15 October 2004	Friday	29 Shaban 1425

ISLAMABAD, Oct 14: The legal, moral and religious justifications for war came under discussion in a lecture programme organized by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) at its Centre for Democratic Development here on Wednesday.

Renowned historian Dr Mubarik Ali dealt briefly with the cause and effect relationships of war while participants including Prof Khawaja Masud, Justice (retd) Majida Rizvi, Ashfaque Saleem Mirza, MNA Kunwar Khalid Yunus, Dr Inayatullah, Dr Wahab, Tahir Mohammad Khan, Syed Shamsuddin and others participated in the intellectual discourse.

Dr Mubarik Ali deconstructed the myths surrounding the motivations for war which have fed the fodder machine of death between the warring tribes, nations and states over a course of centuries.

He said societies deliberately inculcate violent behaviours by constructing notions of 'bravery' and 'heroism' around certain personalities which are then used to breed cycles of violence for economic or territorial gains through legal, religious or civilizational justifications.

Dr Ali said the pro-establishment historians have always justified wars, glorified the invaders and conquerors and regrettably the societies have accepted these notions. He said war, in whatever form, had no morality throughout history as it involved spilling of human blood and use of violence.

Dr Ali said war led to dehumanization of humanity and had to be condemned in all its manifestations. While Dr Inayatullah visualized horrific consequences for humanity in the 21st century, while Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz's 82 year old teacher, Khwaja Masud, said the march of history was towards peace.

A history teacher at Quaid-i-Azam University, Razia Sultana, wondered why people had a fascination for war while peace remained only a desire. Ashfaque Saleem Mirza questioned the guest speaker if desire for peace would remain a wishful thinking as historical record showed that humanity is in a state of perpetual conflict since ages.

In response to a question, Dr Ali said the glorified conquerors of the sub-continent, including many whose heroic deeds are used for motivational purposes, were no more than power grabbing conquerors when viewed through the unbiased lens of history.

Dr Mubarak Ali tried to defend the charges levelled against historians when a participant, F.I. Qureshi accused the historians of distorting history. Justice (retd) Majida Rizvi, pointed out the nexus between military industrial complex and the causes for war when she said all over the world, armaments were being developed for annihilation of humanity. The participants also questioned the motives of the wars being waged in Iraq, Afghanistan and other parts of the world by global military powers.