The Ideology of Peace by Maulana Waiduddin Khan - page 22

Ideology of Peace
PEACE AND VIOLENCE
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PEACE AND VIOLENCE
PEACE has been defined by scholars as the absence
of war. Technically speaking, this definition is quite
right. When there is no armed conflict in a society, a
state of peace will automatically establish itself. The
establishment of peace in a society is, however, not
just a matter of putting an end to war and violence:
that is only its initial phase. Whenever the state of
peace prevails in a society in the real sense, its
members will necessarily engage themselves in
positive activities. Their energies will be
channelised into the reconstruction of their own
lives and of their social environment.
The establishment of peace in a society can be
likened to removing a dam from a river. Human
life, like a flowing river, wants to surge forward
under its own momentum. When there is no
obstruction, all life’s activities will be set in motion,
propelled by human nature itself. They come to a
halt only when the artificial barriers of war and
violence are placed before them. Peace, from the
point of view of its result, is like an opening of all
the doors of life to the fullest possible extent.
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