Light of Peace

One of the questions that haunts the peace lovers is that can the world communities coexist mutually with peace despite piling up of nuclear arsenal around them? Unfortunately the history provides the answer in affirmative. We are not at all in favor of countries possessing nuclear weapons, but at least as an interim measure it seems a rather plausible solution to create a sense of security, howsoever it may be a false one.

Testimonies from survivors of the two times nuclear weapons that have been used in World War II are stories of unimaginable cruelty and suffering. Charred corpses, eyes that melted out of the skull and powdered human bodies were results of just some of the atomic bombs the Americans dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. Nuclear weapons have been improved since then. Any full scale nuclear war would result in casualties that may be in millions, if not billions and an unlimited destruction of mankind.

The capability of nuclear weapons to unleash total destruction is still the most plausible reason why they have not yet been used.The fear of nuclear war can be seen as the guarantor of the peace that has prevailed between the world's major powers since World War II. Without nuclear weapons the world would probably have been a dangerous place to live.

Balance of Terror - The Cold Peace

With the exception of the first years after the nuclear weapons were developed by the United States, the world in the nuclear age was characterized by less uncertainty. Terror balance between NATO and the Soviet Union, a situation in which there was no doubts about both sides' ability to annihilate the other, urged the parties to do everything they could to avoid war. Cuba missile crisis of 962 is a good example. Had this been a crisis between the two conventional forces, it could soon have developed into a bloody war. The two countries being nuclear power if went to full fledged war would have meant an inevitable counterattack and thus a catastrophic consequences for one's own country and people would have followed. it has been emphasized by analysts that the period between the World War II and fall of the Berlin wall should not be named as the era of cold war, rather a more suitable name would be the cold peace.

Example of India and Pakistan

There is also a good reason to believe that relations between India and Pakistan would have been much more unstable and strained, had both countries not been nuclear powers. Even if India were a nuclear power and Pakistan were not, the balance of power would have severely tilted in favor of India, thereby putting the whole region in a very dangerous situation. In 1998 both countries came to the brink of a full fledged war on Kargil issue, but thanks to the nuclear weapons held by both, the catastrophe was averted. Similarly in 2001 when the Indian parliament in New Delhi was attacked by a few gunmen, the Indian government mobilized their forces and deployed all along the Pakistan border. As a reaction Pakistan also deployed its forces. The armed forces of both countries remained in eyeball to eyeball contact for about one year. However not a single shot was fired from either side, again due to fear of a possible nuclear escalation.

Iraq Catastrophe

Kashmir, a land locked hilly state, with a predominant Muslim population, is a disputed territory between India and Pakistan. The unification of the territory either with India or Pakistan is yet to be decided through a plebiscite in the light of UN Security Council Resolutions of 1948. The Kashmir dispute has been a major cause of three wars fought between India and Pakistan since the creation of both the countries in 1947. As both the countries are now nuclear powers, this unresolved dispute is a potential flash point and a serious threat to the global peace.

The Kashmir dispute has to resolved by the mutual consent of India , Pakistan and the people of Kashmir. So far no serious progress has been made in this direction. Despite the claim of Indian government that Kashmir is an integral part of India and that there is no problem in Kashmir and that the problems in Kashmir like insurgency were due to the cross-border terrorism from Pakistan side, the situation in Kashmir has never calmed down and is still volatile. On behest of the US, a large number of organizations suspected by India for their involvement in insurgent attacks like Lashkar e Tueba etc have been banned by Pakistan since long. India is keeping more than half million troops in Kashmir which comprise about 50 % of the total Indian army strength. The border ( line of control) with Pakistan has been sealed effectively by India and the Indian authorities have admitted that there has been a sharp decline in the ‘terrorist attacks’ inside Kashmir over the past many years. Despite all this the people of Kashmir are not willing to accept the Indian rule. The stone-pelting youth, the women and the children have effectively attracted the attention of international media. The world community has now correctly recognized that Kashmir's movement for freedom is purely indigenous and is gaining impetus without any foreign provocation support.

The government of India now seems to be taking the situation in Kashmir seriously which is a very rare phenomenon. However the efforts to maintain peace in Kashmir will be fruitful only if the stock of the situation is taken in its true perspective. The right of self determination cannot be denied to the people of Kashmir for long. India is expected to play its role in a constructive and positive manner, so that a long outstanding dispute can be resolved peacefully and regional / global peace is not kept hostage to the whims of a few politicians.

The first question is precisely what we mean by the term "war" because the answer to this question affects the whole matter concerning the rules that govern it. War is an act of force, violence that has the characteristic of being desired by the states. Robbery, murder are violent acts that are prohibited by the laws of the state (or community or other equivalent entity). The war is violence but it does not only admits to be as such but also orders the other organs of the state to implement it.. The murderer is punished, but the warrior who kills thousand souls in war is rewarded. The bitter fact is that the one who kill a man is a murderer, but whoever kills a thousand (in war) is a hero.

Even the most primitive communities well distinguished between the two cases in which violence is committed against the law (usually within the context of a group) and the violence committed against the rival groups (tribes, clans). In primitive societies where the state organization was in the embryonic stage,the clashes between the groups generally continued relentlessly and all men were supposed to be warriors. There is thus a clear distinction between war and peace and between civil and military.

From this fact it is often misunderstood that the war emerged with the civilizations. In fact, the armed struggles have unfortunately always accompanied human history, although there are periods and civilizations more bellicose and other more peaceful. We can say with more perfection that with the development of civilization, the practice of war became more organized. The special categories of men engaged in this activity of war were termed as military, exactly as some of them are born artisans, musicians, merchants etc.

The degree of violence and cruelty of war has changed continuously according to circumstances and situations. You can not say, unfortunately, that with the development of civilization, it becomes less bloody. In primitive cultures the wars were highly ritualized: in some American Indian tribes one could hit the opponent with a stick, in the Philippines the oratorical competitions ie the war of words made the things very easy. It is so unfortunate that today in contemporary society we do not discriminate terrorist attacks and devastating carpet bombing. In the Middle Ages knights would fight few wars and may not kill more than a meager, countable number of rivals. The savage massacres in the modern world wars or the wars fought in the name of religion severely surpass the devastation.In 1800s the wars had a limited human cost, and most of the people were not even involved, while in 1900s we had the greatest tragedies of military history. The 2000s will display more devastation, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are just recent examples. Peace was never a priority for those who wanted to implement the policies through use of force.

In any case, private violence being against the law is never given protection. But the violence of war by virtue of being sponsored by the state, is not only protected rather justified and gives birth to its own laws, called the "laws of war"

Aim is to achieve peaceful reunification,

It promises of non-military exercise,

The cross-strait personnel exchanges

Promotion of economic and cultural ties.,

Establishment of cross-strait direct communication as soon as possible,

Establish the trade links with mutual cooperation.

China’s main land has a socialist system where as Taiwan has capitalist system. After the unification that system will be retained by Taiwan and will merge with main land slowly and gradually over a period of time.

Taiwan will enjoy a high degree of autonomy after unification. The central government, the administration and the military will not be disturbed

The resolution of Taiwanese issue is the internal matter of of the Chinese people and only they are going to settle it. There is no need of any foreign interference in this matter. The Chinese government has strictly followed this policy and hopefully Taiwan government will also find the solution within the ambit of this policy, this policy has been reiterated time and again by successive Chines governments before the the world and Taiwan also.

The Chinese government strictly denounces the use of force to settle an issue. It always prefers peaceful measure to resolve the issue of Taiwan. However china has never promised not to use force. It reserves the right to use any means deemed appropriate to settle this issue if need be. As long as the US government and the world as whole supports Taiwan authorities but keep in mind that Taiwan is an integral part of china and PRC is the only legal government of china, there will be no friction between the foreign countries and China. However the Taiwanese authorities are expected to think and act within the scope of on china. The concept of independent Taiwan will not be acceptable to china at any cost.

The reunification of Taiwan with china will be beneficial to people of both the lands. When the Chinese speak to the Taiwanese authorities, they always talk of one country china and its indivisible sovereignty and territorial integrity. This is the basic premise on which further dialogue can be developed to achieve global peace.

According to all records in the period between the two world wars, Prague was the cultural center probably unrepeatable millieu, during which the Czech, German and Jewish culture coexisted in a constructive peace. Writers like Franz Kafka and Max Brod Prague created a circle that frequently met at the Café Arco, where peronalities like Franz Werfel and EE Kisch.used to come often. Franz Werfel and Franz Kafka quickly made inroads into the world of literature, and introduce Hasek's "Good Soldier Schweik" and the music of Leos Janacek to German audiences.

A person having a positive outlook on life in the Masaryk Czechoslovakia was a composer Oskar Morawetz, and recently we have heard about George Brady from two survivors of one hundred Terezín prisoners of war.George Brady was a person who inspired the book and now movie 'Inside Hana's Suitcase ' has also been made on the same subject. Another person John Freund, the author of' Once Again 'and' valley of the shadow of death ' and got fame due to the documentary film' I Will Not Die ' is worth considering.

Jews in Czechoslovakia after the Munich Agreement

If it were true that after the Munich Agreement the anti semitism grew rapidly in Czechoslovakia, it is difficult to explain the reason. At the invitation of the Czechoslovak National Council in London, President Benes called up on the reservists in Allied and neutral countries signed up a large number of Jews for the Czechoslovak Army. That included 2000 Czech Jews in Palestine. Later, some units in the division of Czechoslovakia in the Soviet Union consisted of about 70% Jews.

Punishment of Sudeten Germans after the war

The punishment meted out to the Sudeten Germans in Czechoslovakia after the war was regrettable, though no punishment to which the Sudeten Germans were exposed matched the scale and brutality of Nazi‘s actions against the Jews.: All the men were gunned down in the entire villages and thier honmes were burned. Examples in Czechoslovakia are the villages of Lidice and Lager in some cases the number of Sudeten Germans who suffered equalled the fate of Jewish members of the Czech nation who suffered in Bohemia and Moravia:

A summery of Jews who suffered is as follows:

Number of Jews deported: 80,614

Number of Jews who survived Theresienstadt: 6, 392

Number of Jews murdered in concentration camps: 64 172.

Registered as returnees at the end of war: 10,000 Jews.

The Jews who were deported, 5,201 were either executed or committed suicide or died of natural causes. Only 2208 Jews could survive.

My Opinion

Good days and bad days for a nation or a community do not come at the pleasure and wish of the people concerned. These are subject to the force of history and the good or bad policies made by the people. The Jews suffered in Europe at the hands of Nazis and got a land of their own after the World War II. Without going in to the justification or otherwise of carving out a country on the lands occupied by other people, the fact is that both the nations, the Jews and the Arabs, have to co-exist mutually. There is no going back in the time and history. The global peace has been kept hostage to the self-centered policies of Israelis and their patrons. The onus of promoting peace lies with the Israelis as they are on the giving end and are at present being supported by the sole super power and the world states as well. If the Israelis do not learn lesson from the history and keep doing with Palestinians with impunity what the Nazis had done with them seventy years ago, let them know that bad times may not be very far away. The force of history never excuses anyone, it takes its own course.