Change the vocabulary of war

War--when the diplomatic arbitrators have failed and fundamental conflicts are unresolved--is, it seems, an eternal reality. War, indeed, contravenes every exalted principle of non-violence, brotherhood, peace and fellowship among man that are professed by the great global religions. While there is no doubt that war is inherent to man, it is also the ultimate unreconciled hypocrisy that the most "religious" seem most eager to fight.

Perhaps it is the maddening fallibility of mere mortals, but it seems that wars are commenced with haste, quickly entangled, and belatedly ended. And then, only in retrospect, we collectively decide if the war was truly "just."

A war is just or unjust not predicated only upon the criteria applied to enter the conflict, but also in the conduct of that war. In an era when "collateral damage," repugnant terror attacks and asymmetrical warfare are the descriptors of war, the need for a new terminology is clear.

War does become necessary in the course of human events--and the war in Afghanistan is certainly just. The hoary expanse of Hindu scripture is replete with the stories of the Gods at war to support the cosmos and defend against demonic forces. The Bhagavad Gita, one of Hinduism's holy books, occurs on a battlefield as the prince Arjuna loses heart when he faces his own estranged and terrorizing cousins before the war commences. Lord Krishna, a manifestation of God, instructs Arjuna as to the immortality of the soul, the laws of karma and dharma and the need to uphold righteousness. Mahatma Gandhi, of course, understood these depictions as allegories of the wars that man has within, when his conscience or soul (divinity) wars against the forces of desires, attachments, greed and other low tendencies.

Dharma, beyond duty, is understood by Eastern religions, as "that which is required to maintain balance." The order, balance, spirit of a society may require war, and then, there are the countless strictures as to how a "just war" must be waged. The conduct of warriors, warring only between soldiers, protecting civilians and preserving the rights of the vanquished and captured are all codified in scripture as necessary in a just war.

What is lacking, however, in the Dharma traditions--Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism--is the concept of a jihad or crusade. To forcibly convert, maim, torture or kill others simply because they do not share your religion is an entirely alien concept, and contrary to the pluralistic perpectives of these traditions. Today it is the call for a global jihad that rings from the mountains of Pakistan that terrorized New York, London, Baghdad and Mumbai, and the struggle ongoing within Islam. To silence that call and eliminate the focus of global instability is a dharmic duty (restore balance), and justifies the engagement if done within the bounds of a "just war."

We can only hope that the leaders of all religions will endeavor to eschew the polarizing principle that one religion is better than others and that all must follow one religion to be saved or spared. Too many lives have been sacrificed at the fiery altar of bellum justissimum. The vocabulary of dharma religions have no words for the infidel, the gentile, the pagan, the kafir. Only when all religions begin to cease viewing others as "the other," can we begin to eliminate the source of too many "just wars" of today.

Views expressed here are the personal views of Dr. Aseem Shukla, and do not necessarily represent those of the University of Minnesota or Hindu American Foundation.

By Aseem Shukla  |  December 24, 2009; 12:37 PM ET Save & Share:                 
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