Peace… The foundation of prosperity.
Every 21st of September is celebrated as the International peace Day. The day is intended to be those 24 hours when the entire world has to honour the fact that each and every 1 of us is part of a whole and can never be separate or indifferent from each other’s plight and prosperity. It is something which can be acknowledged by recognising how in the face of Covid19 pandemic we have sustained damages regardless of our national, cultural, religious and other identities. So it naturally follows that in order for us to heal our world we need to shape its peace together as one, a unified force united by nothing but the interests of humanity.
No matter if it is the unimaginable sufferings of Palestinians or the earthshattering anguish of the Syrians, the War consuming regions of Afghanistan or the insufferable atrocities committed in the oppression of Kashmiris, all of us have an individual role to play in feeling their pain and grief, and in working to the best of our abilities to heal their wounds and to do all that we can for establishing peace in their lives and across the globe. To begin with let us 1st own the fact that the loss and ruin of a single life or its dignity is in its essence the loss and ruin of an entire world. As such, when a life is claimed by war or poverty, individual feuds or crimes, national conflicts or tribal disputes, an entire world of hopes and dreams, sorrows and sufferings, is extinguished out of existence. As a result, world peace as well as the piece of our individual selves are interdependent. Each is incomplete without the other.
So it goes without saying that our efforts in preserving and protecting any one individual’s peace is a direct contribution in not only safeguarding the piece of their own lives but towards establishing peace in our global society as well. Consequently, after truly comprehending the irreplaceable significance of every life, we need to examine the immediate areas of conflict which are disrupting our neighbourhood and our respective societies then take necessary steps to resolve those conflicts. For instance, human development foundation recognises poverty to be a key element in causing people to commit crime and subsequently harm not only themselves but also their family and friends. Eventually it not only destroys the peace of a society but also jeopardises the personal growth of a poverty stricken person and his/her family. To effectively contribute in establishing the piece of our society, HDF waged a war against poverty on 5 fronts of health and education, economic development and training people to be aware of their social as well as legal rights, and finally by investing in creating a sustainable environment.
Emphasising upon the discovery of one’s self and the subsequent conquering of one’s vices as ones ultimate war in the name of peace, Mr Saeed ul Husssan, the executive director of human development foundation Pakistan (HDF PK) says“It’s good to be at war. And its good to fight the battles. However, we must choose which battles are we fighting. As it is said, there is no way to peace. Peace is the way. So, in the pursuit of peace, one has to exert all the energies, force and conscious efforts to explore and conquer one’s own self not others. We must expand the boundaries, the territories of our own mind and soul to elevate to sublimity. We have been wearing blinkers of our prejudice, hatred, spite and scorn which need to be discarded. There are things which must be curbed and thwarted not to lose our innocence and purity we are all born and blessed with. Let’s stay at war to explore the unexplored, tap the untapped, question the unquestioned, include the excluded and reach the un-reached. Let’s put all our most constructive weapons at work. The book, the pen and the compassion. Let’s join forces to win this war to let the peace prevail within and outside us. Lets begin the war.”