Witness to Killing and Destruction – Ukraine fast becoming the Epic Centre of Cataclysm
By Mahboob A. Khawaja, PhD.
Cynicism about politics is endemic across all cultures. When intelligent people think and plan war, it negates the very human nature of reasoned mind at peace within its own consciousness and balanced tranquility. The earth trembles with continuous shelling and bombing, sirens sound alarms of coming of killer hypersonic missiles, frightening thought of deaths and destructions and common citizens wonder where to hide in safety across Ukraine. Russian military operatives deny shelling the civilian habitats but civilian causalities on the ground in Mariupol, Khraiv and Kiev speak another language as if Ukraine and Russia live in conflicting time zones being unable to understand the reality of human existence, peace and survival. The perpetuated chaos and nationalistic ideals of the few are leading to collapsed civilizations and resumption of dark ages. Could wars be ever the source of conflict resolution or peacemaking? No matter how time exists in a frozen intellect, Reason will haunt the present and future generations if war was a prelude to peace-making. What are the so called intelligent leaders of NATO, America or the EU waiting for? Is America, the EU and NATO waiting and watching how Russia and Ukraine will end up in this cruel insanity of war? Or what advanced weaponry is being used by Russia to annihilate another neighbour? Is Ukraine a test ground for any futuristic planning and administration of more insane conflicts? Surely, men who are universally hated and feared are active in this staged drama of embittered insanity against a helpless nation and people. The need of time is urgent for the Russian and Ukrainian leaders to meet face to face and stop the insanity against the people they claim to serve. Those pushing the mankind to war and destruction lack the basic qualities of rational thinking and actions.
We, the People witnessing a planned scheme of things to exterminate humanity with superior weapons hitting targeted civilian towns and daily bloodbath as a new normal. Have we not learned any lessons from the European nationalistic wars of First World War and the 2nd World War? We, the Humanity continue to argue if wars have become part of new normal – unknown and unthinkable to human civilizations and rational thinking. We, the People are entrapped and entrenched by dirty politics of the few. It needs a formidable challenge to rethink about the continuity of the current tragedy in Ukraine.
Few Waging War are a Menace to Human Life, Earth and Future
Few egoistic politicians are destroying the living beings, the earth and human habitats without any reasoning. Leaders are violating the TRUST of keeping the planet’s safety to its Nature of Things. The planet Earth is not a dead orbiting object but a living entity providing continuous nourishment to human life and existence and to all other living beings. Its governing laws are defined by its Creator. Dead things do not sustain life in this context but livings do make the difference. When individuals and nations start acting like wild beasts in complete disregard to the accepted norms of human values and ethical principles, surely, it impacts all and everything whether we acknowledge it or not. No humans can become God or act like God – a plain fact of life. We, the People are witnessing many leaders acting like beasts without any regard to protect human cultures, life and civilizations. Global politicians are increasingly showing perpetuated ignorance and wilful arrogance in their policies and practices. None of the leading superpowers appear to be heeding to warnings from God. When people and nations challenge the sanctity and limits of the Laws of God and violate all known norms and principles of human behavior, they could well become an object of unthinkable natural calamities, deaths and destruction.
All the Divine Books of the Abrahamic Faith – The Torah, The Holy Bible and The Qur’an are full of such revelations and warnings as REMINDERS to those people who are open to listening and learning and care for accountability and the future. These are staunch warnings to change the thinking and behavior or else could face the ultimate consequences of demise as it happened to all self-claiming adventurous and powerful kingdoms, dynasties and nations of the past. Russia leading the War, not a “Military Operation”, against Ukraine, is facing critical crises of rationality and legitimacy of war for its survival and socio-economic and political future but likewise this is what most other Western leaders too lack understanding and realities of the real world affairs. Ukraine and its people must be protected and should not be allowed to vanish in the dust of shelling and hypersonic Russian weaponry.
The Need for Reasoned Dialogue: One Humanity at Peace and Unity for Peaceful Co-Existence
Sanctity of human life is grounded in realization of peace, dialogue and co-existence. A rational analytic approach would compare things to figure out the difference between truth and falsehood, cruelty and piety often not combined in one character. After four weeks of warmongering, Russia and Ukraine are active, living and not destroyed. The on-going onslaught makes no sense to rational thinking and political accountability. American, European and NATO leaders appear more like spectators rather than active participants to conflict resolution and peace-making. They are not posing any challenge to the absurdity of one-sided war on Ukraine. Their lip service to aid Ukraine and its people is mere a repetitive cry for public consumption. It is a challenging time and question of survival and its urgency must be understood by those having power and influence to call for an immediate ceasefire and warn of the dire consequences for its failure.
America, Europe, Russia and NATO’s historic record is plagued with violence and extravagant ideas to have invaded and killed millions and millions across the Middle East, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and elsewhere. Lacking rationality of a just war, they have killed and displaced millions of people in Iraq and Afghanistan and Syria. Their claims of piety and credibility for the good are full of lingering suspicion and discard to be the office bearers of peace and security of the world. The need is urgent to foster a peaceful dialogue between Russia, Ukraine, America and NATO or else lack of rational imagination and action could destroy the national freedom and sovereignty of Ukraine. It is imperative that people of Ukraine should not be left to a terrible sense of helplessness, inhumanity and insanity to lose their national freedom. The voices of reason are loud and clear as global humanity cannot suffer the penalties of tyranny and war-mongering. We, the People draw rational results what we see and what we hear, therefore, we are different, we are responsible and we cannot act or live animals. There is a moral sense of spirituality and humanity to co-exist in harmony with the rest of all creations on this Earth.
Modern wars represent sadistic and cruel minds to undermine human rights, dignity and life. They destroy all that is built over the ages that we call human civilizations. All of the Abrahamic Faiths (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) reveal the truth of “Trust” – human beings took to be responsible and be at peace with the Nature of Things. Any favorite perversion would contradict this Trust and embark on killing and destruction of human habitats as history has witnessed during the Two WW, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and ongoing in Yemen. This TRUST and its reminder are explicitly mentioned in (The Qur’an, Chapter 33: 72):
“We did indeed offer the Trust to the Heavens and the Earth; And the mountains but they refused; To undertake it, being afraid thereof: But man undertook it; He was indeed unjust and foolish.”
The Earth is a living entity and is meant for us – the human beings. We, the People wonder who else except God created life, the Earth and the living Universe floating in space well balanced and functional since time immemorial. If Immanuel Kant’s ‘Perpetual Peace’ was taken seriously, today’s Russia, America and Europe would have been at peace and avoided the proxy war within themselves and with the global community. The sudden and inexplicable plunge into continued war will dehumanize the global culture of rational thinking and actions. We, the People of the globe reject the violent assumptions of a just war against the people of Ukraine. The crush for war is instinctively part of human ignorance and arrogance. Ferocious conceptions of a war and usage of advanced weaponry will destroy the Earth and living environment. Nothing will grow out of the bombed lands and charcoaled human communities as it reflects in Mariupol, Kyv and Khariv. Those talking of crimes against humanity are simply uttering words without actions. The essence of time and urgency calls for a reasoned dialogue for peace, not for blame games. One wonders why Russia was evicted from G-8 and why a meeting of G-20 could not be arranged in an emergency situation. The Western leaders (America, NATO and the EU) have the capacity and moral obligation to call for an immediate end of hostilities between Russia and Ukraine. The failure to hostilities must define the consequences and accountability. The atrocities of war must stop immediately and sanctity of human life and habitats must be assured by all within the global systems of political governance.
Dr. Mahboob A. Khawaja specializes in international affairs-global security, peace and conflict resolution with keen interests in Islamic-Western comparative cultures and civilizations, and author of several publications including the latest: One Humanity and the Remaking of Global Peace, Security and Conflict Resolution. Lambert Academic Publications, Germany, 12/2019.
