A wall to end all walls

Just when ordinary people around the globe were heaving a sigh of relief at the thought that ‘walls’ may be going out of fashion, came the bombshell that American presidential hopeful Donald Trump is raring to bring them back. His plan is to build a huge wall along the US-Mexico border to keep prospective immigrants out and presumably to keep ‘the American way of life’ safe from contamination. Whatever the justification, there is something abhorrent about projects to wall in — or wall out — people. Should not all right-thinking people be thinking of pulling down the existing dividers, rather than erecting more of them? Let us not forget that walls in history have mostly done more harm than good. Why not, then, learn from history rather than be condemned to repeat it?

When the Berlin Wall finally came down, right-thinking people all over the world heaved a collective sigh of relief. The sense of relief, however, was somewhat premature. For instance, pictures coming out of Palestine showed horrid wall structures of massive proportions put up by Israel for the ostensible purpose of keeping themselves safe from the pesky stone-throwers of the ‘intifada’. Meanwhile, Indian authorities had hurried through with the completion of a fence (read wall) along a good part of the Line of Control in the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir. Visits exchanged by Indian and Pakistani peaceniks gave rise to slogans about the imperative need to bring down the figurative ‘Berlin Wall’ between the two countries. There is no objection in principle to this noble thought. It is just that no one appears to have given a wee thought to the reason why such walls go up in the first place. Nor do the peaceniks turn a discerning eye towards the physical walls while they shout from housetops about the need to eliminate the figurative ones. Given the propensity of the human species to be constantly at one another’s throats, the wall does afford the semblance of security of sorts. Viewed from this angle, the wall may well be looked upon as a symbol of security. Not that all walls have equal impact. Some walls in history are more famous (or infamous) than others. While some have lived up to their promise as providers of security, others have had just the opposite effect.

Those who conceptualised the Great Wall of China possessed great vision. They reasoned that there is nothing like a great big wall to safeguard one’s privacy. The Great Wall of China, when completed, was an imposing and awe-inspiring edifice, enough to put the fear of God into the minds of the hardiest of would-be invaders. It appears to have done its bit to discourage invaders for quite a while.

At no juncture in history has there been a dearth of walls on this blessed planet of ours. In today’s world, beset as it is with pestilences of the likes of globalisation, one need hardly over-emphasise the insurmountable walls of tariffs and subsidies raised around themselves by prosperous countries. While talking glibly of free trade and a global village, the rich countries continue to weave a web of invisible walls around themselves to preserve their position as islets of prosperity and privilege in a vast sea of poverty and want. And, then, how can one ignore the walls of racial and ethnic prejudice being erected in several regions. Perhaps the most ugly and abominable walls are those born out of suspicion and hatred. In actual truth, man’s inhumanity to man has spawned more deadly walls than have bricks and mortar! From a larger perspective, even that citadel of hope, the UN, has regrettably played its part to add to the walls, disfiguring the world’s landscape, rather than help demolish some existing ones. Each ceasefire line the UN jealously guards represents yet another wall that need not be there at all. Let the elders of the world do their bit to cure its ills. We have so many Nobel laureates on the loose end, so to speak. Why not constitute one or more Councils of Elders to apply their collective minds to devise solutions for the world’s ills. They could make a beginning by having a go at the root causes of terrorism and extremism. And, the world, and humanity, would be better off with a few walls less!

Published in The Express Tribune, September 11^th, 2016.

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