Progress of a nation hinges mainly on its enduring peace. Peaceful ambience and serene surroundings are the prime requisites for the healthy growth. Growth is the quintessence of time. Time eternal is captured and capsuled by men of vision and dynamism through their titanic efforts. Thus the imperceptible time is made visible and concrete in the form of mighty machineries and towers, as these symbolise the time and efforts of men universally. Serenity and harmony facilitate profound thinking which has the potency to produce magnum opuses, great treatises invariegated fields like literature, science, religion, philosophy et al.

Wars fought in the past and present have brought untold and unspeakable sufferings and miseries to humanity. Wars wipe out the accretions of civilizations and culture. Thus war being anti-human, annihilates and nullifies the blessings of peace. The after effects of war are still more dangerous and psychologically deleterious to humanity at large.

“There has been so much suffering in the 20th century, two world wars, concentration camps in Europe, the killing fields of Cambodia, refugees from Vietnam, Central America and elsewhere fleeing from their countries with no place to land. We need to use the suffering of the 20st century as compost, so that together we can create flowers for the 21st century.” - Thein Nhat Hanh.

The juxtaposition of peace and war, reveals the glory, significance and the indispensability of peace, for a sustaining holistic growth of a nation, whereas the resultant effect of war is deleterious, devastating and hastens the degeneracy of the society.

So it becomes imperative and incumbent on our part to take effective steps to stop the rot. As all our ideas(both good and bad) are generated in our minds, we have to purge the rot and impurity from our minds. This cleansing process can start with universal education, which is the only panacea and it can effectively eradicate the social and national maladies such as corruption, dishonesty, cheating, poverty, suffering and illiteracy.

Educational centres should make moral and ethical education compulsory for all, from the primary to the tertiary level. When the students are steeped and saturated with the ideas about morality, ethics, loving each other, honesty, amiability, caring and sharing each other, fostering of understanding, tolerance of different view points, mutual help, charitable temper etc.then will bloom and blossom as exemplary personages in the society. When these people emerge as future leaders, they will spontaneously exhibit their leadership qualities and lead their nations to prosperity, plenty and peace.

Peace education is an anti-dote and an eminent deterrant for war. The children of today should be taught about the importance of co-existence, co-operation, to love humanity and to create a robust and a genuine global ambiance to live in peace and harmony.

It is not an “utopian state”, I am thinking about, but it is prac-tically possible provided the powers-that be, chalk out a fifteen year programme to revitalize and resuscitate the younger generation to work with alacrity to bring peace and prosperity to the people. Eradi-cate poverty and illiteracy and there won’t be any war in the world. The society should draw the precious lessons from all possible sources to strengthen itself. By using sagacity, wisdom, religious teachings, we should unite to create a paradise on earth, which is not a chimera to be jettisoned, but a reality to be pursued.

Now is the ripe and right time for us to cry a halt to bloody wars and through peace education we should achieve our goal which is prosperity, plenty, happiness and an Eldorado which will make this earth a paradise to live

An Epilogue: