Page 31 - Age of Peace Goodword.indd

The Age of Alternatives

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n ancient times, ambitious people had only one arena in
Iwhich to fulfil their ambitions—the battlefield. But the
modern age has seen a sea-change in this regard. Now we are
living in the age of alternatives. There are many options other
than engaging in battle.
For an ambitious person, a number of peaceful alternatives
are available. Those gains that people expected only from
war are now achievable, on a far greater scale, by availing of
peaceful alternatives. To illustrate these points, I would like to
give here two parallel examples.

The Mughal rule in India was a dynastic one. Aurangzeb
(1618 – 1707) was the sixth ruler of this dynasty. He and his
brother Dara Shikoh (1615 – 1659) had different agendas.
At that time there was only one course available to settle the
differences—that was battle. Therefore, a battle took place
in which Dara Shikoh and his supporters were defeated
and killed.

In present times, there are two major political parties in
the same India—Congress and the BJP. These two parties have
different agendas. Since India is now a democratic country,
both parties contest elections to decide their fate, and this
principle works. Thus, in May 2014 in the wake of the general
elections, the political leadership of India changed peacefully.
This alternative is available in every country, even in those
countries in which some groups are engaged in violence.
Every day we hear news of bloodshed in these countries.

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