The United Nations has devoted September 21 as a day dedicated to strengthening the ideals of peace. The day was first celebrated in 1981. By tradition the UN rings the Peace Bell at its headquarters in New York on this day. This unique bell weighing 116 kilograms was gifted by the UN Association of Japan in 1954 to the United Nations. The bell has an inscription which reads “Long live absolute world peace”. This inscription is a reminder to all countries of the significance of genuine peace. For decades so many nations have been dragged into war. When peaceful negotiations failed it gave way to bloody conflicts killing many soldiers and civilians. The tranquil green fields and pristine beaches of the earth became deadly minefields which violently robbed human lives and limbs. The earth was forced to hear the deafening blast of artillery shells and cluster bombs dropped from the skies. The beauty of the sunsets was marred by funerals and weeping.
Martin Luther King was the champion of civil rights in America and he subsequently influenced the world, appealing to all people afflicted by injustice and discrimination. Here is a summary of his famous speech on November 11, 1964, when he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He proclaimed “Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by words. Such is the moment I am presently experiencing. I experience this high and joyous moment not for myself alone but for those devotees of nonviolence who have moved so courageously against the ramparts of racial injustice. Many of them are young and cultured. Others are middle aged and middle class. But they are all united in the quiet conviction that it is better to suffer in dignity than to accept segregation in humiliation. Modern man has brought this whole world to an awe-inspiring threshold of the future. He has reached astonishing peaks of scientific success. The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually”.
He continued to say “Every man lives in two realms, the internal and the external. The internal is that realm of spiritual ends expressed in art, literature, morals, and religion. The external is that complex of devices, techniques and mechanisms by means of which we live. Our problem today is that we have allowed the internal to become lost in the external. The first problem that I like to mention is racial injustice. The struggle to eliminate the evil of racial injustice constitutes one of the major struggles of our time. But before we reach the majestic shores of the Promised Land, there is a frustrating wilderness ahead. We must still face prodigious hilltops of opposition and gigantic mountains of resistance. But with patient and firm determination we will press on until every valley of despair is exalted to new peaks of hope, until every mountain of pride and irrationality is made low by the leveling process of humility and compassion; until the rough places of injustice are transformed into a smooth plane of equality; and until the crooked places of prejudice are transformed by the process of wisdom”.
Millions of people across the globe have been victims of racial discrimination. Perhaps out of these folk none suffered persecution as much as the Jews, which led to 6 million being killed in a systematic act of cultural and religious genocide by Adolf Hitler. Ethnic cleansing has been successfully used by humans against humans, in many parts of the world. It continues to happen to this very day. In this backdrop some people are of the opinion that the United Nations has not acted according to its mandate in some theatres of conflict. They allege that UN actions are influenced by powerful countries, and UN intervention was perhaps too late in resolving misunderstandings which blossomed into war, with million dollar sales in arms and ammunition.
Another champion of non-violence was Mahathma Gandhi. His mission is captured in the words of former Indian Prime Minister Shri Atal Vajpayee when he stated “Gandhi devoted his life for three main causes. Two of them were largely focused on India: Indian Independence from colonial rule and India’s social transformation. But the kernel of his life’s message was peace and non-violence. This made Mohandas Gandhi in to Mahathma Gandhi. The immense moral force and the unwavering consistency with which he championed the imperative of peace and non- violence, brought hope to mankind battered by war and conflict”.
Among those who championed peace Gandhi is perhaps one of few who used non-violence to achieve the desired goals for his people. World history reveals others who claimed to fight for the liberation of their people, in many countries. Sadly when these conflicts ended without positive results, people realized that these “freedom fighters” had accumulated wealth and homes in other countries. The cost of war is not only the dead and disabled. It strains a nation’s economy and tarnishes its moral conscience. It leaves behind soldiers and civilians with long term symptoms like PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).
Winston Churchill made his famous “iron curtain” speech at Fulton, Missouri in March 1946. He declared “To give security to these countless homes, they must be shielded from the two giant marauders: war and tyranny. We all know the frightful disturbances in which the ordinary family is plunged when the curse of war swoops down upon the breadwinner and those for whom he works. The awful ruin of Europe, with all its vanished glories, and of large parts of Asia glares us in the eyes. When the designs of wicked men dissolve over large areas of the frame of civilized society, humble folk are confronted with difficulties with which they cannot cope. For them all is distorted and all is broken. Our supreme task and duty is to guard the homes of the common people from the horrors and miseries of another war. ”.
Churchill’s dream could not be sustained. Countries engaged in war as the years rolled by. South Africa’s iconic leader Nelson Mandela expressed his ideas on peace at the Global Convention of Peace (January 2004).
He said “Peace and non-violence have not yet become the automatic or predominant modes for living with difference and diversity. Too much of our planet is still embroiled in destructive conflict, strife and war. In almost every part of the world human beings find reasons to resort to force and violence in addressing differences that we surely should attempt to resolve through negotiation, dialogue and reason. Development and peace are indivisible. Without peace and international security, nations cannot focus on the upliftment of the underprivileged of their citizens. Peace is not just the absence of conflict; peace is the creation of an environment where all can flourish, regardless of race, colour, creed, religion, gender, class, caste, or any other social markers of difference. Religion, ethnicity, language, social and cultural practices are elements which enrich human civilization, adding to the wealth of our diversity”.
As we commemorate World Peace Day it’s imperative that we honestly come together, to overcome this pandemic and desire for true peace. When we live in peace that is the true manifestation of our humanity.
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