By
Dr. Arun Mitra
Terrorist
violence in Pulwama which killed our brave young soldiers fighting to save the
sovereignty of the country has shaken the whole nation. Each citizen is aghast
at this violent act. There is natural wide spread anger and feeling of revenge.
Life is the most sacred thing on earth. It is beyond imagination how can one
think of destroying this beautiful gift of nature.
Medical profession has through the
history worked to save life and promote good health. Doctors around the world
work day and night for preserving life and preventing disease so that we do not
fall sick. In the event of being taken ill medics put forth all their efforts
to get the person rid of illness and put him/her back to work. Every year
millions are spent globally on doing research to invent new methods of
treatment so that the generations to come can lead a better life. Death is the
end of life which doctors try their best to prevent. This is why it is
important to oppose violence of all kinds.
It
is unfortunate that our region which is one among the most deprived in the
world is suffering the heat of violence constantly in one form or the other
leading to further deprivation of our resources away from our basic needs to
wasteful expenditure on arms race. Terrorist violence has killed large number
of people both in India and Pakistan.
As per a report by National Consortium
for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, A Department of Homeland
Security Science and Technology Center of Excellence, Based at the University
of Maryland published in September 2018 number of terrorist attacks globally in
2017 was 8584 which caused death of 18753 people and injured 19461 persons.
During the same year there were 574
terrorist attacks in Pakistan causing death of 851 persons. In India there
occurred 860 attacks leading to death of 380 persons including the incidents in
Chhattisgarh and North East. Both the countries have witnessed serious
terrorist violence incidents like the attack on Indian Parliament in 2001 and Mumbai
in 2008. In Pakistan the worst incident has been the terrorist attack on school
children in Lahore.
Such
violence leaves behind a long tale of unforgettable events and misery. Those
injured in such violence have to suffer all their life due to the loss of
limbs, eyes or other organs besides the mental disorders including Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Children lose their school education and
worst is the loss of love and affection and care of parents.
Such
events create a natural hatred against the perpetrator and demands for a
similar response and stringent action.
But such situations have to be tackled with much seriousness and
statesmanship. Rhetoric may yield catastrophic results.
War
is the one of the most serious threat to public health with catastrophic
effects on infrastructure & environment and accounts for more deaths and
disability than many major diseases combined. It destroys families, communities
and sometimes-whole cultures. It channels limited resources away from health and
other social needs.
In
the present situation any talk of aggression could be of serious consequences
as both India and Pakistan are nuclear weapons possessing countries. The use of
these weapons in the event of a war cannot be ruled out. The death of over
200,000 people killed by atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the
continuing effects of radiation fallout are still not forgotten. Present day
nuclear weapons are much more deadly. Even a limited use of 100 nuclear weapons
could put 2 billion people at risk.
It
is time to work collectively to curb the menace of terrorism which is totally
inhuman and dastardly act. Whereas it is important to defend the sovereignty of
the nation, it is imperative to wage ideological struggle against terrorism
through civil society actions against fundamentalism, conservatism coupled with
creation of more avenues for education & job opportunities. When dialogue
ends violence begins. There need for greater statesmanship by all sides. Let us
remember the preaching of Red Cross and Bhai Kanhaiya. (IPA Service)
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