This and that: conflicts and collateral damage

This and that: conflicts and collateral damage

Here is a familiar scene from either a movie of yesteryears or a tearjerker soap on the idiot box. The father is expectantly pacing the corridors outside the maternity ward. It will be their first child. Everything was fine and the joy of becoming a father was just about to burst out. He was waiting for the doctor to emerge and announce ...the doctor did finally emerge after what seemed an eternity...not all was well...there are complications. It has to be either the child or the mother.  A bit cruel...the choice was simple “Kill one to save another”. Thankfully, the recent developments in medicine hopefully spare such situations in real life these days.

Switch scene...the famous epitaph on the tombstone of the Unknown Soldier in Imphal, “When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say, For Your Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today"...Is the soldiers’ martyrdom a collateral damage, eminently acceptable to a Nation?

We have to accept that every conflict throws up collateral damage. When the conflict is in the public spaces and not confined to defined battlefields the damage is usually manifold. Probably the burning of Lanka by Hanuman is a major collateral damage of the war between Ram and Ravan. The act of burning down a capital city was undertaken because Ravan was holding a hostage who was a citizen of Ram’s kingdom,  within his territory. While Sita was illegally confined  in that country the Lankans, with the exception of Mandodari (Ravan’s wife) and Vibhishan, did not vehemently object to or revolt against the act.  If the people of the country had risen in revolt against Ravan, Lanka would have been saved.

There cannot be subversion, militancy or ‘terrorism’ without the connivance of the state (Libya, Yemen...), society (Afghanistan, Pakistan), or both. Just as a wild fire starts from a spark and is stoked by external forces like the wind, the spark of terrorism (initiated by right or wrong ideals)  is fanned by vested interests and terrorist organisations function like a polity with or without geographical boundaries as a base. Soon the ideals are forgotten and in most cases the organisation is dominated by criminals.....a section of the society plays along either due to fright (terrorised) or for material gains, thereby making them vulnerable.

Not even in our dreams we can experience Utopia (Ram Rajya). Even the King’s wife was not safe in Ram Rajya!!! History tells us that all conflicts have wrought immense destruction – collateral or otherwise. I do not want to sound villainous; you may turn around and say my near and dear ones were not among the hostages...but consider this – if we had not exchanged jailed terrorists for hostages in the infamous hijacking of an Indian aircraft IC 814 to Kandahar in December 1999,  would today’s subcontinent be different.

I leave it your imagination.....

Armed conflicts do not end like a soccer match – on the pitch.... I repeat conflicts wrought damage – collateral and otherwise.

I wish that there are NO conflicts!