Jacob Bronowski, the chronicler of science, says the ability of human beings to oppose the thumb to the forefinger led to the first major step in human evolution. It simply means that the ability to hold and manipulate things led to the creation of tools with flint and iron initially, but later, with all sorts of matter and energy. Even at this stage, humans must have realized that these tools have another potential use, not a peaceful one, in the guise of protecting oneself and others. Initially, animals, then other humans, can be attacked and killed. This narrative continues even today. The tool is technology, the enemy is the other and the aim is the protection of the self and whatever is considered as one’s own, including a host of extended identities valuable to oneself, but abominable in others. One now wonders whether what Bronowski considered as the first step in ‘The Ascent of Man’ viz., the invention of technology contains the seeds of destruction of men and women, animals and plants, rivers and mountains, and all other existences. This is the question we hope to explore in this issue of Pax Lumina.

In this issue, we look at the possible corrosive structures and forces that can hamper the flourishing of democracy in any country or region. Some of these factors may be open and visible, but others are indirect and less apparent but more insidious. We hear reports from
across the globe detailing the threats to democracy faced by different countries and societies.

Abuse in any form disables and destroys the principal participant and all others connected with the evil process. Though in this issue of Pax Lumina, we are focusing on the violent repercussions of substance abuse, all other types of abuse, whether that be of money, power, or relationships, are equally damaging. Unfortunately, the damage does not stop with the annihilation of the principal victim; it extends to the family, society, and ultimately to the human race itself.

Pax Lumina considers caring for the other an option that has to be explored in this context. This issue focuses on this question. Not really the rationality of this question, but its relevance to the meaning of one's existence, as demonstrated by the varied narratives and stories of caring for the abandoned and the unentitled in different parts of this planet by people of goodwill.

Across the world, it is seen that the weaker participants in almost all situations of life receive treatment that is unjust and exploitative. The the term ‘weak’ is relative, but this tendency of the ruthlessness of the strong towards the weak seems to be universally prevalent among all living beings, except when emotions of love and empathy, or values of fair play and justice come into play. In this issue, we examine this pathological bent of mind of the human race, and probably of all living beings. First of all, let us ask the question: Who is the weak?

A person's identity is a social and psychological construct. Though we talk about the identity of a person as something innate and immutable, it is hardly so. Often, it is a product of chance and circumstances. This contingent nature of identity is often forgotten leading to very unpleasant social, psychological and wider consequences. In this issue of Pax Lumina, we focus on identity and its relation to violence, and therefore, to peace.

Pax Lumina tries to chronicle the efforts of our friends all over the planet to bring peace to areas and communities which writhe
under the curse of violence. It should be admitted that though everyone knows that violence of any sort is a negation of human dignity
of both the self and the other, in the interest of expediency and result orientedness, often violence is resorted to, condoned, and even commended. Aggression and wars thus take place. Actually, peace does not occupy headline space, violence does. In this context, for a magazine like Pax Lumina, to pursue peace and reconciliation doggedly needs a lot of determination and patience.

In this Issue of Pax Lumina, we have tried through our writer-friends from all over the world to look into the various dimensions of inequalities we human beings encounter on this planet and possible solutions to address them. Of course, our chosen path is one of non-violence and therefore we have not considered the different attempts at amelioration of inequalities that human history is replete with.

What health means is not clearly understood. This is evident from the way different societies, cultures, and even individuals look at it and deal with it. And, when an additional and mostly ill-understood, and even misunderstood variable, namely the mind comes in, the matter becomes vague with serious consequences for society and the individual. In this issue of Pax Lumina, this is clearly illustrated by our writers from different countries and cultures. Also, the thinking on this subject varies substantially, amongst different intellectuals. Take the case of the modern French philosopher Michel Foucault. He held the view that rationality itself is a construct created by society to exclude, and even do away with those who think and act differently from the rest of the population, that is, those who question the dominant rationality and its mores. His famous book, 'The history of madness' explores and elucidates this thinking historically. The situation has improved somewhat, we can say, from the days of ‘chaining the mad,’ but the field of mental health is still clouded by superstition, ignorance, and most importantly, lack of empathy.

The world food crisis has not come upon us suddenly. Of course, the  Ukraine War precipitated matters. What has been a conflict between Russia and Ukraine has got amplified by the supply bottlenecks faced especially in the corn and cereal supplies to the rest of the world. It is strange to observe that when thousands of people, soldiers, their families, and children died, the world was not as worried as it is now when the prospects of hunger loomed large before the world with imminent disruption of grain supplies to the rest of the world.

The nations of the world are much more interdependent today than they were in the past. This happens because of the import and export of commodities, technologies, information, and even viruses. In this context, Pax Lumina would like to raise the question: How do the poor, the weak, and the excluded get affected by the present global economic imbalances as well as the legacy of the past structural iniquities of the world? Our contributors from many parts of the world have written about this with concern and empathy. They have also indicated some ways of thinking about solutions that can give us some hope.

Ukraine war has slipped out of the headlines, though not yet disappeared altogether from the news. There are some lone voices are still being raised.The kinematics of this war is by now fairly known to everyone. Any one of the players can stop playing the war game and the war will end and negotiations can begin.

Rape is universal infamy. It happens all the time, from high noon to midnight. It happens everywhere, from the mighty precincts of the
high, holy, and hallowed to the lowly backyards of the metros, cities, towns, and villages. Thus, it is the most perverse equalizer except that the victim is always the same, the powerless, irrespective of class, caste, race, and color. Rape is the uncontrolled application of power with the well-defined objective of the total annihilation of the other.

Tthe consequences of climate change affect the poor and the marginalized disproportionately and harshly, especially in the short term. In the long run, the future of the planet becomes endangered. This fact has been highlighted in recent years by grassroots activists and empathetic thinkers who care not solely for themselves and their pleasures but also for the lives and livelihoods of other less fortunate humans. Happily, this campaign has had some effect. An awareness has crept into people that climate change is a threat to each living being on this planet.

This issue of Pax Lumina focuses on the world of the differently-abled. When this topic was mentioned, there were some eyebrows raised, politically correct ones for sure. The world of the differently-abled, according to those eyebrows, conjures up an image of a different, separate world for some of us who are less fortunate than those “abled” inhabiting the rest of the society. We agree; but also disagree. Yes, discrimination of all forms reinforces stereotypes that perpetuate further discrimination, exploitation and cruelty. But, on the other hand, if we do not talk straight and hide behind politically correct and diplomatically acceptable gibberish, the truth will be hidden from those who can face the truth and act for change. This magazine addresses such people. When we looked at what we thought to be the world of the differently-abled certain things became clear. There is no clear boundary between the world of the differently-abled and the world of the so-called abled. It is all mixed-up and fuzzy. There is only one world of people, all differently-abled in different ways. Of course, there are those who care and those who have yet to learn to care. While the former does their best to share their abilities with those who need them, the latter just talks and talks. But all of us, I am sure, will agree that one of the biggest problems facing the world today is pollution. It is noise pollution. Instead, we need action. And we feature some of those who have reached out to their neighbours on this planet with hope, dream and empathy. It is also true that the differently-abled do not form an undifferentiated mass of humans waiting for our sympathy. They too have a right to live a life of fulfilment and honour here. Many people do not even understand what autism is.

All religious texts speak of peace as the ultimate goal of a human being. Peace is invoked during many religious rituals. Religious greetings generally comprise peace and its synonyms. Yet, many consider religion to be the cause of much violence in the world both in the past and the present. At the level of nations, most theocratic states inflict direct and indirect violence on their own citizens especially the most vulnerable, women, children, and the other excluded. Look at the Taliban which has come back to power in Afghanistan. They have shown themselves to be viscerally and sadistically intolerant of women and art. Can their guiding force be any kind of a religion? The founders of all religions preached peace, love, justice, tolerance, and a host of other desirable values. But when these ideals got concretized into institutions and organizations, they appear to have been short-changed for the need for preservation of the organizational identity and its expansion. Conquest for the accumulation of wealth and power seems to have replaced the original ideals.

All his life Fr. Stan Swamy SJ had fought for the protection of human rights of the excluded; the undertrials and the Adivasis. It is, indeed, a cruel irony that he had to die as an undertrial. But the irony does not end here. While his struggles and protests were peaceful and non-violent and involved only legal recourses guaranteed under the Constitution, the charges leveled against him amounted to abetment to waging war against the State. Also, the rights he sought to ensure for others were denied to him after his arrest under the Unlawful Activities [Prevention] Act (UAPA). Does UAPA or for that matter any other law of the land permit such a treatment to an undertrial?

Depending on the economic, social, and cultural background the youth vent
their frustration and anger in various ways. Some try to change the system,
some broker an uneasy peace and join it and some others opt out of it
altogether with tragic consequences. But even others who do not adopt the
path of violence but advocate peaceful change while protesting tyranny and
exploitation are also looked upon with suspicion by the authorities. Often,
non-violence in these cases is met with violence. This seems to be a universal
phenomenon. In this issue, we try to portray the spectrum of anxiety, despair and hope the young people all over the world today carry with them especially
in the context of the raging pandemic.

Childhood is lost to children because of a variety of reasons and this loss permeates all sections of the society cutting across class, caste, region, culture and any other categorization one can think of. Yes, the pain and trauma of the loss may differ.

The condition of the sex workers has not changed, if not for the worse, from the time Picasso painted them. They remain where they are, in their ghettoes, universally lit up in the red of the setting Sun stoically waiting for the darkness to swallow them. But there are lights of hope.We feature brave women and men who, despite all odds, have shown that change is possible, justice and peace are realizable. We just want to walk with the excluded in the hope of some meaningful action from those who are moved by the plight of these unfortunate people who are part of our society.

The focus of this issue is manual scavengers and their nullified lives. We know they are alive because of the indispensable work they do in collecting, removing, carrying and dumping the most dispensable commodity human beings produce-- excreta. The primary work of collection from the lakhs of dry latrines that still exist in many parts of India is done by women of certain communities which form the lowest of the low of the outcastes.

We are deeply delighted to let you know that Peace and Reconciliation Network of the Jesuit Conference of South Asia, along with its Nodal Agency, Loyola Institute of Peace and International Relations (LIPI), Kochi, has launched the  online Magazine: PAX LUMINA: A Quest for Peace and Reconciliation.

We are deeply delighted to let you know that Peace and Reconciliation Network of the Jesuit Conference of South Asia, along with its Nodal Agency, Loyola Institute of Peace and International Relations (LIPI), Kochi, has launched the online Magazine: PAX LUMINA: A Quest for Peace and Reconciliation.

We are deeply delighted to let you know that Peace and Reconciliation Network of the Jesuit Conference of South Asia, along with its Nodal Agency, Loyola Institute of Peace and International Relations (LIPI), Kochi, has launched the first issue of  the online Magazine: PAX LUMINA: A Quest for Peace and Reconciliation.

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Peace and Reconciliation Network of the Jesuit Conference of South Asia, along with its Nodal Agency, Loyola Institute of Peace and International Relations (LIPI), Kochi, has launched the first issue of  the online Magazine: PAX LUMINA: A Quest for Peace and Reconciliation.

This is brought out with a view to promoting Peace and Reconciliation worldwide with a South Asian Perspective. In fact, we are highly privileged to have an array of eminent scholars, writers and peace practitioners in our Advisory/Editorial Board.

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PAX LUMINA Magazine - January 2023

PAX LUMINA Magazine - January 2023

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