War and Peace

Prof. Kumar Neeraj Sachdev

Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
 Pakistani forces target Indian civilians
deliberately: BSF
TOI - Updated: Nov 2, 2016, 03.26 PM IST
JAMMU: Pakistani border guarding force, with active connivance of its
Army, have resorted to heavy mortal shelling deliberately towards
Indian civilian areas along the International Border, Inspector General
of BSF Upadhyay said on Wednesday. Addressing a press conference,
Upadhyay said Pakistan Army is giving full support to Pakistan Rangers,
which have violated ceasefire "countless" times in recent past.
"Pakistani forces are firing heavy mortars deliberately towards Indian
civilian areas. BSF never fires towards any Pakistani civilian area. We
fire only towards military bunkers from where Pakistani forces fire. We
have inflicted heavy damage on 14 Pakistani bunkers," he said.
Upadhyay said if there was any civilian casualty in the Pakistani side, it
was because the civilian population live very close to the military
bunkers that might have resulted in some damage.
The senior officer of the Border Security Force also
showed images of BSF's firing which targeted only
military bunkers in Pakistan. In an escalation on the
tension along border, eight people, including two children
and four women, were killed and 22 injured yesterday as
Pakistani troops targeted civilian areas in Jammu region
inviting strong retaliation by Indian forces who killed two
Pakistani soldiers and destroyed their 14 posts. In view of
increased shelling and firing by Pakistan, Jammu and
Kashmir government has ordered closure of all the 400
schools along the International Border (IB) and Line of
Control (LoC).
 Social Justice and Equality
Society and Freedom of Expression
Crime and Punishment
Politics and the Problem of Dirty
Hands
War and Peace
Case Studies
 War and Peace
Thinking of intellectuals and policy-makers about
issues of war and peace is normally structured by
amoral assumptions.
The problems are conceived of as practical in nature.
Policy options are compared solely in terms of their
expected consequences and consequences are
evaluated solely in terms of their impact on the
national interest.
Ethical issues are presented in a crude and
oversimplified form best suited to the manipulation
of public opinion.
 Justification of War
Moral norms do not apply to the conduct of
states, which should instead be guided
exclusively by a concern for the national
interest.
However, if there are limits to what an
individual is permitted to do to protect his or
her interest then same is true of a state.
Anyway, the argument goes that state is a
higher and altogether different sort of entity
that transcends the constraints that apply to an
individual.
 Justification of Peace
Pacifists believe that it is never permissible to engage
in war.
While virtually everyone believes that there is a
strong moral presumption against violence and killing
involved in war, pacifists differ in their belief that this
presumption cannot be overridden, that the
challenge to provide a moral justification for war can
never be met.
However, if pacifists allow individual self-defense,
they cannot deny collective exercise of individual
rights of self-defense.
 Just-War Theory
A thinking about ethics of war has developed which
attempts to define a defensible middle ground between
war and peace.
The resulting view is a just-war theory.
It is justified on the grounds that it seeks to serve just and
well-specified goals and it is constrained by rules.
The important provisions of just-war theory are the
following:
The war must be fought for a just cause, such as
national self-defense;
defense of another state against unjust external aggression;
the defense of fundamental human rights within another state
against abuse by the government; and
the punishment of unjust aggressors.
 Three Requirements of Just-war
The requirement of minimal force: the amount of
violence used on any occasion must not exceed
what is necessary to achieve ones aim.
The requirement of proportionality: the expected
bad consequences of an act must not outweigh,
or be greater than, its expected good
consequences.
The requirement of discrimination: force must be
directed only against persons who are legitimate
targets of attack.
 Concluding Remark
It may not be easy to choose
between war and peace but if at
all war is to be justified it must be
justified on the ground that the
ends are just and the means are
subject to rules pertaining to
proper limitations.
Thank You.