Social Media has always been full of keyboard warriors spewing ignorant comments about topics they don’t fully fathom. And one such topic from the recent days which a lot of people hold dear while posting their erroneous judgements about, is war. And how beneficial war will be because it will “teach those Pakistanis a lesson” etc.
It is tough to imagine how horrible war is, yet, I am going to delve into the territory of vain and try to explain some stuff. A full-fledged war, will equate to 10,000 Army men dying (at the very minimum), either side of the border. Someone’s father, mother, husband, wife, son, daughter will be dead (that too just because of your egoistic, ignorant, entitled self). It is well known that the Army is not scared of laying down their lives for the country. But, since of course the Army man is “paid to die” let me tell you what will happen to others not related to the Army. War will not be restricted to border only and bombs and missiles from artillery and air will fall deep through the country causing casualties to civilians, along with humungous amounts of damage to public and private property, animals, transport services, communication services etc. That would mean territories directly affected will be all rubble and dust, and the development of the country will take an unprecedented hit, which could take 20-25 years or maybe more to come back to same state. In case of nuclear use in war, then generations and generations will suffer. Within a second, all that your fore fathers built will be ashes. The sheer number of just the civilians (excluding Army men) who will be dead will be horrific, and add to this number those who will be forced to be refugees, weeded out from their dwellings we approach an unimaginably high number.

But, of course there is this benighted brigade of insensitive people, pouring out their desire for war over the internet as if it is a sporting event. To them, such numbers don’t mean anything. They could be at the opposite end of the country. How could several lakh people dying mean a thing to them since that would not be an immediate enough tragedy for them to even begin comprehending what lakhs of men dying means? For all of them, only the surgical strike resulted in a drop of 500 points in the Sensex. The value of Rupee fell. If a war happens (without going into the economics of it all) the whole economy will be de-stabilized. You, your parents, your relatives will lose jobs. There would be a massive amount of inflation leading to unaffordable prices of daily staple products. The exports will be severely damaged, and so will be the imports. If the war goes on for a longer time, the country will have to shift its economic impetus towards defence. Meaning further reduction of supply of day to day necessities. The whole country, and even others will be neck deep in poverty, and this would result in more people dying of hunger and disease.

So please don’t take it up to the internet to post uninformed comments, glorifying your bravado and lack of common intellect, like, “The Army is not a pussy”, “Our country is brave and we can face nuclear warfare”, “War will stop our people dying due to terrorism”(Many more people will die due to war). The country and the Army are brave, but they are not stupid. Of course we all want terrorism to stop. But, it has to be tackled sensibly. The Army and the govt are concerned about the safety of their countrymen and will act responsibly ensuring the security and safety of everyone. As long as war can be avoided, it will be and should be avoided.

Entertaining as war movies can be, real war is not the same. Stop romanticizing it, and read literature and texts from the World War era, or closer home, from 62, 65, 71 and 99 to acquaint yourself with the deadly reality of war.

Lastly, my father is veteran from the Indian Army and has served in 4 operations including the Kargil War, and the 1 year spent on the border during Op Prakram. I know a thing or two.