Maulana Wahiduddin Khan | The Sunday Guardian | Dec 10, 2017

Peace is the most discussed theme in the world. Every section of society claims that it wants to establish peace. It is difficult to find a single person who is an exception to this rule. But, why is it that peace has remained only a subject for debate, and to this day has failed to become a practical reality? This contradiction is very strange, but it is a fact that no one can deny.

The reason is that people have bracketed other ideas along with peace, which are not directly related to it. For example, people say they want 'peace with justice', or 'peace with human rights' and so on. Such definitions of peace are unrealistic, and hence they are not practically achievable.

Peace relates to 'means' and not to 'ends'. All peace does is open up opportunities. It is then up to people to avail of these opportunities to achieve their goals. Peace cannot present a person with what he desires. It is for the person himself to reach his goal through planning and struggle.

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According to the law of nature, the only right way to establish peace is to go all out to do so, without associating any other issue with it. Once peace is established, then it is everyone's own task to discover opportunities and avail of them through realistic planning.

Rain cannot of itself grow fruits and vegetables, rain is only meant for the purpose of irrigation. It is for the farmer to carry out irrigation by utilizing the rainwater and sowing the seeds in the soil to yield the required end products.

The same is true of peace. Peace is like rain. Peace only provides you with the opportunities. It is up to people to avail of these opportunities by wise planning. That is why 'peace for the sake of peace' is the right formula.