Peace cannot not be made by signing documents but must be in the hearts of people.
Peacemakers and peacekeepers
The reality is that absence of war or violence never brought peace although it is how peace is defined in the dictionary. People want to live in peace, yet peace remains elusive and has become a rare commodity. There are many world leaders who wanted to bring peace to their people but with little success. Is it because we the people do not know how-to live-in peace and harmony or are our leaders who keep peace away from us? In our recent history we have seen a number of peacemakers and peacekeepers who were confronted by cynics and even death. Below are some peacemakers who fell victim while looking for peace.Abraham Lincoln: he was a lawyer, born on 12 February 1809 and was the 16th President of the United States. He believed in racial harmony and was responsible for abolishing slavery in the USA, which was ratified in the US constitution on 31st January in 1865. He was assassinated on 14 April 1865 at age 56 years by a Confederate sympathiser who was opposed to abolition of slavery.
Mahatma Gandhi: he was an Indian lawyer born on 2 October 1869 and a famous anti-colonialist and political activist who dedicated his life to ending the tyranny of British colonialism in India. He was assassinated on 30 January 1948 at age 78 years in cold blood by a Hindu nationalist. His grievance was that Gandhi was too accommodating to the Muslims that led to the formation of Pakistan with a population of 75 million Muslims with the departure of the British in 1947.
Dag Hammarskjold: He was a Swedish economist and a diplomat born on 28 July 1905. He was the second Secretary General of the United Nations. He firmly believed in the UN as a global institution and wanted to promote the UN as a peace broker. He died in a plane crash in Ndola in Northern Rhodesia (Present day Zambia) on 18 September 1961 at age 56 while trying to solve a political crisis involving Congo (current Democratic Republic of Congo), breakaway region of Katanga and a multiple of colonial (Belgium, France, Russia, United Kingdom and United States) engagement in Congo. How the plane crashed is a mystery until today. A new independent report on this incident is expected to be submitted by Mr. Mohamed Chande Othman (a former Tanzanian Chief Justice) to the United Nations in September 2022.
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| Former Tanzanian Chief Justice, Mohamed Chande Othman with Secretary General Mr. Antonio Guterres (Credit UN Photo, 2019) |
Martin Luther King Jr.: he was a sociologist, a Baptist Minister and a peace activist born on 15 January 1929. He strongly believed in racial justice and opposed the Vietnam War. He was a believer of non-violent peace activism following the principle of Mahatma Gandhi. He became a victim of an assassin on 4 April 1968 at an age of 38.
Olaf Palme: he was a non-practicing lawyer and a well-known Swedish politician and peace activist born on 30 January 1927. He was also a two-time Prime Minister of Sweden. He was also an anti-colonialist and anti-nuclear activist. He also opposed the Vietnam War. He was assassinated on 28 February 1986 at age 59 years. Two people were charged on separate occasions with one charge being overturned while the second suspect was already dead. Who killed Olaf Palme is still a mystery.
Anwar Sadat: he was a graduate of military academy and was an Egyptian politician born on 25 December 1918 and became the third president of Egypt in 1970. He instituted political reforms in Egypt, a first in the Arab region. He also engaged in peace negotiation with Israel leading to a peace treaty with Israel in 1978. He was assassinated on 6 October 1981 at age 62 years by Egyptian Islamic jihadists who was opposed to peace treaty with Israel.
Yitzhak Rabin: he was an agriculturist and a veteran of Israeli politics was born on 1 March 1922. He was a General in the Israeli army and a statesman. He was assassinated by a right-wing Jewish activist on 4 November 1995 at age 73 years. This right-wing Jewish activist was strongly opposed to Oslo peace process agreement which confers the rights of the Palestinian people for self-determination as per UN Security Council Resolution 338.
Sergio Vieira de Mello: he was a Brazilian humanitarian worker with a background in philosophy and humanities was born on 15 March 1948. He was an Under Secretary General of the United Nations at the time of his death while serving as UN Secretary General’s Special Representative in Iraq. He was a peace activist and served in many hot spots such as Lebanon, Bangladesh, East Timor, Sudan, Cyprus, Yugoslavia, etc. He might not have been the direct target of bombing the UN premise but he certainly was a victim of war against peace on 19 August 2013 at age 55 years.
There are a number of other peace activists who endured severe difficulties in life but managed to have their last breath with natural causes rather than an assassin’s bullet. Some of them are mentioned hereunder.
Nelson Mandela: he was born on 18 July 1918. He was a lawyer and is possibly one of the best-known peacemakers in the world. He was a peace activist who was jailed for 27 years of which 18n years were in solitary confinement as prisoner number 46664. His belief on peaceful transformation of power in South Africa was treated as a crime. He escaped several assassination attempts by white supremacists. He was labelled as a terrorist as recently as 1987. He passed away with natural causes on 5 December 2013 at age 95 years. His funeral was attended by 91 Heads of State and Heads of Government, possibly a world record.
Fidel Castro: he was born in Cuba on 13 August 1926. He was a non-practicing lawyer and was a nationalist who was against any right-wing government, not just in Cuba but in the subcontinent. He masterminded the Cuban revolution and overthrew the right-wing Cuban government in 1959. There are allegations that there were 638 attempts (at least plans) to assassinate Fidel Castro but he died of natural causes at age 90 years on 25 November 2916.
Yaser Arafat: he was a civil engineer born on 24 August 1929 to a Palestinian parent in Cairo, Egypt. He was an Arab nationalist and joined Palestinian Liberation Organisation in 1967. He was opposed to the Israeli state but eventually agreed for a negotiated peace settlement in 1978. He represented Palestine in signing a peace accord with Israel based on the Oslo peace accord which cost the life of Yetzhak Rabin. He survived several assassination attempts and eventually died of cerebral haemorrhage on 11 November 2011 at age 75 years.
Loss of UN peacekeeper
In 1948 the United Nations established a Peacekeeping operation with a view to protecting civilians in conflict zones and to prevent conflicts between warring factions/parties/countries. The peace keeping mission assists countries and factions within countries to return to normal life after peaceful settlement of conflicts. To date 122 countries have contributed 75,134 of their military, police and civilians to be deployed to the field for peace keeping operations wherever required. However, the peacekeepers deployed by the United Nations always face dangers and on many occasions they themselves have become victims of the conflicts. Since the establishment of the UN peacekeeping operation, a total of 4,197 peacekeepers have died on the job.
Activism for peace must continue
The world is facing a multitude of conflicts from multiple sources such as conflicts between nations, ethnic conflicts within nations, economic malaise causing poverty, climate crisis, cybercrimes and so on. All these have direct negative impacts on peace. Unfortunately voices of peace seem to be drowning in the chaos created by greed, arrogance, power play of global political leaders and economic opportunism of industries.
There are many peace activists who lived and contributed to peace such as Vaslav Havel, Thic Nhat Hanh, and many others. There are still many living among us such as Martti Ahtisaari, Lech Walesa, Ramos Horta, etc. Many of them have contributed to bring peace in their countries.
The public must support the resurgence of peace activism everywhere otherwise in coming generations we may find peace only in the cemetery!
Ramesh Shrestha can be contacted via: ramesh.chauni@gmail.com
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