If India and Pakistan, born in blood, can choose forgiveness over fury, they will not just change South Asia — they will change history.
By Abdullah Usman Morai | Sweden
A Call from the Ashes
There is a strange madness in the air when war drums beat.
Flags are waved, songs are sung, headlines roar with patriotic frenzy.
But once the smoke clears, it is not the politicians who bury their sons, it is the mothers.
It is not the media houses that weep at funerals, it is the fathers and daughters, standing in silence by nameless graves.
War, glorified from podiums and paraded on screens, is not a victory march — it is a procession of coffins.
In the context of India and Pakistan, nations born of fire and blood, war has not been a distant tragedy — it has been a recurring nightmare.
Today, as the world balances on the edge of new conflicts, it is vital to pause and ask: Who truly wins wars? And who truly loses?
This is a reflection on the true cost of conflict and the forgotten, priceless gift called peace.
The Cost of War vs. The Infinite Value of Peace
“You can bomb the world to pieces, but you cannot bomb it into peace.” — Michael Franti
The wars between India and Pakistan — 1947, 1965, 1971, and 1999— were not just battles between armies.
They were wars against hope, against humanity itself.
Each conflict drained billions that could have fed the hungry, educated the poor, and healed the sick.
Militarization consumes treasuries and dreams alike.
It is a monster that demands endless sacrifice: in bodies, in budgets, in broken futures.
And yet, what price can be put on peace — a mother seeing her son return home, a student studying without sirens, a farmer tending fields without fear?
Peace is priceless, and every rupee, every drop of sweat spent on it is a gift to generations unborn.
The Blood-Stained Legacy of Partition
The Partition of 1947 was not a political solution — it was an open wound carved across millions of hearts.
At least one million people were slaughtered; nearly fifteen million were displaced in the largest human migration ever recorded.
Children were orphaned, villages were wiped out, and ancient friendships were drowned in blood.
The hatred birthed in those harrowing months did not die — it metastasized into future wars, into the cold hostility that haunts South Asia even today.
Each India-Pakistan conflict since then has been a tragic echo of that original sin — a reminder that wounds left untreated fester, not heal.
How Nationalism and Media Manufacture Enemies
In every conflict, there is a villain behind the scenes: the myth of the “enemy.”
And who crafts this myth? Nationalism when it becomes blind and belligerent. Media, when it trades truth for ratings.
Television studios, social media trolls, and political podiums whip up fear and hatred, painting neighbors as monsters and citizens as warriors.
Suddenly, the call for dialogue sounds like betrayal, and asking for peace seems like cowardice.
The real war is fought not on the borders but inside minds — a war against empathy, against truth, against memory.
The True Victims: Civilians at the Crossroads of Conflict
Those who live closest to the borders know the true meaning of war.
For them, patriotism is not a slogan — it is survival.
- In Kashmir, children walk to school past bunkers and barbed wires.
- In Rajasthan or Thar, farmers sow seeds on lands that may be shelled the next morning.
- In Sialkot, families have evacuation bags packed always.
Their lives swing between curfews and ceasefires.
Their dreams are interrupted by air-raid sirens.
Their prayers — simple, desperate — are for silence, not sirens.
The Economic and Human Wasteland Left Behind
While defense budgets soar into billions, a cruel paradox remains:
Millions in both India and Pakistan live without clean water, healthcare, or education.
Each fighter jet could build thousands of schools.
Each missile test could fund entire rural hospitals.
But wars, and the preparation for wars, devour resources greedily.
Societies militarized for decades also lose their sense of compassion.
Violence seeps into civilian life: intolerance rises, dissent is crushed, and minorities suffer.
The war economy demands sacrifices, and it rarely asks permission from the poor.
Dialogue: The Weapon We Forgot to Use
And yet, even amid hostility, there are sparks of hope.
People-to-people connections have shown again and again: hatred melts when faces replace flags.
- Cultural festivals have seen poets and artists embrace across borders.
- Cricket matches have carried messages of sportsmanship over slogans.
- University students have used technology to organize virtual peace dialogues.
Peace is not born in conference rooms alone — it is born in conversations, in friendships, in shared laughter.
Youth: A Generation Tired of War Songs
Young Indians and Pakistanis today want jobs, innovation, climate solutions — not more martyrs and memorials.
They are asking: Why should we inherit hate we never chose?
Social media movements, joint environmental initiatives, and peace blogs reflect a generation restless for real change.
They see the futility of tanks when climate change threatens cities.
They question the logic of bullets when poverty and disease are the real enemies.
If leaders listen, they will hear this rising anthem: We want peace. We demand it.
Nuclear Age: War Is No Longer an Option
In 1945, two bombs vaporized Hiroshima and Nagasaki, changing warfare forever.
Today, both India and Pakistan possess nuclear weapons — weapons that could annihilate cities in minutes.
A full-scale war would not end with victory — it would end with ash, radiation, and regrets.
No ideological difference is worth risking the end of civilization itself.
As the famous saying goes, “In nuclear war, there are no victors, only victims.”
Lessons from the World: History’s Stern Warnings
- Europe, after centuries of bloodshed, chose the European Union over endless wars.
- Vietnam showed America that a technologically superior military could still lose the moral battle.
- Rwanda showed that healing, though painful, is possible even after genocide.
These lessons are written not just in history books but in blood.
Will South Asia read them — or repeat them?
Art, Literature, and Film: The Unsung Bridges
Where tanks divide, art connects.
- Amrita Pritam’s “Aj Aakhan Waris Shah Nu” mourned the soul of Punjab torn apart.
- Intizar Hussain’s stories dreamed of a Lahore where Hindus and Muslims lived side by side.
- Movies like “Raazi” and “Pinjar” depict the futility of vengeance and the power of understanding.
Art humanizes the “other.” It reminds us that across every border is a family waiting for peace, not war.
Who Truly Pays for Wars?
It is never the generals or politicians who suffer most.
It is the orphans, the widows, the amputees, the displaced, the forgotten.
It is the artists whose canvases stay blank, the scientists whose inventions are lost, the teachers whose classrooms turn to bunkers.
War does not ask: Are you rich? Are you poor? Are you Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian?
It only asks: How much more can I destroy?
Solutions: Choosing Life over Death
- Permanent Peace Dialogues: Not just between governments but involving civil society, youth, and cultural leaders.
- Cross-Border Cultural Festivals: Literature, music, and art must cross where politicians hesitate.
- Ease Visa Restrictions: Let families, students, and tourists meet and learn.
- Joint Economic Projects: Trade builds stakes in peace.
- Educational Reforms: Teach the next generation the whole truth — about war’s futility and peace’s power.
- Common Climate Action: Shared rivers, shared air, shared future — we sink or survive together.
Conclusion: The Real Battle Worth Fighting
“When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.” — Jimi Hendrix
In the end, the real enemy is not across the border.
The real enemy is hatred. Ignorance. Fear.
The real war is not for land or glory — it is for the soul of humanity itself.
Peace is not the absence of war; it is the presence of justice, dignity, and dreams fulfilled.
If India and Pakistan, born in blood, can choose forgiveness over fury, they will not just change South Asia — they will change history.
Let the next chapter of our shared story be written not in blood, but in hope.
Let it be a future where children inherit not hatred, but harmony.
Because in the final reckoning, it is not war, but peace, that makes heroes of us all.
Read – Opinion: Pathways to Peace
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Abdullah Soomro, penname Abdullah Usman Morai, hailing from Moro town of Sindh, province of Pakistan, is based in Stockholm Sweden. Currently he is working as Groundwater Engineer in Stockholm Sweden. He did BE (Agriculture) from Sindh Agriculture University Tando Jam and MSc water systems technology from KTH Stockholm Sweden as well as MSc Management from Stockholm University. Beside this he also did masters in journalism and economics from Shah Abdul Latif University Khairpur Mirs, Sindh. He is author of a travelogue book named ‘Musafatoon’. His second book is in process. He writes articles from time to time. A frequent traveler, he also does podcast on YouTube with channel name: VASJE Podcast.
