Our Planetory

In 2014, Diego Ibarra Sánchez turned into photographing at a college in Iraq. The constructing changed into pockmarked with craters from mortar shelling that obliterated an Islamic State encampment that had sought safe haven there. In one school room, Iraqi soldiers kicked around the head of an Islamic State fighter like a soccer ball. A severed leg sat atop a desk at the back of them.

Gruesomeness like this is a not unusual sight for Mr. Ibarra.

Since 2009, he has traveled amongst Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Pakistan as a photojournalist. After witnessing teachers, kids and colleges always caught in the crossfire of struggle, he quietly began working on his own documentary task titled “Hijacked Education.”

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A ray of light bathes a pile of furnishings at an abandoned college in East Mosul, Iraq.
A ray of mild bathes a pile of furnishings at a deserted faculty in East Mosul, Iraq.Credit Diego Ibarra Sánchez/Memo
During a Skype interview from Iraq, Mr. Ibarra’s voice faltered while he described the havoc and violence he has visible inflicted on an entire technology of faculty-age children. “War is handiest the end of the iceberg for them,” he said.

While there was insurance of the devastated situations of those schools, Mr. Ibarra stated plenty of it has centered on the resilience of college students who preserve to are looking for a training regardless of the limitations. One such Pakistani student, Malala Yousafzai, came into the global spotlight in 2012 after being shot by way of the Taliban — whilst she becomes simply 15 — for her advocacy of training for women.

Mr. Ibarra had was hoping the eye given to Ms. Yousafzai could have spurred the movement to assist different students like her inside the war-torn vicinity. Instead, he watched the cameras, in reality, go away to chase the subsequent tale.

He determined to stay, and go deeper.

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Children playing on the top of a hill in Kabul. Afghanistan is one among only three countries wherein polio remains endemic, and it has been inching toward eradicating the ailment. But it is round the corner to Pakistan, wherein polio is an awful lot more sizable.
Children gambling at the pinnacle of a hill in Kabul. Afghanistan is considered one of simplest 3 countries where polio is still endemic, and it has been inching closer to removing the sickness. But it’s far next door to Pakistan, in which polio is an awful lot more massive.Credit Diego Ibarra Sánchez/MeMo
The college desks in his photographs do now not have novice graffiti tags or love notes, most effective carvings of an assault rifle. The chairs, for the maximum part, are empty and piled atop every different in corners. On the floor, amid the rubble, are tattered notebooks, textbooks, and identification cards. The partitions, if there are any, have huge holes blasted via them. When there are college students present, their eyes are avoided and they’re our bodies are cloaked with the aid of shadows.

In some pics, college students are changed by means of infant-faced infantrymen with system weapons slung across their chests. Mr. Ibarra stated that colleges have emerged as popular bases for both terrorist corporations and the navy in latest years. It makes experience: Schools are strong structures, have blackboards that may be used for making plans and contain many non-public rooms that can be used for napping quarters — or greater sinister functions.

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Class time at a school run by using a lady educator, Chand Bibi, within the Afghan Colony, on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan.
Class time at a faculty run by a lady educator, Chand Bibi, within the Afghan Colony, at the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan.Credit Diego Ibarra Sánchez/Memo
What this means is that colleges have also turn out to be the websites of some of the worst violence all through the conflict, a reality that Mr. Ibarra reveals difficult to bear. His mother becomes a trainer for 40 years, and he these days became a father. The eternal question of whether education is a privilege or a proper is constantly in his thoughts.

“Violence, extremism, intolerance, and worry are wiping out the destiny of a whole generation for heaps of youngsters,” he stated. He cited that many youngsters are at the back of on their studies, a loss on the way to hang-out them for years to come and have an effect on their potential to rebuild their lives after the war ends. If it ends.

He feels that it his duty to power folks who view his pix head on into the nightmare students within the Middle East face. “Some hold going to colleges, but the nightmare is always there,” he said. “War does no longer stop when a person increases a flag.”

War is usually considered the source for the achievement of national objectives. Clerics even go to the extent of achieving glory through it. War is a historical menace. But it is against the dignity of man to think that it cannot be discouraged or abolished. Tolstoy’s view is most convincing that war under all circumstances is illegitimate. History has shown that war has always multiplied the problems and it is inseparable from irreparable loss. In the First World War, there were 37 million casualties. In the Second World War, there were 60 million casualties. More than 100, 0000 million dollars were “invested” by the fighting nations in the Second World War to kill or injure these peoples. Money lost in collateral damage is beside it. Right after ten years, the war became many times more dangerous. In the Russell-Einstein Manifesto, published in 1955, it is written:

“It is stated on very good authority that a bomb can now be manufactured which will be 2,500 times as powerful as that which destroyed Hiroshima.”

One can imagine what a war can do with the humanity in the twenty-first century when nuclear technology has become so advanced.

One common reason is that war has always been advocated by the elite class, directly in the previous ages and indirectly in the modern ages. This is done in two ways. The most important of them is the “use” of the clergy. The clergy is that strange creature which declares itself to be the benefactor whereas acts as a catastrophic factor. The most important example of his direct role is the active participation in the Crusades during medieval ages. Even today, Pakistani clergy believes that Kashmir must be a part of Pakistan and multiplies its wisdom by presenting the military solution of it. Russell says in “The Ethics of War” (1915): “The objects, for which men have fought in the past, whether just or unjust, are no longer to be achieved by wars amongst civilized nations.”

One common loss that humanity has born in war is the deaths-even of those who are not in the favor of it.

Most of the wars have been fought between the countries which are economically depressed. After the First World War and the Second World War, no war has been fought between the developed nations. The poor countries have fought a number of wars. The most important examples are the Iraq-Iran war, the Cano- India war, the Pak-India wars, and so many others. The beneficiaries of these wars were the elite class of the countries involved, and the western Davis Men, who supplied weapons.In these countries, a public is allowed to play little role. Before and during the French Revolution and the Russian Revolution, it was the poor people who realized that war is being fought with their blood. They were deprived of their basic democratic rights. Only the clergy and the upper class were consulted. When the poor rose to power through violation, the wars ended. Today, in the third world countries, there is poverty and the poor public has little role to play in the decision making. They are misled by the ruling class through the clergy. So the poverty is directly or indirectly related to this issue. Besides this, the people involved in the acts of terrorism are economically deprived as in the case of Pakistan. The first generation was deprived economically. The second generation became obscurantist, the third became the terrorist. The Pakistan army used such a people to create trouble in Kashmir. Similarly, the Indian army used such people to create trouble in the East Pakistan before 1971 war. Besides this, poverty deprives masses of education and the youth fails to realize the horror of war. It is above board that many educated people are involved as well in instigating the establishment to wage a war. But the point is that they use the uneducated people as weapons.

According to the clergy, poverty is fate. And the other religion is an enemy. So unreasonable, they are that recently, a clergy has said that if a person leaves Islam, his punishment is death. But if a person accepts Islam, he must be honored. Such an unreasonable attitude provides the anti-groups an opportunity to propagate hatred against the particular community. In this way, clergy plays the full role to “reduce population”. No clergy tells the Havocs of the war. He only tells the so called glory achieved by it.

Modern wars have been fought to propagate the constructive philosophy and to abolish the destructive philosophy. For example, in First World War, England fought against Germany for the cause of democracy. According to Samuel Huntington, the incoming wars will be fought among the Muslims, the Christians, the Hindus and the Jews. Adherence to ideas, theories and ideologies are created from the pre-existing ideas, theories, and ideologies. It is done to govern the masses. Unity of masses enables the elite class to run a state through taxes. It is only through the education that the masses can be enabled to distinguish between the good and the bad ideologies. If people learn to judge the preachers through the difference between their saying and doing, they will identify the black sheep. In clerical states like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, the problem of poverty and civil rights is found. Contrary to this, in the European countries, the state officials are sensitive to public rights. That is why there is minimum poverty and everyone enjoys civil rights. When there will be no poverty, and no violation of civil rights, a country will not feel the need of an enemy. Pakistan and India need the enemy as they are to make public frightened to get maximum taxes. The public of France and England got the point long ago. That is why there has never been a serious dispute between them.

Those who advocate war must study the post-partition riots of 1947 in India and Pakistan. It was not a war but only a hatred that engulfed 12.5 million innocent people. The people living together for centuries became the enemy of one another. Whereas in 1952, the Indian Muslims were denied permanently to migrate to Pakistan. In1971, when Pakistan was divided, 10 million people were killed. In 2002, two thousand innocent people were killed in the Indian state of Gujarat. This proves that the hatred spread only killed the people and the problem got worst. The same hatred is being spread by the clergy of the both states.

Samuel Huntington has told all that is true in his “The Clash of Civilization” (1993). It can be averted only through the campaign against the war. Practical measures will have to be taken like the creation of independent

The State of Palestine. Only then the world community can be convinced that it is a political issue and not a religious one. Great powers will have to realize that only they can counter the war-Mongers. The money, used in manufacturing weapons should be spent to bring the moderate, competitive and honest people forward in the civil authorities. Forums must be made and aided who work against war and prizes should be given to the active members. Education must be propagated as much as possible. The realistic approach should be adopted instead of imaginary and superficial approach. For example, a student should be trained on the base of this idea that instead of talking of love, he should talk about tolerance. The talented students of the third world must be given maximum scholarships so that they may be deployed to propagate liberalism and secularism all over the world. America and Great Britain are doing well on the education front. In Pakistan, scholarships are being given at primary level. Every student is getting benefit from it. War is beneficial only for minute minority whereas the war-free world is beneficial for all human beings.

The role of international institutions can only be efficient if the Davis Men are cooperative. The need of the hour is to take away the weapons from the medieval men which were given to them during the Cold War. The international institutions should work on two levels. Firstly, they should give justice to the deprived. It is necessary as Russell has said in The Ethics of War (1915):

“But with regard to the poor classes of society, economic progress is the first condition of many spiritual goods and even often of life itself.”

Secondly, they should make themselves effective. Groups should be targeted and not countries. “To curb violence through violence” has proved wrong due to the collateral damage in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. It has badly tarnished the image of the liberal community all over the world. Direct strike on a country cannot be justified. Penetration in civil authorities through peaceful means is possible and can be worked out. The money being used in war must be used in promotion of education; particularly in the clergy-ridden countries. The day will be not far when public will reject the hate-promoters and will side the great powers. Only then centralization will be beneficial.

The best way to eliminate the groups who advocate war is to isolate them. It does not mean that their bread and butter should be snatched. It should be done through the empowerment of liberal masses. The majority of the human being is liberal. So the majority should be empowered. The masses can be empowered only through empowering UNO. UNO can be empowered by the financial support of the Davis Men. Instead of investing on militants, as they have done in the past, they should give this money to UNO. This money should be invested in education, mineral exploration, software projects and on building infrastructure in the backward regions. All the projects must be compatible with the culture of the regions. For example, if the people of Waziristan are not happy with co-education, separate institutions should be established for males and females. The land from which minerals are explored must be given the benefit out of their utility.

Suppose, if the certain country accepts the conditional aid, given by America and Great Britain, its benefits will be watched by the whole world. Thus, there will be a temptation in the political parties to give such programs in the promise to the public. In this way, the good programs will spread all over the world. The backward Muslim countries should be given maximum aid with strict monitoring and strict conditions. The most important condition should be that of audit as in Kerry-Lugar Bill. Corruption is rampant in the Muslim world and clergy uses double channels to get benefits. In the Muslim world, the clergy is almost as strong as it was in France before the 1789 Revolution. But the difference is that this is the modern world and we can get rid of them in an easier way.

Today, the world is fed up with the religious and the ideological reforms. It is the time to talk about the basic problems and those problems are security, bread and butter, and right to live honorably. The clergy was rendered powerless in Europe and now it is the turn of Asia. But in Asia, clergy should be eliminated through the peaceful procedure. Only then the basic causes of war can be eradicated.