The technology of war,
specially the preparation of atom-bombs, hydrogen bombs and the nuclear
weapons have, at present, made the war-affair more dangerous,
destructive and disastrous than ever before. We have seen the
consequences of the atom-bombs, dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in
1945. The impact of the nuclear war is yet to be experimented.
1. Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics : Edited by James Hastings, Vol.
X11. Publisher : T. T. Clark, 38, George Street, New York, Fourth
Impression, 1958, Page - 675.
2. The Reader�s Digest : Great Encyclopaedia Dictionary. Vol. II. The
Reader�s Digest Association Limited, 25, Berkley Square, London. W-1.
First Edition, 1964. Page 986.
but one thing is sure, that the nuclear war will be a serious challenge
to the existence of the human race and all living beings on earth. The
statistical information, furnished by Shri A. R. Ramtirthakar� , in this
behalf is worth a consideration. According to him,� It is difficult to
predict the number of nuclear weapons and the magnitude of their
explosiveness. It is very clear that a nuclear war, once started, can
not be restricted to a limited scale.
About 15,000 cities and towns, with population above I lakh could become
targets for nearly 5,000 war-heads with total explosive power of 2,000
mega/tons. The military target could consume over 6,000 war-heads. The
explosive power nearly 3,000 mega/tons could reduce the economically
important industrial centers to ashes... The deaths and serious injuries
resulting from the blast, heat and radiation due to explosions of
nuclear weapons, will be horrible. 750 millions will be killed out-right
and some 340 millions will receive serious injuries due to immediate
effect of the blast. Many of those, who will survive will have greater
suffering due to the late effects of biological systems, ecological
effects and climatological consequences.�
The remote control technology has made the situation of the nuclear war
more delicate, acute and risky. In brief, the world at present, is
resting on a heap of atomic and nuclear weapons, where any blast may
convert the globe into a grave-yard of humanity along with all living
beings on earth. In such a state of affairs, what should be done for
Global Peace ?
According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, �Peace International has been
regarded since the beginning of history as a blessing and its opposite �
war � as a scourge.� 2
How to save the mankind from the painful, destructive cruelty of war, is
a basic question before all the writers,
1. Kindly see : English Section of this book, Page No. 77.
2. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Vol. XVII. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Limited, William Benton Publisher, London, 1963, Page 412.
whose articles are compiled in this book. A number of scholars suggest
that the noble principles of all religions, if practiced sincerely, can
rescue the human race from the calamities of war. But the problem is,
�Can all men be religious ? �
The history of world-religions proves that the people, whose religion
preaches love, mercy and peace and who talk too much about international
peace, prosperity, love and brotherhood, have fought for religion and
the bloodshed in the war was so much that it washed off the flood of
tears from the eyes of the people who survived after the war. In certain
cases, the sword was used mercilessly for spreading the religion. Can
love, peace, religion, equality and brotherhood be imposed by terror,
force or violence ?
Dear Readers ! neither peace nor war descends from the sky, nor do they
ascend from within the heart of the globe. They arise from the mind and
heart of man. Man is the root of all problems. Therefore, we need a
sincere, individual and collective attempt to put international peace on
a secure basis on a worldwide scale through deliberate understanding and
action. The global peace is needed in the interest of human race and the
future of humanity. The present book contains a number of
thought-provoking views and suggestions on this issue.
There are persons, who propose that all religions of the world, whose
basic principles are love, peace, mercy and unity, should come forward
to establish the global peace. But the question is whether the followers
of all religions have peace and unity among themselves ? Hinduism is
suffering from the diversities of castes, sub-castes, sects and creeds.
Islam has the problem of Shiyas and Sunnies or groups of Shaikh, Sayyed,
Mughal and Pathan. Buddhism has the branches of Hinayan, Mahayan and
Sahaj-yan. Jainism is divided into sects like Digambar, Shwetambar and
so on so forth. Christianity has the problems of Roman Catholics and
Protestants. With all such differences and divisions and sub-divisions
in religious groups, many a times the sermons of love, peace and unity
in humanity seem to be echo of words, without the spirit of meaning. So
long as the hearts are divided, the words of unity, love and peace are
not only meaningless but useless also.
In fact, all religions are noble, all preachers are great and all
sermons are divine, provided the disciples follow them in original
spirit and true sense with loyalty to the individual self. The greatest
need for global peace is the sanctity of thinking and behaviour of every
individual with co-ordination between materialism and spiritualism,
whose balance is unfortunately lost everywhere in the modern world.
Unless flesh and soul, heart and mind, science and religion mutually
understand the principles of co-existence, love, service and sacrifice,
the concept of global peace will be a beautiful flower with heavenly
fragrance, in the dreamland of humanity, which can neither be procured
nor enjoyed by any one in reality. Even then, let us make attempts to
seek and find out the ways and means to establish the peace in the
world. Let us have sincere efforts in this direction.
Padmashree Sumatibai Shah and the writers of articles in this book, must
be congratulated for their views and thoughts regarding the eternal
issue of war and peace. This is essential as the entire human
civilization is threatened by the terror of power politics, class
struggle, violence and war today, therefore the need of the Global Peace
has become a necessity of the day. I his book is meant for inspiring the
readers to go through the contents of the articles and think seriously
to find out as to what should be done for global peace ? In such a
collection, the thoughts expressed by the writers, represent their own
views and visions. It is neither necessary, nor binding on the part of
the editor to have the same views and thoughts. In seminars and
discussions, sometimes, a contradictory view or thought helps a lot to
arrive at a reasonable, logical conclusion As the horror of death is the
base of all beautiful and noble concepts of life, so also the dangers
and consequences of war are the roots of the line idea of global peace.
Let us proceed from darkness to light, hatred to love and evil to good
of humanity, by our individual and collective efforts in search of
global peace.
The present book contains 22 articles in English, 5 articles in Marathi,
one thought of Prin. K. Bhogishayana, introductions of � writers in
English ( Page No. 44 & 80 in the English section ), an address of a
writer in the Marathi section ( Page No. 1 ), a note about the joint
venture for the World Peace Conference and the unanimous resolution
passed by the delegates in the conference.
Like the black spots in the Sun, there are some spelling mistakes in the
book. e. g. becuase =because ( Page No. 1, line number 8 ), propoganda =
propaganda ( Page No. 44, line number 8 ), presnt = present ( Page No.
74, line number 30 ), Obstract=0bstruct ( Page No.
126, line number 1 ), Wau = Wayu ( Page No. 127, line number 11 ), etc.
The readers, the scholars and the critics are requested to correct such
errors and communicate their views and opinions to the Academy of Global
Peace, Solapur so that the next re-print or the second edition of the
book may be uptodate and more useful.
Dr. B. D. Tiwari, D. Litt.
Director, Research Centre,
A-10, Asara Housing Society,
Hotgi Road, Solapur-413 003.
Solapur
2nd January, 1992
