‘Sometimes, war is inevitable for peace’

While war is almost always synonymous with pain and suffering, one scholar disagrees and suggests that sometimes, war is inevitable for peace.

This was stated by renowned scholar Professor Fateh Muhammad Malik as a two-day International Multilingual Conference on “Post-Conflict Literature, Trauma and Global Peace” kicked off on Monday.

The conference has been organized by the faculty of languages at the National University of Modern Languages (NUML).

In his address, Prof Malik contended that not every war causes trauma.

He explained that the 1965 war was still a proud moment for him and other literary and poetic personalities who wrote extensively to pay rich tribute to the armed forces and the public who fought shoulder-to-shoulder to defeat the enemy.

“Sometimes war is inevitable for peace and yes some wars bring pain and trauma also,” he said, adding that intellectuals and literary figures such as Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi had written masterpieces on the 1965 war where they extolled the sacrifices of the public.

He hoped that after the conference, a book will be produced for the upcoming generations dilating on the discussions in the event.

In this context, he complained that most conferences ended without solid write-ups capturing the essence of what was discussed or presented.

NUML Rector Major-General (retd) Ziauddin Najam hoped that this conference will pave the way for diverse inputs from across the globe as participants represent different parts of the world.

Earlier, NUML Faculty of Languages Dean Dr Safeer Awan briefed the participants about the conference and its aims and objectives in details. The conference saw the participation of NUML Director-General Brig (retired) Muhammad Ibrahim, Palestine embassy’s First Secretary, renowned poet Iftikhar Arif, scholars from the USA, Russia, China, Poland, Palestine and Turkey, along with faculty members and a large number of students.

As many as 90 research articles are expected to be presented during the two-day conference by local and international scholars. 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 30^th, 2019.