War is as old as the history of mankind on the planet earth, but can we stamp it out of human community? While we call on the whole humanity to ponder on the existence of war in human community, its causes and consequences, as preparations for the June 26th Army Day are now in top gear, we would like to pay special tribute to the various sacrifices men and women down the ages had made in order to ensure a modicum of peace in our world today, especially if humanity cannot attain or give itself the peace that surpasses all understanding.
This time of sober reflection is also dedicated to saluting the peacemaking efforts of all veterans of war and the gallantry they had displayed in the various wars in which they had taken part in all realms and climes in and around the world. This time of universal reflection is also set aside to pay glowing tributes to the kindness of soldiers’ families in loaning/releasing their sons and daughters to contend for the liberty of mankind at various times in various wars, past and present. At this time too, our hearts go to families who could not get back their sons and daughters from the State after such wars. These sons and daughters, husbands and wives were in most cases their breadwinners, but had to pay the ultimate sacrifice because they actually lost their lives in these wars. To these families, all and severally, the nation is indebted, the whole of humanity is indebted to them and in fact, the children of the future generations too are indebted to them.
When we look all around us, as we encourage everyone to so do in this time of sober reflection, we are sure to notice that some of our soldiers who had participated in all of these wars, past and present as is the case currently in Iraq and Afghanistan, who were fortunate to return home are today in crutches and not likely to walk any more for no fault of theirs; some have had their limbs dismembered; some cannot feed by themselves anymore and had to be fed by their relatives who in the first place had shown kindness and patriotism in releasing them to the State.
In most cases, the State has had to compensate them in one way or another, in some other ways, the State had had to compensate families whose loved ones had died in these wars, but, but we ask, “What is the cost of life? In other words, our gratitude/tributes to these valiant compatriots of ours for their supreme sacrifices, no matter how big, is not enough to adequately compensate such sacrifices. Neither the State, nor the citizens can create life or have the ability to bring back to life those who had died in wars; neither the State, nor the citizens can adequately compensate lost lives via pecuniary gestures. Nevertheless, we must still go ahead to show that the State cares and that all of us do care. And upon the realization that our gestures cannot adequately compensate their sacrifices, we plead they be received by our gallant men and women, worthy compatriots for all times, as expressions of our love and appreciation to them for their sacrifices and they should look at the benevolent spirit that had motivated the gestures of Government and the collective gestures of their fellow compatriots as demonstrated in flowers, in kind words, in poems, in some cases, in medals and in pecuniary tokens.
Today too, as we have our ears to the ground we can hear the echoes of parents’ cries, concern of all compatriots, voices of activists all across the land, questioning the reasonableness of sending the nation’s young persons to war, especially as some of these wars, in particular, Iraq and Afghanistan have been randomly condemned as wars of blame.
While we show we at Vigilance also care and express similar sentiments for the welfare and lives of these young ones who are no doubt the future and the continuity of our State, we want to remind our fellow compatriots that war, once it is begun, whether legitimately or illegitimately, someone has to fight it anyway, and bring it to a conclusive reality and usher in peace to human community. And if the truth must be told, and if collectively, we must be honest with ourselves, young persons in previous generations in their prime too just as our present crop of young soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan were equally in their prime when they rose up to contend for the liberty of our great Union and the peace of the world.
At Vigilance, our strong abhorrence for war in any form is immeasurable. We view war-any form of war in human civilization as not only an aberration, but barbaric. But can mankind attain a civilization without fighting, without war?
Calling on all humanity to ponder at this time, we want to ask: “What really causes war in human community? What really brings war to human community? We do not have all the answers to these, nor can we claim authority on the causes of war. Wars in human community beginning from the pre-historic through the medieval period to the present have existed because of greed, covetousness, hatred of one race for another, of one nation for another, of one ethnic group for another, of one community for another, dominion syndrome-in order words, might is right, one nation, tribe/ethnic nationality wanting to lord it over the other with the aim of annexing, colonising, ruling the vanquished. In time past, it had been viewed as a test of human strength, an act of heroism. And in most wars, personality clashes have been largely responsible. But can we stamp out war in human community? Can there be a time in human civilization when there is an absence of war?