Technology has made it possible for us to know about each other and communicate faster. The Internet, cell phones and dish antennae have made it possible to connect with any corner of the world at the click of a button.
We know of the Arab Spring, terrorist attacks, military build-up around some regions, daily bomb blasts in Iraq and Afghanistan, crisis in Syria and Somalia, threat from North Korea — and about several other volatile pockets. They generate fear and alarm about violation of human rights, worse loss of human lives. These are matters of genuine concern. So we know much about the goings-on around the world and are apprehensive about nuclear conflagration, poisonous gases, biochemical wars etc.
Thus, with advanced knowledge of the world, we carry the impression that we are living in a dangerous and violent world. Not surprisingly, we call the present as kalyug and apprehend the nearness of kaal (apocalypse). But a closer look will show that the world today is much less violent than it used to be in the past centuries. So let us make an outlandish statement that our generation lives in a safer world and try to see if that can be sustained by some arguments. There are cogent reasons behind making this unusual statement.
The ancient and medieval world witnessed far too many human catastrophes, from the times of the Mahabharata. Despite all the violence that we see around us, it is much less than what happened during innumerable battles of the ancient and medieval world. let us recollect the marauding and killing forces of Mongols and Huns. Everything perished that came in the way of the militaries of Halaku and Chengiz Khan. Today’s civilised Europe and America had thousand battles, including the Crusades, the mighty battles of the Roman Empire, the Hundred Years’ War and the War of the Roses; later the fallouts of the American War of Independence and the Civil War and the French Revolution.
We cannot forget the brutal purges of the Stalinist era in the Soviet Russia. Even these paled into insignificance by the horrors of Nazi Germany under Hitler. We had Nero earlier and Mussolini later. lest we forget, the Vietnam War and before that nuclear bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima by America were responsible for colossal loss of human lives. The two World Wars together led to the death of no less than three million human beings. We may also respectfully remember all the heroic lives lost by the suppressed nationalities that fought for freedom from imperial yoke.
Nearer home, we may recall various battles all over the country for 2,000 years. History will not forget the ravages brought by Afghan invaders, Ahmed Shah Abdali and Nadir Shah Durrani,the wanton killings by the British of Indians during the revolt of 1857 and the untold killings and human misery during the Partition Era.
China had its share in the Cultural Revolution, Bangladesh during its War of liberation and Kampuchea during the Pol Pot regime. Happily these horrors of wars have subsided during the last three-four decades, with some exceptions like Iraq. The battles that ravaged in all parts of the world claimed hundreds of thousands of life every year. While scores died on the battlefields, many more succumbed to the injuries due to lack of medical relief — a wounded soldier had less little chance of surviving a wound received in the battle ground.
Secondly, the diseases and epidemics took a huge toll of life. We may remember how villages after villages and towns after towns were laid waste by plagues and cholera that left vast swaths of habitation desolate for years and it was impossible to count the numbers of humans who perished like flies.A word may also be said about various diseases that killed human beings routinely in the absence of medical facilities. Thirdly, in various parts of the world famine was as frequent as the annual floods and the two together devastated huge areas of land and destroyed massive population. The locusts completed the remaining task by destroying the crop and in aggravating the famine conditions.
large number of people die due to road accidents these days and many because of crimes. But fortunately their number is still small compared to those killed in the past by dictators and totalitarian regimes. Ours may not be an Ode on Solitude but definitely a limerick to peace and security. There are inequalities, injustices, violence and many other ills that we would desire to vanish. But the present age still gives to the world promises of life and liberty and dignity as a gift of democracy. let us avoid pessimism and embrace hopefulness and feel sanguine about the credo of the modern world — to live and let live. We may perhaps agree that humans today have a more secure and peaceful existence than ever before.