Disarmament A less-talk- about subject 

Despite the fact that the dimension of waging a war has veered off from using nuclear weapons, as economic warfare between countries over the years has gained momentum, great fear resulting from the eventuality of outbreak of war remains there. Possibility of being attacked and snatching off of their sovereignty is what makes countries eschew compromise on the expansion of atomic weapons. However, the expansion of nuclear arms is not the solution either. If collective and concerted efforts are taken toward the direction, the day shall not be far away when there will be less and less concentration of lethal atomic weapons.

At a time when violence is growing at a faster pace around the world, disarmament assumes greater importance because the world cannot sustain the use of nuclear weapons and outbreak of a big war. Ban Ki-Moon, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, rightly says, “Nuclear disarmament is the only sane path to a safer world.” Although the topic of disarmament has not yet attracted much public attention—the voice of the youth is particularly missing—its fruits and dividends cannot be denied, in an effort to save the planet from complete annihilation.

Much has been talked about disastrous implications of climate change, economic distress and social inequality, and it is really a matter of utmost happiness and pride that the youth have risen to show their concern about their own life and that of the coming generations. Of such youth, the name of the teen Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg is in the limelight. However, it is equally disappointing to see the same youth off the subject of disarmament.

Scores of people have died throughout the world as a result of escalating aggression among the countries due to deployment of nuclear weapons. Developed countries have ravaged the developing ones in a bid to wield their authority over their natural resources. Countries that cannot fight, for they lack weapons, easily surrender to the aggressor, and those that have war artillery and weapons and find themselves able to fight a war, fight for long, though at the cost of millions of lives in the name of ‘patriotism’.

Today, Yemen has been ravaged by the conflict between the Saudi-led coalition and the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels, and it constitutes an example of loss of life due to the potential use of arms. Stricken by lethal diseases and famine, the poor country is said to be on the peak of humanitarian crisis. As much as a hundred thousand deaths have been reported since the start of war in 2015 and nearly 20,000 people massacred in 2019. Half of the population of the country, according to the sources of UN, confronts the menace of famine, these days.

On the other hand, the prospect of war between the United States and Iran is looming large on the Middle East, as the exchange of drone strikes and aerial assaults between the two have been ongoing, massacring scores of people of both sides, and inflicting miseries and afflictions on the citizens of Iraq. In one such strike, General Qasem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, was killed. Sorrowfully, in a rage to avenge his killing, Iran mistook a Ukrainian plane Boeing 737 as a US plane, and shot it down, killing 170 innocent passengers.

Even today, numerous conflicts involving the persecution of humans are continuing across the globe. Conflict between the Taliban and the US-backed Afghan government, civil war between two strong regional groups inside Sudan and lethal scuffles in Syria involving the US forces, Assad regime, Kurdish armed group, Turkey and its allies, and a bevy of others, have caused bloodshed that has resulted in millions of casualties. These conflicts are a manifestation of how the world can be bombed to ashes within minutes because of the potential growth of nuclear ammunitions.

This delineates the fact that the current generation of humans is on the verge of ruination. The state of affairs demands urgent attention, especially of youth, towards the most daunting threat. It is a call for urgency that the youth must swing into action to urge the United Nations to force the war-mongers to forestall the indulgence in arms build-up, lay down their arms and enter into agreements to give way to peace and tranquility. The youth, who are calling for the immediate action on climate change, fearing its implications, should likewise know the implications of the nuclear wars.

The author is a student of

MA English Literature

at Shah Abdul University, Khairpur.