Masouma Tajik, who has been suffering from unrest in Afghanistan since birth, dropped out of school last August and escaped from the Taliban to a seemingly more secure Ukraine. Today, she has turned refugees facing facing the same unrest, the same helplessness, the same strike blocking studies. Not only Masouma, but thousands of students, including Keralites, are in severe anxiety. Not only expatriates or students, but people are suffering from this conflict directly and indirectly in many parts of the world. This is not only in the war in Ukraine war. If the current tragedy is caused by the arrogance and arrogance of Vladimir Putin, it is similar actions of other such war-mongers that have led to so many endless wars, one after another. In each of these, millions of innocent people had to pay the price. War today has become a mere political weapon, a vicious industry and a cruel pastime that does no harm to its perpetrators. Although Putin's adventurism is a direct cause of the occupation, the continued hostility and diplomatic failures of the United States and its allies after the Cold War are also factors that led to it. In short, at least peace activists think that military action is shaping up to be a global drama of violence perpetrated by governments and leaders on the one hand, and the people destined to be victims on the other. If the United Nations used to be helpless earlier, but now it has become ridiculous too. Peace-seeking groups need to be able to change this. For that , it should be able to accurately analyse and assess the circumstances and root causes of each conflict.
All modern wars have certain features in common. One of them is the shift from the earlier concept of war as as last resort when other means fail to war as the first option. There is no international law that binds leaders of countries to seek dialogue and diplomacy. When muscular power alone rules, justice and fairness take a back seat. The world has also forgotten the principle that where there is no justice, that soil is conducive to war. Russia's occupation of Ukraine exposes as much the hypocrisy of the world as it does the horrors of war. How many countries who rushed in to condemn the aggression on Ukraine, have grieved over the massacres in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Yemen? As soon as Russia recognized the two territories within Ukraine as independent states, the United States and the European Union were among those who declared sanctions on Russia saying its aggression was 'unacceptable and illegal '. However, for all those countries, the Israeli occupation of Palestine for the last three fourth of a century is acceptable. The US action of relocating its embassy in embassy to Jerusalem was in violation of UN Security Council resolution. Even the European countries, which had declared it unacceptable to make Jerusalem the capital of Israel, did not hesitate to conclude military agreements with Israel. Even in the United Nations, not only has there been no sanctions against Zionist racism, which the UN describes as 'apartheid', but many countries have bolstered relations with that country. Today, Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, the country under Russian aggression, also has solidarity not with Palestine but with Israel. As recently as last December, Ukraine announced that it would recognize Jerusalem as Israel's 'only capital'. How can those who violate international law so blatantly call the Russian move a 'violation of international law'?
The lesson imparted by the Russian occupation is that the world will be in trouble if law and justice are measured in two scales. Ukraine is the victim; Palestine and many other places are also victims. The honest solution is the restoration of justice. The anti-war movements happening around the globe today are the common voice of all societies on earth. Ukraine cannot be isolated. Similarly, many other occupied territories are also seeking justice. Each of these constitutes is a problem of the world as one. Even outside these issues, the world is going to face severe crises. The climate, the economy, the refugee problem, food shortage, all demand solutions, not just in isolation for each country, but as a solution common for the planet. The general principle that Covid pandemic has convinced us is no one is safe until every one is safe. What is needed for a comprehensive solution is global relations based on justice and mature national leaderships. Unfortunately, both of these are lacking and yet to be recaptured.