The Soldier’s Consent

This country has not seen and probably will never know the true level of sacrifice of our veterans”. As a civilian, I owe an unpayable debt to all our military. Going forward let’s not send our servicemen and women off to war or conflict zones unless it is overwhelmingly justifiable and on moral high ground.

Thomas M Smith

Probably Thomas was right in saying this. One question has always haunted me — Whom are we fighting for? The country? The people? Or is it really the people in power? The truth is any country that decides only to protect its sovereign integrity will send its children only to defend and not invade. As the world is witnessing what is happening in Europe, Russia and elsewhere there arises a bigger question — Is it worth it? Is it worth killing so many lives in the name of power, religion, ethnicity and all the other reasons that are given?

You and I may justify it for either side of the answer to this question but the one that needs to answer is that man or woman who is standing face to face with the enemy.

Enemy — an interesting word. Who is an enemy? One who is from the other side of the line that we refer to as the border? Or is the one from another religion which someone from ours said is against us? Practically, we don’t have enemies but we make many because of the nature of human beings. No one is hostile to you if you treat them with respect, dignity and love.

The world has spoken quite about women’s rights and women being treated equally. When has the world or its leaders spoke about being one world and not 200 odd countries? Every leader is definitely a hero in his/ her part of the world. But I think we need world leaders and those leaders need to be heroes of the world and not just one group of people. Having said that a quote comes to my mind.

Out of every one hundred men, ten shouldn’t even be there, eighty are just targets, nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior, and he will bring the others back.

Heraclitus

So, the world needs that one warrior. Not to kill but to lead everyone to peace and harmony by not killing anyone. Alas! that ain’t possible because our very system of functioning over the last thousands of years is structured in a way that we would eventually fight at some point in time. But the thing that needs to be remembered is to fight for what is right and not for someone who told you to.

And the question is yet to be answered. Does the soldier wish to fight? Any hardcore military vet or serving personnel would say “ Of course, I would” and leaders would say “There is nothing to ask whether the soldier wishes or not”. I say, Why not? For those who are just defending their people’s rights and the country’s freedom, this question is not applicable but for those who are invading, it is. Let’s come to the burning topic.

Russia invades Ukraine for all the reasons that the invader can justify better. The leader of Russia decided to invade Ukraine for the reasons he knows better. All these reasons that can be given can very well be justified by Russia and its leader but are they justified by the Russian troops? I am definitely not talking about Ukraine’s struggle because this ain’t a blog about that. The question is Was the Soldier asked whether he is ready to fight this war? That wouldn’t be so because this ain’t their war.

Similarly,

China invades India on multiple occasions.

Were the Chinese troops given the choice of choosing whether to fight or not? Absolutely not. Many were driven to war in the name of their Country’s glory.

History says it all. Invaders don't ask their troops before fighting and defenders can never ask their troops before defending. Though my point of discussion was to express my sadness that a soldier loses his life for a reason he is actually not aware of, I very well know that he cannot be asked. Because that is what a soldier is. He fights where he is ordered and he wins where he fights. There is no losing in war. It is either winning or sacrificing.

But my appeal to each and everyone who is reading this is that countries need to respect a soldier’s consent too. Because like us he too has a family and he blindly believes whatever you tell him as the cause to fight. I know I can’t change world leaders' thoughts and their intentions but I hope I can make a difference by taking this piece of thought to their ears.

Freedom to consent has to be given to soldiers. Nations united or the (UN) must include this as a general rule of engagement. Countries that decide to invade another for whatever reason, need to take consent from their soldiers who are going to be fighting the war. Defending countries obviously won't have this choice. Imagine this becomes a reality….

I don’t think there would be any war at all. No more loss of life for a reason that is unjustified in terms of human rights.

This may sound stupid to many but this is definitely the need of the hour. Like we all have the Right to Choose, a Soldier should be given the choice of the Right to Consent to fight. I leave you with this thought…

The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.

Albert Einstein