Every day, we wake up to read, in the newspapers, that a new war has started in some part of the world or a previous conflict has escalated. There are efforts everywhere for mending and patching up, yet everyday we appear to be drifting away from a healthy, normal and peaceful condition. There is indiscipline and even vice rampant in many institutes of learning and education. There is flagrant violation of law even by those who are supposed to be custodians or protective arms of law. In short, there is tension almost everywhere.
The question of disarmament has been there for decades, but it seems that the leaders of the world are in a different mood. Hence, the solution to this problem seems to be too knotty to be resolved. The state of affairs of the world is such today that if one country sincerely makes a withdrawal and ceasefire offer to another, the latter rejects it saying that it is too late. So, one may ask: “In such a situation, who will prevent whom from aggression and from using nuclear weapons? Is there a single person on the world scene who has such a moral authority and an unblemished record and universal popularity who can exert his moral influence because of his own stature and universal appeal to cry a halt to aggressive acts? To a world that did not listen to the advice of Christ or Buddha or Mahatma Gandhi to give up violence, who can morally compel all to give up arms and have love and compassion?”
By nature, man generally wants to avoid tough questions and the hard realities of life. If anyone points out, in advance, of the coming obnoxious events, seeing the shadows cast by them before, the this is not taken kindly and the words of caution thought over with the calmness and attention they deserve. However, one would be neglecting one's sacred duty and constraints of honesty and sincerity if one does not speak the truth in such matters and say with a firm voice that man should be realistic in thinking over such issues and should ask himself boldly whether he really thinks in the depth of his mind that disarmament will, ultimately, be achieved or that the total trend of events during the century has been to take the world rapidly to an end so as to begin building a new civilization that has no violence and wars. We are the one’s to answer these questions.
The writer is a spiritual educator and popular columnist for publications across India, Nepal and the UK. He can be contacted at nikunjji@gmail.com / www.brahmakumaris.com
