Ahimsa the Science of Peace

Author(s): Surendra Bothra
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

Page 99

The manipulators of human mind, through propaganda, propagate that violence and brute strength are the best means of settling disputes. They have been persistently active for thousands of years, since men first started throwing rocks at each other, without reaching any conclusion. During last 5,000 years more than 12,000 wars have been recorded in the history of mankind. Since the Second World War, a period of comparative peace, 150 small wars have been fought, with some 20 million casualties. The total waste of human life and resources would add up, to mind boggling figures. The United Nations estimates that roughly half of the world's total scientific and technical force is busy in improving available armament and developing new ones.
The fiscal figures given by United Nations are even more revealing. Since 1900 the total money spent on armaments, not including the Second World War amounts to 8,000 billion US dollars. Today the planetary expenditure is approaching around one trillion US dollars per annum. This is more or less equal to the entire amount of the debt burden of developing countries. If such amounts were utilized, with the same zeal, to divert the thoughts of the masses towards peaceful and constructive activities, the results would justify the investment.
It is appalling that such enormous amounts of money - billions of dollars per day --- are being spent to improve the aggressive capacities of nations, while a large proportion of the human population is literally starving and millions are dying from hunger, disease and famine. On the pretext of defending ourselves from a certain enemy, we are pushing humanity towards total annihilation. In order to quench our selfish desires and ambitions, we are sincerely and painstakingly moving towards self-destruction. AHIMSA: THE SCIENCE OF PEACE 56