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by Dr. Jayantha Seneviratne

The end of a brutal war that has protracted over two decades is at hand. We are aware that during the period gone by some politicians as well as the elite of the civil society have attempted to arm the general public with a warring mentality, in view of personal gain, while some acted thus with a stand of extreme racism. Both these parties are now silent, yet this silence would not be maintained until another opportunity arises.

The victims of war both in the North and South are now anticipating peace. The present moment is ideal to reach a consensus to reach an end to the ethnic conflict.

However the above mentioned two groups who are awaiting an opportunity to foil peace attempts, may re-enter the arena. Meanwhile those who have actively engaged in foiling peace attempts, destroying peace flags etc. appear to be reawakened into activity and have already launched wide spread poster campaigns. As such it would be imprudent for the present Government to function in a light hearted manner, under the notion that they have been called by the public to bring about peace via consensus.

We have not entered a period when widespread mobilisation programs should be launched in order to transcend the public mentality from one of war to one of peace, and to sustain this mentality. This is not a venture that can be carried out by the Government alone, the civil society too holds a considerable responsibility with regard to transforming the mentality of the public.

However so far programs that touch the general public have not been activated, which is seen as a significant drawback. More programs must be activated to indicate the futility of war and it's impact, in view of reaching a just resolution to the ethnic conflict as well as to unite all communities in a process of nation building. The following context is an analysis that would indicate the futility of war to the society.

The renowned maxim by Desiderius Erasmus (16th century) "Those who are elated by war are those who have not experienced it" is significant and relevant to Sri Lanka as there are many who promote and demand the continuation of the North East conflict.

Those of the South take elation or grief in the context of the North East conflict taking mere win-lose statistics into consideration. In other words those who hoist victory flags in victory display white flags of mourning in times of military loss.

A sense of elation is felt for the number of enemy troops that surrender while a sense of woe is experienced for the ally corps that retreated or was destroyed. It is difficult to assume that those who demand war have a clear idea as to the extend of its inhumanity.

Even if they do have somewhat of an impression of war they tend to shield the reality of it in view of self-interests and objectives. As such they give war an appealing angle of vision and claim it to be an essential for peace. Once a war mentality overshadows society the clear inhuman reality of it becomes evident via acts of violence that occur day to day.

War is a game of numbers and statistics. How many victims of an attack succumbed to death? How many were killed from our side? How many enemy troops died? How much territory was captured and how much was lost? How many can a bomb kill? How can the destruction be minimised?

What is the arsenal power of either side? How many weapons were recovered? How many enemy troops were captured? These are questions essential for military communication. These numbers and statistics can fashion the mentality of the public. The proportion of statistics can deceive people.

Hirum Johnson clearly states that the "first victim of war is the Truth". Every war recorded in history justifies and confirms this statement. It is obvious here in Sri Lanka and world wide that mediums of war information are engaged in their own war to make a twisted tale a reality.

Mediums of information

Such is the significance of mediums of information during a war that they can be utilised as to fracture the public opinion. The sharp edge of the instrument at first insertion is capable of creating a fissure into which fabricated information can be further fed.

During the Gulf War the main instruction given to the media by American authorities was to fabricate the extent of damage inflicted on ally troops. The visual media was also instructed to refrain from displaying close up images of dead civilians. The real facts were unearthed only after the end of the war, which was also the case in the war in Vietnam. Facts that could have been negative for the United States of America emerge only today.

In any war the moulding of the mental component is far more significant than the increasing of firepower. This task carried out by the media is crucial in not only maintaining the morale of the soldier but also in charging the intent for war in the general public. In this context not only the State and other media institutions but the LTTE too is engaged in a war to mould the community mentality locally and internationally. Those leading the armed struggle decide which side is leading the war. The nature of this war during the last two decades can be understood by the same.

However what becomes sensitive to us as the most significant outcome of war is the destruction it causes to one's personality. By one incident in war the individuality and identity of humanity formed along the line of pain, joy, love, affection, care, taste and creativity is reduced to ashes.

The personalities thus destroyed are written into history as statistical reports. While the statistics of some (not all) dead soldiers and of liberators or terrorists would go down in military history the civilian victims of war go unrecorded.

What we cannot forget is that the near and dear of such victims must go through life with continuous suffering. No warring party ever discusses this aspect of war and does not allow external discussion of it either. That aspect of war is not significant to them.

How many people in Sri Lanka have become orphans, have lost their children, siblings or friends? Only they know the extent of their pain. But the tale of woe does not end there. What of the innumerable, who is struggling to survive having become blind, maimed or disabled because of war? The creators of war cannot conceive their pain. Such is the impact war has on our existence that the value of humanity depends on the aim of a fire arm.

While the clever marks man of warring situation is charged by a military culture we too are forced into such a charge. A person thus charged is robbed of his own right to life.

As such while a soldier's right to life is taken away from him the life of an average citizen is also decided by the warring parties.

What can be anticipated from a community that has been enveloped by a military culture distanced from humanity? A person can be easily killed, stabbed and wounded minus much thought; rape, and robbery become almost mundane. A society which cannot even feel compassion for a person in distress, is created.

An excerpt from a famous letter written by General Sherman, an English Army Officer to his wife is as follows. "It is now simple for me to kill off or inflict pain on several thousand people. Such acts are as light for me as morning exercise. My only problem was killing the first man. Our minds are now that rigid." This is reflective in acts of violence witnessed in our country.

However those who lose their lives by the side effects of war as in the cases presented above are not considered victims of war. The rough number of faces who have died as a result of side effects of war both locally and internationally can be accounted.

Yet the extent of emotional distress experienced or being experienced by soldiers as a result of the North East conflict or any other conflict in the world and the mental trauma with which their relatives suffer can never be described. These traumatic experiences are buried under the sands of time yet day by day a new generation burdened by the terrible experiences of brutal war is created and the terror of war continues. The women and children invariably become the innocent victims of war.

According to Fahian Thero, "Those who are engaged in war are those who are uncertain of their future." In his statement Thero is most likely referring to the unemployed. While this may be true in a local context, the hundreds and thousands of soldiers who were killed along the highway running into Basra and in the Sahara desert during the Gulf war were those who were engaged under essential service.

These soldiers who had a minimum knowledge of war died with Quran in one hand and a firearm in the other. When studying the Gulf war or any other war directed by religious fundamentalists even in an era of post-modernist atheism the irrational nature of man's intelligence is evident.

The outstanding feature of the Gulf war is the contrast and contradiction of religion and modern technology. The Iraq scud missiles were armed with religious sanction. Ally troops saw the war as one fought against Christians. We are all aware of the fact that both religious sects prayed for victory and not for peace. In the book "The City of Gods" St. Augustine, philosopher of the middle age says, "The true believer does not consider war to be wrong.

It is an essential bad. War is more like a punishment meted out to Man by God." In our country too attempts are being made to strengthen the armed conflict with religious fundamentalism. While Buddhism completely rejects war some attempt to twist even Buddhist scriptures of the benefit of war with a personal interest in mind. This is seen as a very dangerous trend. If this develops every aspect of community living may be fashioned by laws and regulations designed by religious fundamentalists.

Religious dogma

Many who condemn war attempt to project it's cruelty via films and photographs. But this is overridden by the fact that people have been hypnotised by racists and hard line religious opinions. War to humanists could never be heroic or honourable. It is more a bloody mission, unnecessary and bitter. Many may say a soldier dies as a hero but he dies having suffered extreme pain.

Their bodies are hit by burning shrapnel. They die in areas of harsh conditions such as desert or swamp. They leave behind for their families nothing but grief. They die not of natural causes or by accident but by intent plan.

The number of persons who die worldwide due to the fire of racism and hardline religious opinion spreading across the globe reach an alarming figure of ten million annually. In our country over 70,000 have been killed. Shelley's opinion of war, I believe affirms the above. "War is a game for rulers. It is essential for their survival. It is a source of joy for the clergy.

They hypnotise the people with it. It is a joke for lawyers. But it provides them an avenue of income. It is business for mercenaries. They fulfil the needs of them all."

In a Sri Lankan context some Buddhist religious leaders are continuously misdirecting the public considering their ignorance by denoting that those who die for their nation will attain "Nibbana". According to the Buddhist philosophy politics is an arena that should not be crossed by it's clergy. They cannot even advice of the "Rashtra" methodology of administration.

The role of the politician is to essentially indicate that life on earth is a comfort and to make that as further comfortable as possible. However the role of the Buddhist clergy is to help the lay people across Samsara, and accordingly cannot seek political allies unless to partake in a dhana i.e. almsgiving. It must be noted that religious leaders who have entered politics with a stand of war are a plague to the philosophy of Buddhism.

When taking every kind of war into consideration nothing good has ever been reaped by them. Nor can anything positive ever be reached through war. Hundreds of thousands have been killed in the cities of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, in Malai during the Vietnam war, in Iraq during Gulf war, Afghanistan, Sudan and Central Africa. What has been gained from war? Robert Macknamara went as far as admitting that the Vietnam war was a mistake on the part of America.

In our country too we have gained nothing positive from two decades of war. The majority would like sustainable peace for Sri Lanka, which is what the International community too, wishes for. When speaking of peace the extremist view is that one must be ready to face war in order to gain peace. However history proves that peace can never be attained through war.

The statement by Karl Von Clauewitz "War is the continuation of politics (by violent means)" helps us comprehend the theory behind every armed conflict. The final analysis of war deciphers violent destruction and nothing else. In every war the victims are never those who have financial advantage. Armed conflicts carried out under facades of racism and religious extremism have decayed the spirituality of men.

War is truly empty and meaningless. Peace can bring joy to us all and is something meaningful, because the continuation of humanity depends on it.

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