A few years ago, I watched a movie called War Games released in the year 1983. It was created during the peak of the Cold War between the USA and the Soviet Union and was based on that context. The main theme of the movie was to convey the message that war benefits no one. At the end of the movie, the AI war simulation engine declared in a robotic voice, "A strange game. The only winning move is not to play."
After the Pahalgam terrorist attack on innocent tourists on 22 April 2025, we are in shock, we are sad, and we are angry. Our blood is boiling, and we want quick retaliation from our government. I see people on different social media platforms posting about an upcoming war. News channels is television are discussing about the military strength and weakness of Indian and Pakistan. I myself want those terrorists to be found and punished brutally, but I do not want a war. Those who are talking about war and thinking Pakistan will be wiped off the map are wrong. The reality will be harsh - innocent people from both sides will lose their lives, their property, and their loved ones. Warmongers around the world build and sell weapons and create terrorist organizations by fooling people through indoctrination. These terrorist organizations cannot directly take control of governments, so they try to commit heinous acts to provoke us or our government into taking wrong steps. Yuval Noah Harari expressed this fact in his book Homo Deus. An excerpt below is an example.
Terrorists are like a fly that tries to destroy a china shop. The fly is so weak that it cannot budge even a single teacup. So it finds a bull, gets inside its ear and starts buzzing. The bull goes wild with fear and anger, and destroys the china shop. This is what happened in the Middle East in the last decade. Islamic fundamentalists could never have toppled Saddam Hussein by themselves. Instead they enraged the USA by the 9/11 attacks, and the USA destroyed the Middle Eastern china shop for them. Now they flourish in the wreckage. By themselves, terrorists are too weak to drag us back to the Middle Ages and re-establish the Jungle Law. They may provoke us, but in the end, it all depends on our reactions. If the Jungle Law comes back into force, it will not be the fault of terrorists.
Let us stand together in solidarity with the families who have lost their loved ones in this heinous terrorist attack. In this moment of grief and anger, I believe it is more important than ever to stand against war, because war will only bring more suffering, especially for future generations. I strongly believe that our government will find those filthy, cowardly, brainwashed terrorists and punish them appropriately. I also trust that the government will take the necessary steps to prevent such monstrous acts from ever happening again in our homeland.
