Friday, August 31, 2012

India a Peaceful Country: A Misnomer?

From our youth we have been brought up studying that India is a a peace loving country (well truthfully which country loves war?) But India has always tried to show itself as the most peace loving country in the 21st Century.

India gained independence from the British rule by a non-violent struggle lead by one of the most peace loving man ever born, our Father of our nation: Mahatma Gandhi. But the birth of this great nation was  not so very peaceful as every one knows, The partition of India filled the country with violence, riots, butchering of people and other atrocities a peace loving country will never tolerate.

But independence of India was a time of great change, and all great change are preceded by chaos, But then also we can't thus say and forget about the violence during the partition of India. But to continue on independent India fought 5 recorded wars, 

  • Indo-Pakistani War of 1947
  • Indo-Sino war of 1961
  • Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
  • Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
  • Indo-Pakistani War of 1999 (Kargil war)

We have learnt that India was never the aggressor in any of these wars which may or may not be true, I also may conceded that these wars might have been necessary to keep our hard won Independence. But here I need to mention the borders of India are not yet peaceful, and the borders with some of our neighbours are not yet well defined which might lead to the cause of the next war.

Still these are issues between nations and a lot of high politics and one man ship happens between countries, so lets not consider these to decide if India is a peace loving country or not, Because I agree how much ever you love peace, you need a strong Army to protect yourself in this world. Which is why I agree to India having a nuclear weapon and am also proud of the fact that India has said "No First Use"

But that still doesn't explain why India as a whole is not the peaceful, it is said 40% of India is under grip of naxalites, a area know as the red corridor. Schedules of trains are changed so that trains don't run through these areas at night. In no way would I call this as a sign of a peaceful India. 

There have been more than 50 riots in Independent India, (get the full list here) with the latest being the 2002 Gujarat riots. These 50 doesn't include the minor fights/riots which happen in India like the latest set of violence in the North-East. These again prove that we living in a sudo peaceful country. 

Another thing which I would like to point out is the fascination with guns majorly among the northern states of the country. Even thought there is heavy regulation against carrying guns in India, Guns can easily by procured in the states of UP, Bihar. where carrying guns is actually a status symbol. No where in the world is Guns a Peace symbol.Still I haven't talked about the violence against women or any of the weaker casts, cause lets face is no country anywhere in the world is completely at peace, even Vatican has its own police. 

India is the worlds biggest film maker, but again when I look at these films violence is glorified and only if the hero shows violence does the film gross numbers. Consider film from the south (Rajnikath films) main stream films (Dabang) or any bojpuri films from the north. Violence is always there. And as these films actually are successful I would only say that India actually loves violence.

In the latest concluded Olympic games 5 out of the 6 medals were in boxing, wrestling & shooting. Sports which can be considered as violent sports (if there is something like that).

Seeing all this I begin to wonder if peace is really in India's genes, Lets look into the history. Its said India never attacked any other country but herself has been a target of many invasions. From Alexander, to the Moghuls to the British. But what if all these invasions took place just cause India was always in war within itself, history teaches us that India has always been ruled by Kings/Princes who warred among them-self. A house divided within is always a happy hunting ground for invasions. 

But my point being considering the history present India has never been a peaceful land, so is India a Peaceful Country: A Misnomer?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

hmm well we are at peace compared to many other countries of the world....

Savio said...

@Anonymous are you comparing us with Pakistan, Somalia etc??

If you want to compare please compare to Denmark, Canada etc

but why Compare, why can't we create a standard of our own to which other countries are compared?

Anonymous said...

Very well compiled thought. Loved the way it ended.
Leaves a mark (of question) on us.
Absolutely agreed that there is no point comparing. Being second to China doesn't make us less populated country.

Anonymous said...

I don't follow news but current north east problem is not major? Just wondering.

Savio said...

@gourav I meant not as big as the mumbai blasts or gujrat riots
however d north east issues are still problems which shouldn't have happened

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