"There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.”—Howard Zinn

The world today has become more polarised than ever before despite unprecedented progress made in the means of communication that humankind has access to. With the earth politically fragmented in 195 fragments, each claiming to be independent of each other, the people on this planet are now confined within territorial limits, whereby any transgression i.e. illegal crossing of boundaries, is subject to severe punishment.

In other words, human beings’ movements are restricted by regulations imposed by states. Fair enough! All persons have the right to choose whom they give access to their front doors, then why not countries? So, just as people are sovereign in their homes, nations too have their right to open or close their borders for anyone. Amazingly, animals, birds, winds, dust, waters etc. are free to roam around the planet wherever they please—nature on one side and human beings on the other.

This scenario has given rise to nationhood where the entire world is divided into ‘us’ and ‘them.’ The concept of brotherhood has been overtaken by nationhood, where every nation considers itself unlike the other in practically all aspects of life. The rise of nation states has led to an imbalance in human values and the concept of being inferior or superior has become ingrained in the minds of humans. Just like a family hiding its secrets from its neighbours, each country desires to safeguard its own natural and acquired resources from other countries. Being suspicious of one another, doubting the other’s intentions and securing its territorial limits have become the highlights of our global........

© The Friday Times