Violence and peace ! - it depends on where words are said !!!!!

Throughout human civilization, there have been wars and without wars, for sure, Civilisation could have had better pages.  War is bad – it is never good for the warring countries even as Russia-Ukraine war enters day 917.  More a post on ‘Violence’ – that includes words – it is not about what is said, but where they are ! – can someone in a civilized society proclaim ! – ‘ we will cut whoever comes ‘ !!!!!! 

The word violence comes from the Latin violentia, itself derived from violentus. This adjective has its origin in the noun vis, force, taken in Latin from the Proto-Italic *wīs, and before that from the Proto-Indo-European *wéyh₁s. The latter can be traced back to another word *weyh₁-, meaning to suppress, to persecute. The word violence refers to a destructive power that does not contemplate the other except as annihilation, as opposed to aggression that implies a determined goal. Violence, therefore, is something much more absolute. When we speak of violence it includes words of violence too as they incite and turn people on another ! 

No matter what part of the world we come from, we are all basically the same human beings. We all seek happiness and try to avoid suffering. We have the same basic human needs and is concerns. All of us human beings want freedom and the right to determine our own destiny as individuals and as peoples. That is human nature. The great changes that are taking place everywhere in the world, from Eastern Europe to Africa are a clear indication of this.-  excerpted from the speech of the  14th Dalai Lama's Nobel Lecture

 

You may search the web to read about - Philip John Noel-Baker, [1889 – 1982),   a British politician, diplomat, academic, athlete, and renowned campaigner for disarmament.   

If the World shuns war and wants peace – it must encourage and appreciate peace. The Nobel Peace Prize   is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiology or Medicine, and Literature. Since March 1901, it has been awarded annually (with some exceptions) to people who have "done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses”.

 

The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded 104 times to 141 Nobel Prize laureates between 1901 and 2023, 111 individuals and 30 Organisations. Since the International Committee of the Red Cross has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize three times (in 1917, 1944 and 1963), and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize two times (in 1954 and 1981), there are 27 individual organisations which have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. 

According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who in the preceding year "shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses". Alfred Nobel's will further specified that the prize be awarded by a committee of five people chosen by the Norwegian Parliament. Nobel died in 1896 and he did not leave an explanation for choosing peace as a prize category. As he was a trained chemical engineer, the categories for chemistry and physics were obvious choices. The reasoning behind the peace prize is less clear. According to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, his friendship with Bertha von Suttner, a peace activist and later recipient of the prize, profoundly influenced his decision to include peace as a category.  Some Nobel scholars suggest it was Nobel's way to compensate for developing destructive forces. His inventions included dynamite and ballistite, both of which were used violently during his lifetime. 

The Norwegian Parliament appoints the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which selects the Nobel Peace Prize laureate.  Five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament. In his will, Alfred Nobel tasked the parliament of Norway with selecting the winners of the Nobel Peace Prize. At the time, Norway and Sweden were in a loose personal union.  The committee is assisted by its secretariat, Norwegian Nobel Institute. The committee holds their meetings in the institute's building, where the winner is also announced. Since 1990, however, the award ceremony takes place in Oslo City Hall.

The medal for the Peace Prize was designed by the Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland in 1901. Vigeland's profile sculpture of Alfred Nobel differs from Erik Lindberg's profile of Nobel on the chemistry, literature, physics, and physiology or medicine medals. The reverse of the medal features three men in a 'fraternal bond' and the inscription "Pro pace et fraternitate gentium" ("For the peace and brotherhood of men"). The edge of the medal is inscribed with the year of its awarding, with the name of its recipient and "Prix Nobel de la Paix". 

Nobel Peace Prize controversies often reach beyond the academic community. Criticisms that have been levelled against some of the awards include allegations that they were politically motivated, premature, or guided by a faulty definition of what constitutes work for peace.  The awards given to Mikhail Gorbachev,[45] Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat, Lê Đức Thọ, Henry Kissinger, Jimmy Carter, Barack Obama, Abiy Ahmed, and the European Union have all been the subject of controversy. The 1973 award to Henry Kissinger and Lê Đức Thọ may have been the most controversial, with two members of the selection committee resigning in protest and widespread derision in the press. 

Philip John Noel-Baker  is unique.  He carried the British team flag and won a silver medal for the 1500m at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1959.  Noel-Baker is the only person to have won an Olympic medal and received a Nobel Prize.  He was a Labour Member of Parliament (UK) for 36 years, serving from 1929 to 1931 and again from 1936 to 1970, serving in several ministerial offices and the cabinet. 

 

Now take a look at this photo and read the last line of first para ! – ‘ we will cut whoever comes ‘ !!!!!! – appreciate the humour sense !
 
With regards- S Sampathkumar
30.8.2024