Return of big bullies to leave a bad lesson for posterity

War is in human blood. In case of contentious issues, first there is a war of words and then conflicting claims leading to physical violence. It may be inter and intra-family feuds, clannish or tribal conflicts, violence between two villages or municipality wards, onslaught by nations against each other or a full-scale war and deadly aggression by an alliance of countries against its rival alliance. Everywhere, the mentality is same---"My or our position is unchallengeable". When both sides stick to their point and proceed to teach a lesson to the opponent, tragedy of 'might is right' is unavoidable.

However, not all are waraholic and there are sane people who warn against fanning up of war-mongering. Their caution mostly goes unheeded. But at the end of such bloody hostilities, the warriors ---if they survive until then---admit they fought a meaningless war and at a huge cost of life and property. It is exactly why, wise leaders are in demand at such crucial juncture of history. Had there been men of smaller ilk than John F Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev in 1962, there was little chance of avoiding a much dreaded World War III over the Bay of Pigs and what is known as Cuban missile crisis. Both sides retracted from keeping nuclear missiles deployed. The US dismantled and disbanded those deployed in the United Kingdom, Turkey and Italy and the Soviet Union followed suit by withdrawing theirs from Cuba.

The world returned from the brink of another World War. Compared with the nuclear weapons of the 1960s, those of today are many times powerful. But unfortunately, the sagacity of leaders on both sides of the Atlantic and the Pacific fails to match that of leaders of that time. At times they betray capriciousness of the gang leaders. If they ever reach the point of no return, there is nothing to be surprised. That is the worst fear people harbour in their bosoms about the leaders of this digital era.

The lesson of the World War I and II, should have haunted the collective minds. When the big powers cast all their pretensions to unleash aggression on other countries, they definitely defy the UN charter that was formulated to avoid any future war of cataclysmic order. Today the UN's wings have been slashed and the organisation stands virtually dysfunctional. What the world is witnessing is the waging of war on a country and its near disintegration. No one dares ask an eccentric president if he has any right to launch attacks on other nations.

No one knows how and when this unequal war will end. But there is one thing quite certain that this aggression on a land of a famed civilisation with its poets and wise men offering so much to the world hardly deserves such ill treatment. The Persian civilisation highlighted by Jalaluddin Rumi, Hafez-e-Shirazi, Sheikh Saadi, Abul Qasim Ferdowsy et al cannot be desecrated in such a manner. Even Mirza Ghalib had his roots in Persia. So those who treat Iran disdainfully today should better know what crime they are committing against human civilisation. The poets carved a niche in human hearts but the aggressors are destroying that heart.

If the world survives the onslaught that may end up in a conflagration across the planet, the future generations will not fail to pronounce their verdict on this sacrilege. The war in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran has already done a great disservice to the humanity by presenting a horrible narrative. The narrative is that Iran was on the verge of acquiring the technology of nuclear arms. It may not be long to prove that, like the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, nothing could be farthest from the truth. Spain spelt this in no uncertain terms and has refused to allow use of its soil as a base for launching attacks.

But all others are not Spain. Such bullying by big powers emboldens thugs all over the world to go about similar business in a vicious style. Psychologically children and young people can be influenced to take a cue from such attacks to establish their reign of terror in society. Already softer feeling and emotion have become a rare commodity among those engrossed with computer games and robotics. If people lose emotion, passion and empathy, this world is worse than hell. No sane person would be ready to live in such a hell.