Cool brains now are not guiding world politics, but rather the moral compass of diplomacy has been suffocated by the ambitious and egotistical world leaders. We are desperately in need of sane leadership with significant levels of humanity.
The remedy is to intervene and put a closure on the warmongering nations. People of reason must voice for a sane society.
The Israel and Iran conflict that continues to escalate towards a full-fledged war is no longer a regional conflict. USA’s intervention by bombing Iran’s three cities (Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan) is clearly an aggressive act; the world’s opinion is against this decision as this act will drag the world into chaos.
Shadow battles and retaliatory strikes have changed the regional political landscape, and warmongering is at an all-time high. Nationalistic fervour is gripping both Iran and Israel and the world is being dragged with it.
Any war, anywhere, has the potential to spread like a virus. Even a small skirmish may erupt into open warfare, with cities burning, civilians dying, creating immense hatred and causing further escalation of global grief. Wars can easily devastate the fabric of peace within the communities of the warring nations globally.
Wars have a debilitating impact on society. From Tel Aviv to Tehran, Beirut to Kabul, wars have only taken mostly innocent lives. The brunt of wars is simply a catastrophe on the common humanity, stemming from the leaders’ ego gratification. Seldom the leaders and their cohorts are affected as they often leave their nations in case of grand failures, but common citizens remain affected from the unjust wars.
Families in total chaos
Every war brings torment to the belligerent nations. Families hide in bunkers, children die in airstrikes, turning the peaceful neighbourhoods into battlefields. This is the current scenario of the region, including Palestine.
The words ‘hope, peace and love’ have set sails to reach another land, plaguing the region with a venomous war. In Iran and Palestine, hospitals are mostly overwhelmed, aid workers are severely constrained to doing their jobs.
As destruction progresses, the world stands in grief with the warring nations, mourning in silence. The pain does not differentiate between any ethnicity; Humanity bleeds and continues to fray on all sides. Gulf nations also sit on a powder keg that awaits an explosion. A fear of a global war looms unless thoughtful heads prevail.
Counting the cost of wars
Global commodity prices, especially oil prices, are already skyrocketing. The world economy will be impacted as Iran sits on an important zone for oil extraction and transportation. The world stock markets having direct regional exposures shall experience a drop and the general sentiment of the world stock markets will be negative.
Wars will also cause refugees to cross boundaries and threaten to destabilize neighbouring countries. The specter of instability clearly marks a risk for the global economy. Bangladesh being a country with a large population will have lasting and impacting consequences as many people of Bangladesh live in Iran and other Gulf nations.
The government of Bangladesh may keep strong vigilance on the region and provide support for our citizens to evacuate the region if full-fledged war wings in the region. The world leaders must recognize that letting these parties continue with the war is not just immoral -- it is suicidal.
We demand that the United Nations, the European Union, the African Union, ASEAN, SAARC, the Arab League, and every country that believes in the fabric of peace to realize that silence is a soft acceptance of the failure of humanity. Let the world community step in and force the warring nations into a total ceasefire. World bodies may immediately deploy envoys to organize an emergency summit for the ceasefire of the wars, be it in Iran, Palestine, and Israel.
We must rise as nations with people of conscience. The wars and mutilations seen in the recent past in Palestine to Ukraine to Iran have jarred our ethical standards, but peace is the only way forward. History will judge us by our actions and not our statements. We have the power to stop this madness and bloodshed. Let us unitedly pressurize all quarrelsome nations by sending peace envoys, observers and negotiators.
Along with our peace negotiation efforts, we must offer humanitarian aid. The magic of hope must be spread into the bosoms of all citizens in the war-torn nations and use diplomatic, economic, and moral preachings to end this aberration in humanity.
People united in peace
Peace is the only commodity in the world that builds bridges of hope. Humanity is lost when peace and trust are thinning across the globe. Our voices matter and unless citizens across the globe start to raise their voices through petitions, human chains, protests and public speeches against all forms of oppression, collectively as nations, we shall spiral down into oblivion.
We must recognize the fact that wars elsewhere will also export wars within our home territory as we are truly interconnected. Therefore, wearing a selfish hat and being unperturbed at seeing deaths and tribulations in faraway lands, may soon bring in the wrath of belligerence in our own turf when there shall be no time to hide.
We must rise, away from petty politics and think about our children being killed and families being decimated. Our future progeny must believe that we have been at the helm of stopping wars, not instigating wars. Our legacy must be of peace, compassion, and courage.
Ziaur Rahman is CEO, IITM.
