Seizure of Beirut

The Associated Press, one of the largest news agencies of the world and certainly the most influential one, through one of its Beirut reporters says in loud words- “Israeli warplanes punished the Lebanese capital on Friday.” The way this great act of bravery has been committed is illustrated as follows- The Israeli defence forces are “blasting the airport for a second day, shattering bridges, igniting fuel storage tanks and cutting the main highway to Syria.” But at the same time the sad fact remains that- “ Hezbollah guerrillas fought back with a fresh barrage of rockets.” And the end result is as a Police brief says- “three people were killed and dozens wounded in the airstrikes”. This means raising of the death toll to 60 . This is on the third day of Israel's offensive against the Iranian-backed militants. Three days, sixty deaths. This is again an official figure. And as we all know, the tendency of authorities all over the world is to make reductions is such figures of death, injuries or destruction. An average twenty people have died every day. Who are these people? Are they criminals? Are they terrorists? Do they deserve to be eliminated? For what fault of their? Only because they are born in some other country? The two countries might be at war. As a citizen of a particular country, one might tend to favour one’s own place of birth. This is only natural. Upbringing, constant living, societal and environmental impact and the constant indoctrination, direct or indirect, turns our mind accordingly. But, does this mean that anyone who thinks differently shall be removed. Does he lose his licence to live because he belongs to a different country, a different region, speaks a different language or adheres to a different religious denomination? This is a simple question that any government in offensive such as the present one, shall constantly keep in mind. Though this does not mean that wars are unnecessary. All said and done, wars are a necessary evil. They cannot be eliminated per se. There are too many compulsions for people or countries to fights- physical, mental, economic, strategic, existential or any one. But then, for a nation that has suffered so much because of some mad dictator, it is doubly important to give respect to lives of every individual- whether of their own country or their neighbourhood.

Amitabh Thakur