Author: Hafiz Noor Shams

That’s me; drawn by Azwan. Sigh…

It seems that Human has never quenched his thirst for blood.

In the recent weeks, the relationship between India and Pakistan is deteriorating with both countries starting to test their nuclear weapons as an act of intimidation. This latest development has prompted the world to stand on its toes for a war between those two countries could be the first nuclear war in Human’s history.

The South Asia subcontinent does not need another event to destabilize the region. If war is going to be conceived as an option, it is only fair to say that the whole subcontinent will be having its own World War. This notion is not too absurd as South Asia is mainly consisted of Pakistan and India while Sri Lanka itself is having its own internal conflict from time to time. On the western horizon, Afghanistan is already in chaos.

The flashpoint of this crisis is Kashmir, a Moslem state under the Indian rule. The Kashmiri separatists want an end to Indian superiority and they are receiving aids from Pakistan. Pakistan act is understandable as India did the same when East Pakistan wanted to form Bangladesh.

Never in the world has a nuclear war is seen as a possibility except during the Cuba Crisis where the USSR was caught red-handed by the United States transporting nuclear warhead to Cuba’s shore.

Fortunately for the world community, both sides have agreed to not use their nuclear capabilities on each other. The informal agreement is a “thank God” phrase for the United Nations because a nuclear war will bring a catastrophic result to the world. Worse, the environment will be at stake. Kashmir, which is a paradise will be turned into a wasteland and the Ganges River will be polluted, no more a sacred place for the Hindus. Human should be thankful if a conventional war will be fought between those two foes. The Ganges will only be turned red instead of being polluted.

A nuclear war, once a science fiction, today’s possibility.

Nevertheless, I personally think that a war will not be fought between India and Pakistan. Their words are merely words although they do have the vertebra to back their words. They had tested their Agnis and Ghauris for years but it ended with nothing but war of words and a few exchange of bullets up in the mountainous area of Kashmir. If you don’t trust me, that’s because we are humans and humans tend to disagree with each other. The Tower of Babel was never completed due to the same reason.

Even so, let’s just hope that I am right. I believe none of us would be glad to see another Hiroshima and Nagasaki. To be more accurate, most of us would want to see New Delhi and Islamabad still standing after this crisis ends.

Read this for a related post.

Aaa… it’s raining in Ann Arbor. A refreshing spring rain…