How War and Conflicts Ravage Civilians

 

There might be distinction between War and Conflict. But in some way, it draws to my attention that both stand out as the flock of same human progenitors. There are in many cases, I find that conflict covers up broad range of disagreements and coercive temperaments between diverse groups of societies. War and conflict have become a common phenomenon all around the globe. But along with the above we should not ignore peace aspect in our day-to-day lifestyle. Before I delve into details, let me state for the cognizance of some of my readers that what actually the said terms are referred to in common man’s parlance.

Now the details of the terms are stated in broad details for the kind perusal of my readers. Let me begin with the term war.

The term war is referred to in common man’s parlance as large-scale conflict between two or more forces. The forces might be from social, cultural or military plus political ones across the globe.

War basically occurs due to political, territorial and social disputes which has the temptation towards severe dilapidation and loss of innocent human life. There are also exceptional circumstances noticeable which paves the way towards total dilapidation in our life. Wars are fought with the objective to achieve decisive victories which might possess everlasting impact upon societies along with relationships with other nations of the globe. Though at the present juncture it is interpreted as such that the occurrence of war should not be taken so lightly, rather people’s view is that peace should be kept at the forefront.

Now let me touch upon the term, ‘Conflict’. In the beginning my respectable readers might have had the impression that both terms might be closely intertwined. In reality we that there are glaring differences between the two terminologies.

Thus, the term, ‘conflict’ is referred to as such that refers to disagreement or clash between two or more groups. Also, while evaluating about conflict, we find other issues like determination of different forces along with intermingling of coercive forces in different parts of the globe. Hence what are the different forces we might encounter. The forces which basically surface upon us are stated as such, disagreements, power struggles, miscommunication along with clashes in values and beliefs.

Now in order to make my column more attractive, let me state different types of war for the cognizance of my readers. Subsequently I shall state about different types of conflict.

Thus, different types of war are stated as follow:

Trade/ Economic war
Technology War
Geopolitical War
Military War
Revolutionary War
Civil War
Guerilla War
Insurgency
Asymmetric or Terrorism

Now let me state in details about the probable causes of war, which are stated as follow:

Attacking or invading another state to gain territory or resources.
Resisting an attack or invasion by an aggressor.

Basically, war in the mind of common citizens of the globe are just like an act of rivalry between one set of global forces with that of other forces based around the globe. If this writer from the Indian city of Kolkata, wishes to trace out the history of war then we find it can be interpreted as an act of socially recognized forms in both legally and militarily. Defense experts around the globe always term hostilities as a sort of war among different warring factions which might pave the ways towards destabilization of our societies. This is not at all supportable.

War has been of regular occurrence since time immemorial. But the advent of twentieth century bring to our mind a new dimension and aura in our mind. There were several occurrences of war during the twentieth century period of time. Among them I feel that First World War and Second World have thrown upon us a vivid example of acceleration of peace processes in our life. When war takes place between different warring factions, we should not become elated. Rather it is indeed a worrisome moment in the life of humanity around us.

During the past twenty to three years period of time, we have evinced various wars, which have badly put black spots in our mind and heart forever. From the historical record this writer does have, then we find that World War 2 seemed in the mind of entire intelligentsias that it was a war of multiple catastrophes across the globe. Overall, thirty nations were involved which ultimately resulted in the sad demise of around 70 million people around the globe. During those periods element of pride of Bengalis from undivided Bengal lost their dear to heart poet and Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, cruel disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose etc various other luminary figures of the globe around those periods of time. Thus, different wars which took place are stated as follow, Kargil War (1999), Russia Ukraine War (2020-w) India Pakistani War (April May 2025) etc have culminated in the mind of humanity as an era of total blackout and catastrophe in our life.

So far, I have touched upon war issue along with the nitty-gritty of it. Now coming to the conflict issue, I am trying to touch upon broad outlines of this issue.

Thus, the term conflict, is referred to in common man’s parlance, that the said term is referred to as such which indicates a struggle or opposition between one set of people to that of others. Conflict takes place between one set of persons to that of others when there occur differences of opinion, ideas, interests or purposes. Also, from another angle it can be interpreted as such that when there are cultural differences, personality clashes and even structural issues in corporate or familial paraphernalia.

There might be various types of conflict. Among all some of the common ones are stated as follow:

Interpersonal
Intrapersonal
Intergroup
Intragroup

Now coming to the reasons behind the occurrence of conflict might be multifarious. Among all some of the common ones are stated as follow:

Information conflicts
Values conflicts
Interest conflicts
Relationships conflicts
Structural conflicts

As I have stated at the beginning of my column, war and conflict might have been stated in the beginning of my column as two sides of the same coin. In reality when I delve into my thoughts more deeply, then the scenario becomes completely different. The crux of my analysis stands of as such, that indicates all of us should remain at peace instead of indulging into any sort of conflicts and war with other citizens of my nation as well as citizens of other nations of the globe. Such as at present the situations in and around South Asian Sub-Continent sounds absolutely scary.  Though there are eight nations in the Sub-Continent, but present our focusing nations are India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The relationships between the three nations from various angles seem to be in utter doldrums. Severe coercive and stressful situations might be of regular occurrence, but despite the above situations, the citizens around the globe all proclaim peace and calumny throughout the globe. Though Israeli Palestine issues along with Russia Ukraine and the current war with Pakistan speaks boldly about reestablishing peaceful coexistence around, especially in South Asian Sub-Continent should be attached topmost priorities. Otherwise, the growth momentum of India, which we witness nowadays might receive severe jolt.

Summation of my disposition, it may be interpreted as such that in the global political and economic arena, the way India is aiming to rise up, our closer and cordial neighbors should cooperate with our nation to build up a global economic and political superpower in the upcoming days of our life. Gist of my analysis is that the entire globe should be upright stance to restore peace upon human life. In this regard, remarkable research works by scholars based in different parts of India plus other parts of the globe stands as an exemplary phenomenon among us. Finally, it would like to reiterate before the beginning of the war, citizens of each nation of the globe always cherish peace in three prominent nations like India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Thoughts by Rabindranath Tagore and Swami Vivekananda should be attached topmost priority in regard to easing war and conflict. Otherwise, the life of the common people will always remain in utter jeopardy.
 

Sujayendra Das is a columnist
based in Kolkata, India.