WORST HUMANITARIAN CRISIS OF OUR TIME

Do we care for Syrian people? Where is Justice for humanity?
 

The current civil war in Syria is the worst humanitarian crisis of our time. Half the country’s pre-war population — more than 11 million people — have been killed or forced to flee their homes. Children are dying there. At least 96 children have been killed and hundreds injured in eastern Aleppo, since Friday, UNICEF said. It is sickening and the big powers are keep on feeding the war machine. Innocent women and children are being slaughtered every day. Even the outgoing United Nation’s Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in his farewell speech at UN General Assembly meeting last week said that the powerful countries on both sides in the Syrian conflict “have blood on their hands.” He is helpless.

Two days ago, Ban Ki Moon described the situation in Aleppo as worse than a slaughterhouse at a UN meeting. The countries involved in the conflict are using the latest and more destructive weapons to target civilians and aid conveys. And this has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and resulted in the biggest refugee exodus in decades. And the nation’s civil war appears to be getting worse.

The power struggle between members of  UN security council are preventing any peaceful agreement to end the conflict. Their expenditures on weapons have dramatically increased over the years. And just a few days ago, the US Senate has agreed to sell more than $1 billion worth of American made tanks and other weapons to Saudi Arabia. YES, we spend billions and billions on war and weapons than we spend on education and poverty reduction.

Peace, justice and unity are the main factors of up building and betterment of the society whereas war and strife are the main causes of destruction and disintegration of humanity. Lasting peace can be achieved through only dialogues and not aggression. The door to dialogue and consultation must be kept open.

Today, countries are still at war in many parts of the world including the Middle East. Since World War II, U.S. has fought the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the First Gulf War, Afghanistan, and the Second Gulf War in Iraq - and a global war on terrorists. U.S. today spends more on military than perhaps all the rest of the world put together but, definitely more than the next 7 highest-spending nations which are China, Russia, Britain, France, India, Japan, and Saudi Arabia.

In a chaotic world engulfed in turmoil and strife, finding the peace requires a strong conviction and belief that we belong to one human family. This demands that prejudice—whether racial, religious, or gender related—must be totally eliminated.

In fact, Bahá’u’lláh, the Prophet Founder of the Baha’i Faith in 1867 wrote letters to the Kings and rulers of the earth. Those letters, known as the Tablets to the Kings, announced Baha’u’llah’s mission as the founder of the Baha’i Faith and called on the world’s ecclesiastical and political rulers to abolish injustice, end slavery and oppression, lay down their weapons and come together to establish a lasting peace. Bahá’u’lláh criticized and rebuked all of the monarchs and religious leaders for their wars, their unjust practices and their greed.

Following Bahá’u’lláh’s passing His eldest son, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá devoted His ministry to furthering His Father’s Faith and to promoting the ideals of peace and unity. He promoted and encouraged all efforts towards peace. He also indicated that “It is self-evident that the unity of the human world and the Most Great Peace cannot be accomplished through material means. They cannot be established through political power,” He said, “for the political interests of nations are various and the policies of peoples are divergent and conflicting. They cannot be founded through racial or patriotic power, for these are human powers, selfish and weak.” The one power that can hope to bind together all people is religion. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá taught that once freed from “adherence to forms and imitations” which are the cause of the differences between religious groups, the vital power that is religion has the capability to break down all differences between people.

It is a beautiful message that Bahá’u’lláh and his son ‘Abdu’l-Bahá have given to the world. One may find religion not too attractive or too busy with material things to devote time for religion or one may already belong to a religion that satisfies. But the teachings of Prophet Founder of the Baha’i Faith bring peace and understanding. It offers hope which will lead humanity to deeper understanding, to assurance, peace and goodwill with all people of the world. Friends, it is time to investigate and seek the truth.