MY REMEMBRANCE DAY:

 It all happened on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, of 1918 when the First World War hostilities formally ended, and the occasion got the flag of Remembrance Day.

World War1 began in 1914 until 1918. During the conflict, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire (the Central Powers) fought against Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Romania, Japan, the United States, and Canada (the Allied Powers).

In the four years of the war, 16 million soldiers and civilians alike were dead.

Remembrance Day is the armistice day to mark the war's end and remember and honour those who die in the line of duty.

For that reason, Remembrance Day is a sad day that human lives got sacrificed by the decisions and orders of the ruling elite of the combating nations.

On the battlefields, humanity gets divided as enemies. Human beings appear marked targets. Those who got killed become martyrs, and the killers emerge as heroes.

When 16 million people died during WW1 as soldiers and civilians, imagine how many families faced devastation, how many children were orphaned, how many women became widowed.

But that is least remembered. What is more significant is the essentiality of war.

It is staged with utmost fervour of nationalism and patriotism so that "by the sacrifices made by the courageous and brave, we live in the free world."

True, their sacrifices matter. But why war in the first place. Is it the failure of the leaders or their intentions that ignite a war?

The ruling leaders are not hurt or die on the battleground. The soldiers die.

The First World War, the Second World War, and the ongoing wars on every continent of the globe cost trillions of dollars annually in military spending with catastrophic consequences impacting every aspect of the planet earth.

When there are no more wars, nations dissolve their armies, factories that manufacture deadly bombs, missiles, tanks, etc., and even the AK-47s get raised to the ground; that would be the signal for my Remembrance Day.

-Promod Puri

 RELIGIONS NEED TO BE FREE FROM FANATICS:

Fanatic Hindu, fanatic Muslim, fanatic Sikh, fanatic Christian, Jew, or Buddhist!

These are the labels we often hear or assign to persons of different faiths based on our involvements and experiences or by the society with its blanket overlook.

The prefix fanatic undoubtedly contaminates the purity of religion to which it is attached and obscure its spiritual pathways?

Moreover, the pejorative affix over a while creates the visible face of a religious order. In this frame, expressions like Islamic extremism and Islamophobia influence the perception of Islam in its religious presentation.

Religious fanaticism develops when ritualistic commitments get more emphasis and involvement than apprehending and pursuing the theological education offered by faith.

Zealous engagement focusing on the security, protection and preservation of the rituals, customs and traditions of religion reflects the mind of a fanatic believing that service or commitment to the faith lies in these acts.

No religion in the world faces danger; instead, the fanatics make the followers believe so.

In this behaviour, fanatics get obsessed with ceremonial practices, only believing that is their religion.

Ritualistic flavours of different faiths give a strong and bonded sense of belonging and identity to a fanatic who leeches on to a religion sucking its divine vitality.

 

While rituals give religion character, identity, and dynamics, the excessive and exuberant practices create fanaticism that offers nil attachment to a faith.

A fanatic is a fanatic to the core with a raging and rough temperament who does not need separate identities like fanatic Hindu, fanatic Muslim, fanatic Sikh, fanatic Christian, Jew, or Buddhist.

-Promod Puri