The situation in Syria, Iraq,
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Israel, and Palestine, as we all are aware, is of global
concern. The conflict in Syria appears
on the surface to be a battle between those loyal to President Bashar
Al-Assad and
those who oppose him. The uprising against him began in March 2011 in Deraa,
when several demonstrators were killed by security forces while protesting
against the arrest of some teenagers who had painted revolutionary slogans on a
school wall. This spread to nationwide protests in May, demanding the President’s
resignation.
The death toll in Syria's three-year conflict has
climbed past 160,000, as per the Britain-based
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a harrowing figure that reflects
the relentless bloodletting in a civil war that appears no closer to being
resolved. The crisis has also uprooted some 6.5 million people from their
homes, forced 2.7 million to flee the country, laid waste to cities and towns
alike, and unleashed sectarian hatreds that have rippled across the region. (cf. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/syria-death-toll/)
The ongoing conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and
Pakistan have taken a tremendous toll on the people of those countries. As of
April 2014, at the very least, 174,000 civilians have been determined to have
died violent deaths because of the wars. The actual number of deaths, direct
and indirect, as a result of the wars is many times higher than this figure.
The decade long war in Afghanistan has continued
to take lives with each passing year. As of February 2014, at least 21,000
civilians are estimated to have died violent deaths due to the war. The total number of civilians killed
in Pakistan may be as high as or higher than the toll in Afghanistan, with NGO
estimates ranging widely between 20,000 and 50,000 recorded deaths. In
Iraq, over 70 percent of those who died of direct war violence have been
civilians. Iraq Body Count conservatively estimates that at least 1,33,000
civilians have been killed in direct violence due to war between the invasion
and early May 2014. In addition to the direct consequences of violence
represented by these numbers, thousands more Iraqis, Afghans and Pakistanis are
falling victim to the dangers of a battered infrastructure and poor health
conditions arising from wars. In the case of Iraq, excess deaths indirectly
resulting from the war add several times the 1,33,000 civilians killed directly
by violence.
People have been killed in their homes at night
and in markets and on roadways during the day. They have been killed by
bombs, bullets and fire and by weapons such as improvised explosive devices
(IED) and remotely piloted vehicles (RPVs or
"drones"). Civilians die at checkpoints, as they are run off the
road by military vehicles, when they step on a mine or a cluster bomb, as they
try to collect wood or tend to their fields, and when they are kidnapped and
executed for purposes of revenge or intimidation. They have been killed by the
US and they have been killed by its allies and they have been killed by
insurgents and sectarians in the civil wars spawned or fanned by the invasions
and what followed. (cf. http://www.costsofwar.org/article/civilians-killed-and-wounded)
The
Israeli assault on the Palestinians is another instance of the destruction of
humanity. One can see on social media, pictures of terrified Palestinian children in Hebron and Hallul, sitting
on the ruins of their homes; of mobs in the street chanting "death to
Arabs" and pulling out Palestinian men from their stores to beat them as
other Israelis stand idly by; of soldiers lining up at the Gaza border, ready
at a moment’s notice to invade. The toll of
people killed and injured in Gaza is climbing day by day – all because of
Israeli missiles. There is no end in sight.
It is in such circumstances, we call upon churches:
To agonize in prayer over the destruction of life and property, asking God to provide the
needed graces to people who have been injured, bereaved, rendered homeless,
hungry and destitute. Let us pray to God to strengthen the efforts of responsible
and just peace makers.
To express our solidarity with the victims of war and terror. Let us write to churches
and to people groups expressing our togetherness with them in their hour of
suffering.
To campaign for justice in these violence torn lands. Let us through social media,
through letters, posters and ecclesial statements articulate our concerns for
justice. Let us write to the political powers that be to respond
conscientiously and sensibly to the devastating situations so that violence
would end and just-peace would prevail.
Roger Gaikwad
General Secretary, NCCI
