Dr. John Mohan Razu
Reconciliation should be accompanied by justice, otherwise it will not last- Corazon Aquino
Just two weeks away for the year 2017 to come to an end. As we draw closer and closer to the end of 2017, few things visibly flashes before us and certainly they do raise some disturbing questions: 1) if, war breaks out between India and Pakistan or USA and North Korea, it could possibly be nuclear; 2) If, the downpour continues for 3 or 4 days, then whatever may be the city in India, it would submerge.; and 3) If, emission continues rampantly without any checks and balances, then we are all supposed to wear oxygen masks before we step out. This is the world we live that posits nuclear wars, degradation of eco-system and environment.
One gets totally perplexed and annoyed that as rational beings that have moved on in scientific innovations and technological advancements have failed to come to terms on these issues. What kind of world are we leaving behind for the present and future generations? Therefore, time is ticking out and year will come and go, but uncertainties and unease that haunts us b all means will have to be grappled and thus be answered. We cannot take some of these things for granted. And so, these issues ought to be addressed. In tune to this, Pope Francis very recently urged the world leaders to give heed to these issues and the text of Pope Franacis is as follows:
MILAN, December 10 (Reuters) – Pope Francis on Sunday (10th December, 2017) called on world leaders to work in favor of nuclear disarmament to protect human rights, particularly those of weaker and underprivileged people. The pontiff said that there was a need to “work with determination to build a world without nuclear weapons”, speaking from the window of the papal apartment overlooking St. Peter’s Square and citing his 2015 encyclical letter Laudato Si (Praised Be).
His remarks came on the day that the group which won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize urged nuclear nations to adopt a U.N. treaty banning atomic weapons. With rising tensions between the United States and North Korea, the pope has repeatedly warned against the catastrophic humanitarian and environmental effects of nuclear devices and has called for a third country to mediate the dispute.
At his weekly Angelus prayer, Pope Francis added that men and women in the world had “the liberty, the intelligence and the capacity to guide technology, limit their power, at the service of peace and true progress”. Speaking aboard the plane back from his trip to Myanmar and Bangladesh, the pope suggested that some world leaders had an “irrational” attitude towards nuclear weapons.
Last month he appeared to harden the Catholic Church’s teaching against nuclear weapons, saying countries should not stockpile them, even for the purpose of deterrence. Pope Francis, a strong defender of environmental protection, also hoped that an upcoming Paris summit would adopt “efficient decisions” to contrast climate change.
The above text by Pope Francis unfolds his predicament and helplessness that he and those who are concerned face. He brings to the fore the “irrational” attitude some world leaders have towards nuclear weapons. It is also the same when it comes to ecology and environment. Why do some people particularly some leaders behave that way? For this question, Jiddu Krishnamurti an eminent philosopher of education adds that: “For man to change radically, fundamentally there must be a mutation in the very brain cells of his mind… People have said you must change, you must act, you must change your mind, your heart, you must be something totally different. This has been preached for thousands of years by men who were serious, every earnest, as well as b charlatans who were out to exploit people. And we have reached a point when we have no time at all.” As rightly pointed out we have reached a point—total stalemate. A few irrational leaders do not heed to the sensibilities of those who bring to the foreground the facts and figures. But they do not want to listen, adamant and irrational—care a damn attitude.
By and large, global community know very well that the ‘irrational’ mind that number just a few continue to create anxiety and insecurity to 7-odd billion people ignoring the gravity of the situation emanating from the nuclear warheads and scant respect given to the eco-systems and environmental degradation. We live on the edge being dictated by the irrational minds. Time is ticking out and changes at this point shall not be thought in logical and gradual phases. The informed masses and intellectual community have reached a point that a few want to destroy the world and the innocent people who in no way responsible for this current fiasco. What then is the way out? Nuclear power can no more be considered as ‘deterrence’. The leaders who are irrational think and justify that nuclear weapons that they amass is for ‘deterrence’. And this has been obsolete and outmoded justification that made some leaders to accumulate more and more nuclear weapons. But, in recent times this theory has been critiqued and abhorred.
When leaders start using ‘fire’ and ‘fury’, ‘be eliminated from the face of the earth’ and call others with all types of names, there are naturally bound to be all kinds of conflict and tensions. Basically, what we observe within and between nations that there have been fissures and fractures in terms of relationship between one another. Political discourses have reached the lowest levels and there is no culture of moderation, temperance and respect. Leaders have failed to understand that they have been given clear mandate for governance and not given absolute license to do whatever they want. And yet, they think they got the mandate from the citizens and so have absolute right to decide whatever they want. What we see whether micro or macro, even within a family, an organization, a community or a society we hardly do we see cordiality.
On this, Jiddu Krishnamurti expounds that “Relationship means life, and when there is conflict in that relationship whether it be within yourself, or with your husband, your wife, your neighbor or with anybody, then life become a battlefield. We have made of our life the daily living which ultimately ends in Vietnam (war and bloodshed); and we are all responsible for this, not just the Americans, but the Italians, the Russians, the Indians, everybody!” He continues, “Everybody is responsible for war because we are human being and we have a creaed war; that’s part of our life. And to say the Americans are dreadful people, violent people – well, so are you! You don’t feel this responsibility at all!” Let us not pass the buck on someone. As citizens, we will have to exercise our will – political will to decide and determine what kind of world we want to live and what type of world we want to leave for our children and grand children. Let not our mind be filled and chocked with ‘war mongering’ and ‘environ destruction mode’– change now.
