Peace education: Need of the hour

Justice C G Weeramantry

“Zeno the Stoic’s follower Iambulus (ca.250 BC).... described a Blessed Isle in the Indian Ocean (perhaps Ceylon): there, he reported, all men were equal, not only in rights but in ability and intelligence; all worked equally and shared equally in the product; all took equal part, turn by turn, in administering the Government; neither wealth nor poverty existed there, nor any war of the classes; nature produced fruit abundantly of her own accord and men lived in harmony and universal love.”

Will Durant: The Story of Civilisation, Vol. 2, pp. 563-4

Justice C G Weeramantry

At this historic moment in Sri Lanka, it is relevant to remember that Sri Lanka has from ancient times been an outstanding centre from which messages of harmony, justice and sustainable development have radiated through and illuminated the entire region. References to this abound in world literature, of which the quotation cited is just one. Not without reason did Sri Lanka acquire the image of being a dhamma deepa - an island identified with the practice and teachings of peace.

We need now to reconnect ourselves with our rich and many-faceted inheritance of religious harmony, peace, education, philosophy, art, architecture, sustainable development and international relations which were outstanding by any standards.

As we salute all those who have made this possible, from the President down to the humblest citizen, it becomes imperative for the focus of our national attention to shift towards the great task of winning the peace. The emphasis thus shifts towards the restoration of national unity and the establishment of a reign of justice for all. This task calls for a concentrated and determined effort, not merely by the Government but by all sections of society.

Against this background we, in Sri Lanka, now have a unique opportunity to win this peace in a manner which will reverberate the world over as one of the outstanding instances in history of peace rising triumphant from the ashes of war. We have the necessary historical and cultural background to achieve this and we must rise to the occasion. At a time when the whole world is weary of war and tension, our example can revive hope in the future.

Cultural background

We must not lose sight of the fact that while rehabilitation in a material sense is of the utmost importance, the problems before us need to be addressed also from the psychological and educational point of view. Anger, prejudice, revenge, bitterness, hatred and ignorance need concerned attention, for shattered minds are as much a legacy of war as shattered homes.

The challenge of addressing these problems and achieving the victories of peace is now before us. What we need are the will and the determination to achieve this goal. This requires the generation of the necessary attitudes and the communication of the necessary information.

The golden route to this result is peace education, for a generation has grown up which has known on environment but war, with all the insecurity, tension, destruct and misunderstanding which accompany it. The cast of mind induced by these factors will not disappear on its own. Its elimination needs active assistance. This necessitates a demonstration of the ways in which this can be achieved and an indication of the glowing results which can emerge if our national energies are directed towards this end.

If we sleep upon this task the sacrifices of the war would have been in vain.

Peace education is a neglected subject the world over and the world has paid dearly for this neglect. There is an ocean of peace-related knowledge lying untapped by educational systems and waiting to be used.

We need to demonstrate to a waiting world that we have it in our national character to use this knowledge and emerge without bitterness from the emotional and physical debris of a 30 year war and become once more a nation that teaches and practises peace.

We live in the nuclear age in which we are all doomed to perish unless we make peace the order of the day in the next decade or two. The great religions of the world which are the universal heritage of all humanity can light the way to a bright new future for all.

We, in Sri Lanka are uniquely privileged in having four of the world’s great religions existing side by side in our midst and enriching our mutual environment. We can use this cross-cultural inheritance to chart out a pathway of peace which can be an inspiration to all.

Peace education

We are a country now called upon to provide this example, for our ancient traditions, our recent conflict and our national character all combine to provide us with one of history’s greatest opportunities to show the world how a lasting peace can be snatched from the smouldering debris of war.

The reality to be faced is that there are legions of shattered families, avalanches of bitter memories, several millions who have known nothing but a world of war. Even if all these people can be rehabilitated in a material sense, the psychological trauma will remain.

There cannot be a peaceful society so long as this emotional and psychological aspect remains unattended.

Peace education at all levels holds the key towards resorting these shattered minds and putting them on the road towards constructive participation in the process of rehabilitation and reconstruction of the national psyche. The subject if properly taught can transform the national scene, for ethical issues flood into every department of it and youth is an age of idealism which is greatly responsive to such concepts.

We must not permit the pressure of bread and butter subjects to crowd out from the curriculum the necessary teachings on peace, with all the strong idealisms they embody.

Peace teaching can in fact help to mould a stronger and more caring national character for the Sri Lanka of the future.

World War I

Peace education draws its materials from every subject taught in school - history, geography, literature, drama, physics, chemistry, biology, sociology and whatever subject one may care to name. We need to generate the necessary skills for peace related aspects to be drawn into teaching in every subject and at every level.

One of the first peace lessons should be drawn from world history, which is full of examples from the earliest times to the present day of the sacrifices of hard-won wars being negatived by inattention to the demands of peace. For example, after World War I there were eloquent debates at Versailles when the smaller nations criticized the great powers for throwing away the opportunities of building a just world order by still pursuing their imperial interests and neglecting the cause for which so many millions sacrificed their lives.

Human rights

There are important lessons in these historical examples and we must not neglect the task of ascertaining what the causes were of the conflict that has just ended. We must as one nation address those cause and eliminate them.

The range of topics to be covered in peace education is vast but some indication can be given of them to people at all levels from the schoolroom upwards, so that we can build up a culture of peace and togetherness rather than of war and separateness.

To be continued