Innocent lives are being lost as senseless violence escalates across states and borders. This article highlights how power-driven wars have no religion or nationality, with civilians bearing the brunt of destruction. Humra Quraishi writes…

Photography: Vinta Nanda

Innocent lives are tragically lost in conflicts worldwide, where violence transcends borders, religions, and nationalities. This article explores the barbaric nature of modern warfare, focusing on the devastating impacts on civilians. With political and communal tensions rising, this thought-provoking piece examines how wars driven by power and ego continue to harm the powerless. Learn more about the global humanitarian crisis, human rights violations, and the urgent need for peace and justice.  

The question that has been haunting me is this: Are we truly living in a developed world, or is everything around us devolving into barbarism? As I look around, the answer seems disturbingly clear. We are not in a ‘developed’ scenario when, in one country, a genocide unfolds, while in others, people die of starvation. Citizens are lynched, women, children, and teenagers sold as commodities, and human bodies are traded like mere objects. Innocents are paraded as criminals, homes of the poor are bulldozed and convicted criminals, rapists, and murderers roam free, granted dubious breaks from their prison sentences.

When facts are twisted by those in power, when rulers fail to protect the vulnerable, and when poisonous communal propaganda is deliberately unleashed to divide society, we must question the state of our civilization. We see rape in the workplace, along roadsides, and even by those entrusted with educating our children. Elections are fought not with transparency, but through manipulation and dubious tactics. There is no one to hear the cries of the oppressed, and even the dead aren’t spared, as graves and cemeteries become the target of land mafias. The political mafia wreaks havoc, fuelling anarchy, looting, and killing indiscriminately.

The Trigger for My Writing

What provoked me to write this is the unbearable barrage of trauma we witness daily. Communal tensions have reached nauseating heights. Just yesterday, a news report struck me—a doctor in Madhya Pradesh refused to accept life-saving blood from a Muslim for his Hindu patient. And in another horrifying incident, a video surfaced from Uttar Pradesh showing a school teacher spewing communal venom against a seven-year-old Muslim student.

Reports from Kashmir are no less disturbing. The right-wing agenda has permeated even this once-peaceful region, with plans that seem designed to displace its native population. In my 2019 book, Kashmir – The Unending Tragedy: Reports from the Front Lines, I detailed how Kashmiris feared the establishment of Sainik colonies as a ploy to settle Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) workers in the Valley. One Kashmiri warned, "In the coming years, we Kashmiris will be pushed out, and those RSS cadres will take over our prime areas."

The Agony of Palestine—and Beyond

The plight of the Palestinians is heart-wrenching, their trauma visible in every image that emerges. Just yesterday, September 10th, reports of 40 Palestinians killed in mere minutes during Israeli bombardments on refugee camps shook my soul. The ongoing genocide in Palestine is beyond words—homes reduced to rubble, families torn apart, and lives shattered. Yet, in these fascist times, expressing solidarity, holding marches, or even voicing grief is a dangerous act.

But this is not only about Palestine or the Palestinians. Innocent lives are being lost on all ends of the spectrum. Those who are killing belong to no country or religion—they are part of a mindless machine of violence that has no borders. The innocent, who have nothing to do with these wars, are being massacred on both sides. Israeli lives are not safe either in this senseless war. The brutality does not discriminate—it targets the powerless, the defenceless, and those simply trying to survive in an increasingly hostile world.

Many of us are silently mourning the atrocities, but we must suppress our sorrow, confined to our hearts, afraid even to express our anguish openly. Bulldozers—now a symbol of state repression—can demolish not only homes but also human psyches in the blink of an eye, all under the guise of some vague pretence.

No One Is Safe

How can world leaders stand by and witness the slaughter of hundreds, even thousands, of innocent men, women, and children? Those who survive are condemned to live in perpetual agony, deprived of food, water, and medical aid. Disease and infection spread, compounding their misery. Can we truly call this a ‘developed’ world? The irony is bitter—Palestine, once a land of olives and fruits, has been violently torn from its rightful citizens, much like the destruction we witness in countless other war-torn regions.

Israeli lives, too, are under constant threat, and the endless cycle of violence continues to destroy lives on both sides. This isn’t a war of nations or ideologies; it’s a war of egos, of power, fought by those who have little regard for human life. The people dying on the ground are not the ones who wanted this war. They are simply the collateral damage of a barbaric world order that cares more about dominance than humanity.

A World Stripped of Humanity

The barbaric tactics are no different from the suffering of oppressed people worldwide. Those who are not killed instantly die slowly and painfully from deprivation. The irony is bitter—lands rich in culture and history are being violently torn from their rightful citizens, all for political gains.

My sorrow and pain are best captured by the words of the poet Sahir Ludhianvi:

"If there is a reason for my angry songs, it is this: /That when I see the hungry farmers, /The poor, the oppressed, the destitute, the helpless, /My heart cannot participate in assemblies of pleasure. /Even if I wish, I cannot write dreamy songs of love." 

These words echo my anger and helplessness in the face of the cruel injustices happening around us. We may call ourselves a ‘developed world,’ but the barbarism we see proves otherwise. The loss of innocent lives is a testament to how far we have strayed from the ideals of humanity.