large are endowed with spite, ill-will, prejudice, and hatred. We come across all humans in one situation or the other would have shown these in them in one way other. Take for instance, prejudice some say is natural and argue that prejudice is a natural part of human behaviour stemming from our tendency to make quick judgments, while others say it is a learned behaviour influenced by social and cultural factors. So, we tend to agree with the fact that it is a combination of both natural tendencies and learned behaviour,
Hatred has diverse dimensions and manifestations. It is both covert and overt. In our activities and transactions, we tend to exhibit hatred in mild and harsh ways. Its presence can be seen actively right across our milieu—within familial, communal, societal, national, and global settings. What is happening around us is the visible testimony as to what extent hatred could lead to. For instance, wars between Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Palestine, India and Pakistan display the deep-seated hatred being shown between political leaders of warring countries backed by those who benefit from it.
War between Russia and Ukraine is continuing for more than three years, between Israel and Hamas is few months short of two years, and between India and Pakistan that lasted for about ten days and now both the borders show silence except some occasional skirmishes. We have been witnessing wherein tens of thousands of both soldiers and civilians have lost their lives, displaced—living like refugees. Having lost their belongings, dislocated from their roots and communities, not knowing where to go, they somehow are pulling on their lives.
The warring countries spend billions of dollars on armaments to sustain their wars. Russia, Ukraine, and Israel thus far may have spent some billions to sustain. Apart from money, the human cost is incalculable. The lives lost include children, women, men and the frontline soldiers and the lives of those families who have lost their dear ones continues to suffer. When war strikes citizens, everything goes topsy-turvy as the levels of nationalistic pitch takes over. In general, we are carried away by emotions and other impulses leading to hatred and violent behaviour. Human instincts can never be predictable, can perhaps be compared to ‘animal’.
Violence is not new to us and to the world we live-in. Violent mind-set has been part of our being leading to horrendous conflicts and wars. Though the aftermath of wars taught us some lessons, we are again and again being pushed into it. Should we blame the human unpredictability or giving-in to the in-built anger. We seldom think about the devastating impact of anger and hatred cause to those innocent civilians. We tend to forget the sanctity of human life and sacredness of every soul. Sanctity of human life and human soul should never be robbed or destroyed by human anger, prejudice, and hatred. If we are propelled by hatred and vengeance, then calling ourselves as ‘rational beings’ loses its relevance and essence.
Millions of those who have lost their dear ones in wars and conflicts have nothings to do with those, but became victims because of the simple fact that those who unleashed violence cloaked with hatred and vengeance. Increasingly our world is getting polluted by hatred and anger. The leaders barring a few wants to spew venom of hatred that have increasingly resulted in inflicting pain and pathos. In such a toxic and volatile world, there is an urgency to building a world where no one experiences pain and sorrow that stems out of conflicts and wars.
Those who went to such horrifying ordeals, their stories and testimonies automatically become our stories and testimonies, because of the fact that most of us though we would not have played any part, but certainly remained as mute spectators, which means we obviously tend to become party to it. Nonetheless, at least now we should open our eyes and ears and see their plights and listen to their stories and testimonies. By doing so, we share their pains, shout aloud showing our support and solidarity and, in the process, transcending from power to truth. In the light of these realities happenings around us, we are required to wake-up and come to our senses to the growing web of violence, hate-speeches, and fake-narratives.
Leaders who wage wars and incite conflicts are driven by selfish means and greedy ends. By involving in such actions those with power employs their ego and anger. As a result ends up in violent wars and conflicts. Violence should never be countered by violence, but only in and through a countervailing principle of shalom—a composite and wholistic terms that encompasses justice and love. Violence begets violence and therefore should be shunned. Majority of people have no part in all these, but paying heavy price. The perpetrators of violence and hatred should not be let loose. Those who are pursuing justice peace, need to respond and counter their malicious designs with various strategies of non-violence.
For them power comes out of missiles, bombs, and barrel of guns. Power should be handled by our conscientious objections defying wars and conflicts. Pursuing just peace in non-violent ways and peaceful manner embodies all dimensions and elements that we find in the philosophical, scriptural, and ethical traditions. Our prerogative and pre-requisite for non-violent engagement should go on in spite of all kinds and shades of provocations. We are mandated to struggle and strive for peace. The oligarchs, autocrats, and dictators survive and thrive by poisoning and instigating its citizenswith rhetoric of ‘muscular nationalism’ and ‘skewed patriotism’ which by all means be rejected. Let not emotions rule-over, but only by rational thinking we be guided.
