Bloods and tears: A silent crisis of warfare
Peering through the narrow gaps in the shattered walls, I struggled to gather the courage to venture beyond the confines of my tiny shelter. The outside world held unspeakable horrors that filled me with dread and fear. Feeling trapped within the cramped space of this little room, I longed to escape through the roof’s opening. Every creak and shuffle threatened to betray my presence, every noticeable voice a guarantee of my death, compelling me to stifle any noise as I strained to focus my vision amidst the blinding lights surrounding me. Despite the passage of fifty long years since the wars began, the relentless and harsh devastation showed no signs of abating, casting a shadow of despair and fear over the land.
The wars started almost fifty years ago when human greed overpowered humanity. It is rightly said that nature has everything to satisfy a human’s need but nothing to satisfy man’s greed. As the hunger for power carved its way through the human mind, the hunger for humanity and kindness carved its way away from human life. Today, every person is fighting with another for a piece of land and power that does not belong to them. I shrieked as a loud blast echoed, vibrating the land beneath me. The wars took away everything from me: my childhood, my friends, my relatives, my family. Yet, as I stand amidst the ruins, I wonder why I am the one to suffer from the losses. As I remain here, waiting for my death, I wonder if I am not the one to benefit from these wars, then why am I the one to suffer the most?
“An eye for another eye makes the entire world blind.” Wars are the most inhumane deeds that benefit no one and harm everyone. They are the darkest marks on the pages of world history. Wherever wars occur, they leave their imprints on the lands of that place. Wars not only destroy a land economically but also from within, deepening their roots as a horrific nightmare. They leave a never-ending trauma in the minds of the victims, affecting them both physically and mentally. This haunting imprint stays with them forever, breaking them to such an extent that they become hollow bodies. May it be past, present or future, wars stand as the darkest and the most tragic chapters of world history, inflicting deep physical, mental, and psychological scars that endure through generations.
“If one does not make efforts to end wars, one day the wars will surely end us.” Wars occur due to various reasons, such as political, ideological, or psychological differences. Revenge or a hunger for power is also one of the main reasons behind the occurrence of this nightmare. Throughout history, wars have been used to compel someone to do something according to their will and force someone to follow another ideology using wrongful measures. Thus, warfare’s entire psychology lies in the desire to increase power and wealth.
In today’s rapidly developing world, social media has become an integral part of people’s daily lives across the globe. Unfortunately, instead of serving as a platform for sharing diverse views and opinions, social media has increasingly become a breeding ground for spreading hatred. Fake messages and posts on various platforms are manipulating people’s minds and stirring up feelings of animosity and anger. Rather than uniting the world, social media is creating barriers of hatred between nations, contributing to the rise of revenge and indirectly fuelling conflicts.
War is often classified as a necessary evil, seen as a measure to protect a nation’s or a community’s freedom, security, and rights. It can also be viewed as a means to maintain peace or as a smaller evil deed to prevent a much bigger and more horrendous nightmare. At times, war can seem like the only way to restore peace in a community or between nations and to resolve conflicts. However, it is hard to see it as anything other than a dark period in world history. Regardless of any benefits, wars destroy human life, social structures, and the environment, making it clear that wars can never be the only resort available.
The wars have been the most significant crises of the past. The two world wars took the lives of ten million innocent people, and the Asian-Pacific war took more than 200,000 lives in just 4 days. World War II is considered one of the deadliest and cruellest wars in history, involving more than 30 countries. It was caused by multiple reasons, with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany being one of the main triggers. On one hand, World War II led to the creation of new fields of science and advances in medicine. However, nothing can compare to the fact that over sixty million innocent people became victims of this war, and those who survived were left with irremovable scars for a lifetime.
In present times too where all the fields have advanced to a greater extent the nightmares of war have still not ended. Mankind still holds the hands of warfare for support during times of greed and necessity. In today’s times where most countries are struggling in a race for development and striving to overcome their nightmares of the past. In today’s world where the new generations are being taught the values of equality and inclusion the trauma of wars has still not left the minds of people. It is truly said that whenever and wherever the clouds of revenge and aggression overpower the human mind, it will only lead to destruction. Today, wars like Ukraine vs. Russia and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict between Israel and Hamas show how wars can uproot the peaceful lives of civilians and claim the lives of millions of innocent people. The youth are being destroyed, women and children are suffering, nations are getting destroyed, and architecture and structures that once stood as an epitome of brilliance have now become a heap of dust due to the nightmare of wars.
The future of warfare will likely be more terrifying and horrific, as it is predicted to be predominantly unmanned. Imagine a world where millions of soulless robots, specifically designed to kill anyone in sight, roam the roads, ready to eradicate humanity from the planet. The world of science is advancing at such a rapid rate that there is a complete possibility that such a nightmare could become a reality. With the rapid development of nuclear weapons and artificial intelligence, if wars were to take place in the future, it would be a matter of days to completely wipe out humanity from planet Earth.
Certainly, it is true that besides wars, many other crises have affected or will affect humanity on a very large scale. However, wars are one of the major root causes behind the formation of these crises. Whether it is environmental degradation, climate change, or economic crises, warfare has been a major contributor to most of these problems. Wars are not just battles between two groups; they are large-scale disruptions that tear apart happy families and break the country into shattered pieces that will never be the same again. Yet the main crisis during such times is not just the wars, but the hatred, the sense of revenge, and the anger that ignite such fires of warfare. Thus, before going to the battlefield of war, it is more important to battle with these emotions that become the root cause of wars.
We humans, as a collective group of organisms, have achieved many feats of development together. However, all these years of hard work would become worthless if the nightmares of war continued to occur. It is really important to teach future generations about the adverse effects of wars. It is very important to learn history so that it does not repeat itself. Otherwise, the nightmares of war will continue to haunt the lives of all the coming generations, leading to the end of humanity one day. We must learn to embrace our differences and learn to live as one big family so that such disruptions never occur again.
By: Thakur Sara Bilal
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