Will appeals alone bring peace ?
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: December 16, 2010 -

Everybody, the government, the civil populace and even the warring groups all want peace. Everybody yearns for peace. The Prime Minister, Home Minister, Chief Minister, Ministers, MLAs and bureaucrats, civil societies and the general people all yearn for peace which has been indicated when they talk of ending conflict resolution to bring peace.

Revolutionary groups too say they are fighting for peace. The government also builds up its arm strength to attain peace.

An appeal to the insurgents to participate in peace talks made by Union Home Minister, P Chidambaram yesterday was nothing new and no positive response has been received till date.

The question is what was the motive behind the appeal and whether the appeal was made after making a favourable condition for the insurgents to come forward for talks. Is the peace bereft situation going to prevail in the state until and unless the insurgents come forward for peace talks.

Is there no other means to bring peace in the land? The question is whether the desire for peace has been made with sincerity.

Peaceful development can be a set of many different elements such as good governance, healthcare, education, gender equality, disaster preparedness, infrastructure, economics, rule of law, human rights, environmental and other political issues.

Why the government talks only for prevalence of peace. Are they not aware that the most important thing in the whole process is the very concept of peace, and why peace has broken down and how are we regain peace because peace is natural which means that peace comes first and that violence comes only when peace is broken.

Peace can be a state of harmony or an absence of hostility, in other words peace is also a non-violent way of life. Peace is used to describe the cessation of violent conflicts. Peace can also describe a people to people relationship characterized by respect, justice, and goodwill.

Peace can describe calm, serenity, and silence. This latter understanding of peace pertains to an individual's sense of himself or herself, as to be "at peace" with one's own mind. Peace comes at the presence of justice.

The Bibile says, "Justice and Peace shall kiss". Mahatma Gandhi said that if an oppressive society lies in submission, the society is nonetheless not peaceful, because of the injustice inflicted by the oppressors. Gandhi had articulated that peace requires not only the absence of violence but also the presence of justice.

When Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement carried out various non-violent activities aimed at ending segregation and racial persecution in America during 1950s and 60s, they understood that peace is much more than just the absence of violence. They observed that while there was no open conflict between blacks and whites, there was an unjust system in which the government deprived African Americans of equal rights.

While some opponents criticized the activists for "disturbing the peace", Martin Luther King observed that "True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice."

One concept or idea that often complements peace studies is development. Economic, cultural, and political development can supposedly take "underdeveloped" nations and peoples out of poverty, thus help in bringing about a more peaceful world.

If their concept of peace is applied by our leaders instead of just crying out in the wild, at least some response will be received from those who call themselves peace brokers. Apart from this, they have to keep the promises they have made.

Otherwise, it will be better just to remember pass peace pacts signed with various armed groups in the North East which yielded no fruits.

Who knows a resurrection of violence in Mizoram could surface considering that most of the agreements made in the peace pact with the Mizo rebels are yet to be translated into action.