Acharya Tulsi
Nineteen Eighty—six is being celebrated as the Year of International Peace. It is difficult to say which countries today are really pervaded by the spirit of peace. India definitely is not. Here, terrorism seems to have displaced peace altogether. The terrorist’s outrage is not confined to the dark hours of the night, but the killings and the lootings and the kidnappings go on in broad daylight, with the innocent public writhing helplessly in the clutches of insecurity, uncertainty and fear.
A number of steps have been taken on the official as well as the unofficial level to contain the problem of terrorism, but there has not been any substantial improvement in the situation.However, the country is afflicted with an even more dangerous terrorism than the one which merely aims at spreading chaos through large—scale destruction of property and life. This second horror is laying waste the very foundations of humanity. Without resorting to a single murder, it is destroying the nation’s culture. Without relying on bombs, guns or daggers, its very existence is responsible for making men die a living death, flowing as it does depravity and indiscipline.
The danger posed today by the lack of character and values is great, but the danger posed by the lack of faith is still greater. The Indian people who once prided themselves on their devotion to high ideals, are living in a state of disbelief, thinking that truth, justice and immorality have no place in life today. To tread the path of truth may present difficulties, but to deny altogether the feasibility of truthful living is a fatal development.
That the crime is on the increase is a matter of deep anxiety, but of still greater concern is the mentality which has come to accept criminality and lawlessness as an inevitable part of living. As long as man thinks that he cannot exist in the modern world without breaking laws, no character-building is possible.
As long as this lack of faith in character and morality subsists, it would breed without any restraint all kinds of terrorism. And it was this consideration which chiefly led us to start a moral movement like that of Anuvrata. The Anuvrata movement is calculated to help in the creation of the right environment, but it has not yet produced the desired results. At times we find even the activists of this movement assailed by fear and doubt as to whether they would not stand gravely handicapped in the world on account of their mission.
Still, truth and justice have been so deeply embedded in this country’s soil that it would be hard to imagine these can be completely annihilated. To be sure, the seeds thereof are still present; only these require proper irrigation and nurture. Those devoted to truth and culture must actively cooperate to make it possible.
India is one and indivisible. If only we can awaken the national consciousness, and develop the national character, the lack of faith would ultimately dissolve and not only the Punjab but all other ills afflicting the count would disappear of themselves.
