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It is a time when the trouncing waves of intolerance are about to wash over us and the Horacian axiom “Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori” (It looks sweet and fitting to die for one's country) still produces an infectious and renewed enthusiasm for jingoism across the globe. Notwithstanding its widespread acceptance, many authors, artists and poets express disdain for glorifying warfare by turning attention to the grotesque and appalling aftermath of the brutal reality of conquest.
For them, war leaves behind an unending legacy of pain and torment and their creative outpouring draws its sustenance from Wilfred Owen's acclaimed anti-war poem “Dulce et Decorum est” that offers a satirical commentary on war.
In line with it, the futility of bloodshed and hatred is evocatively articulated by a well known Urdu poet Sahir Ludhianvi. War, contrary to popular notion, according to the poet, can never resolve an issue as it blots us every trace of optimism and expectation. War itself is the biggest problem. War produced borders symbolising never ending cycle of hatred and revenge, but the borders can offer an alternative perspective if the guns are raised to salute separation and it is what celebrated poet and artist Sukrita Paul captures effortlessly: “I love...