War mongers and peace lovers

Is calling for war justified? In the past few weeks the events that unfolded almost resulted in a skirmish between the two bitter enemies. There have been a lot of fights over it in the social media, and in political circles. The peaceniks had started a hashtag #saynotowar. Now is that a good or a bad move? What does dharma say?

Of course waging war is abominable. Any person in his or her same mind would be averse to war. However does that apply to the right to defend oneself? One's own territory? When dharma is being brutalized everyday, when one's people are killed everyday by a devious, cunning and ruthless enemy who has anyway waged a third grade proxy war for decades now? What about fights with the evil forces who kills, tortures, and subjugates, spread lies and hatred? Is war an option or should we still aim for peace?

Mahabharata is clear, peace is preferable over war only when we are able to achieve a solution to our problem, i.e when we are able to turn the tides in our favour, when the evil forces are stopped by other means. But otherwise, not to fight is nothing but cowardice. Swami Vivakananda said that if you are a householder and if a bully slaps you, if you do not return ten slaps you are not doing your duty. You are then a coward, nothing else. Mahatma Gandhi, contrary to all perceptions, advocated peace only when one is in a stronger position, i.e. one is able to inflict considerable damage to its enemy but does not do so and instead tries to take a more benign approach. If you have no means of subjugating your enemy by peaceful means and yet you refuse to fight, you are nothing but COWARD. Thats what Srikrishna says to Arjuna in the second chapter of Gita - swadharmam api ca abeksha na vikampitum arhasi... etc. But then our peace lovers would protest. Oh, you are advocating war, but you are safely tucked away to a corner of your home, and the army is fighting for you? Who are you to ask for war? Its the army who will pay a price - they will be killed. Their families will lose their fathers, brothers and sons (sisters and daughters are not in a combative role as yet). So hands off! You are merely loving the sensationalism and fighting a safe battle on the social media. What right do you have to call for a battle that would result in loss of lives? Valid point.

But there is also an answer. The answer lies in dharma. I have a shred suspicion that most of the peaceniks care very little about the army men and their sacrifices. They are dying on the battlefield everyday anyway, war or no war. They are dying fighting the terrorists in the third grade proxy war, without having commensurate satisfaction of having opportunities to take the upper hand, which they would probably have in a conventional war. Army is not afraid to fight - it lies in their sense of dharma. Their family has a right to be concerned and if they ask for peace its quite understandable. But they are nation lovers. They know that when the nation is in danger it calls for sacrifice, sacrifice of the better ones, to whom the dharma is more important than a safe, peaceful life. And then, when the nation is at war, is a civilian spared from sacrificing? There will be dangers, there will be inflation, there will be many other ways in which an ordinary citizen will also have to pay a heavy price for the war. But does that mean that we will bow down to the evil? We'll let them have the last laugh? They will inflict a thousand cuts and will get away with it? Our soldiers will die in scores if not in hundred, ordinary people will die by the roadside bombs, policemen will go down fighting AK-47 with antique rifles and brave officers like Hemant Karkares and jawans like Sandeep Unnikrishnan will become memories? We'll ever remain as cannon fodders and politicians will follow their routine? A rogue nation has inspired a lot of misguided religious fundamentalists and zealots to carry out suicide attacks under the assumption of being under a divine dispensation. They themselves are acting as cannon fodders for a larger, more evil minded satanic forces who want to use them for venting out their deep hatred as well as carrying out their devilish self interest driven schemes. It is extremely difficult to defend oneself against a desperate enemy, an enemy who has nothing to lose. The enemy will strike 100 times, even if he is repelled 99 times, there will be 1 attempt that will be successful and all hell will break lose.

Therefore peaceniks who are concerned about army, or of children becoming orphans, or of cities getting nuked are actually concerned about themselves - their own jobs, families, professions, their own comfortable life. They are concerned that all will be impacted and they will have to sacrifice their comfort zones if a war breaks out. They fear for their own lives, their jobs, their cozy homes that will be in danger. If the proxy war continues, army men will die, but these peaceniks will continue with their day to day affairs of social media posts, mainstream media debates, intellectual battles, venting out their hatred on their objects of hate, worshiping their objects of love, their evening drinks, their clubs and vibrant social lives and shopping malls and celebrity shows, expensive travels and relaxations. Who cares if a few army men and policemen dies? They are meant to die anyway. Doesn't the violent "Hindutva" book of Mahabharata say, "Ahani ahani bhutani etc.." Let us just ensure proper procedures - a condemnation, may be some heated criticisms of the Government demanding explanation for the security lapse or may be some benign defense if the Government concerned belongs to "our" ideology. Why bring war? Its so much trouble for everybody. 

Swami Vivekananda had only one response to such peaceniks - Contempt. They are nothing but hypocrites. To fight evil sacrifice is a must. Nation must pay the price to become better, through the sacrifice of the best the mediocre can survive and can hope to produce more such best men. Sacrifice is the bedrock, the foundation of any stable, just society. Sacrifice need not come through the sacrifice of lives but in hundred of other ways, contributing selflessly to the cause of nation building and war gives everybody an opportunity to do so, esp. if the war is for just cause. If it is waged for gaining territory or resources it is adharma and should be condemned with all might. However if it is for defending one's own sovereign rights, for punishing the enemies who are waging a proxy war everyday, who are desperate to cause extensive damage, it becomes a just war. Just as the freedom fighetrs sacrificed their lives so that the future generations (peaceniks included) could enjoy a comfortable life, sacrifices are done by our soldiers to ensure that mankind is saved from the tyranny of a few. By hoping to prevent war, by playing in the hands of the enemy who dreads a full scale war and would like to continue with the proxy war, the peaceniks are degrading the iron will, the resolve and the determination to fight evil- perhaps on account of their own selfish vested interests.

A great nation has no place for the cowards. Government will do well to start a mandatory conscription service for everybody and of course, every citizen of India should read Swami Vivekananda  and Gita daily to overcome cowardice and self seeking mentality. Nation will then rise to greatness and no power on earth can ever dare to inflict thousand cuts or wage proxy wars. Let teh lion roar and the foxes and the hyenas will run for cover.