Peace Hath Her Victories No Less Renowned Than War:
The word ‘victory’ is generally associated with war. It reminds us of battles and conquests made by shedding blood. People look upon war as a glorious show- armies marching in beautiful khaki uniforms, banners flying, displaying war weapons etc. When heroes return victorious from the battle-fronts, they are received with the utmost enthusiasm and joy. Splendid gates and arches are constructed, bunting is hung, crackers are left off, songs of joy and victory are sung, bugles are blown to welcome the victorious heroes home, The life stories of great warriors like Julius Caesar, Napoleon and Hitler form an exciting study.
The victories of war are, however, stained with blood. They are achieved at the cost of human lives. The losses of life and property in modern warfare are immense. Two Atom Bombs alone killed or crippled more than 5 lakhs of people in Japan. War today is a beastly business, a cruel carnage of mankind and a naked dance of death.
But the victories of peace are of different nature. They are won for the betterment rather than for the destruction of mankind. They are mostly in the fields of art and literature, trade and commerce, science and sociology. If judged impartially, they appear to be more glorious than the victories of the war.
Moreover, the victories of war are made at the cost of others. We may glorify the battles of Plassey or Panipat, Waterloo or Trafalgar, but we cannot forget that they brought untold sufferings and miseries to the people who fought them. On the other hand, the victories of peace suffered so that the masses might flourish. Christ and Gandhi died so that we might live.
Besides this, the victories of war are short-lived, while those of peace is permanent. We forget the names of our destroyers but remember with pride those of our benefactors and saviours. Hitler bought fire and sword wherever he went, and Hitlerism today stands for cruelty and lawlessness. Gandhi preached his message of love and non-violence, and today Gandhism is a living force pointing surely towards the peace of the world. We remember with love the name of Pasteur who found a cure for hydrophobia. We pay homage to Asoka not for his conquest at Kalinga, but for the law of piety and non-violence which he preached.
There is yet another advantage that belongs exclusively to the victories of peace. They benefit not this or that country, but the entire world. Nightingale’s system of nursing the wounded soldiers was evolved in peace, though perfected in war. It has proved beneficial to all nations irrespective of their colour and race. Electricity, the radio, the cinema, X-rays, penicillin, radium and a host of other things have benefited all mankind alike.
What is still more, war creates warriors and war-mongers, peace creates saints and peace-lovers. War arouses our beastly passions, peace directs our passion into healthy channels. A period of war is a period of unrest, disorder and confusion. But a period of peace is a period of rest, order and calm. Art and literature, trade and commerce flourish in peace but are destroyed in the war. It is in peacetime that a poet can compose great poems, an artist can paint excellent pictures or a sculptor can carve excellent statues and a philosopher can propound theories. Again, it is in peacetime only that education spreads and the greatest achievements are made in the realm of culture and civilization. In short words, peace and plenty, peace and progress go together.
War is evil. It brings sorrows and sufferings, poverty and pestilence (an epidemic disease), famine and ruin in its train. During war smiling fields are laid waste, art galleries are destroyed, trade and commerce receive a serious setback. The law of jungle prevails, truth is the first casualty and the holy books are the first to be banned. Again, it is in war times that the brains of scientists are purchased, the hearts of politicians are stolen; fifth-columnists are hired, people are heavily taxed and profiteers and black marketeers have free time. It is at this time that greed becomes our guide, might becomes our right and honesty is considered to be the worst policy in all walks of life.
Lastly, it must be borne in mind that the progress that man has made from barbarism to modern civilization is the achievement of peacetime only. It is in peacetime that man realizes his higher arms. He can think of his duties to his friends, his country, humanity at large, and even to God. Thus from the worldly as also from the moral and spiritual point of view “peace hath her victories no less renowned than war”.
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