ACH country has its own reasons to lament war and many have developed ways to remember the dead. A most visually arresting exercise was when the centenary of the First World War was observed. The scarlet poppy has been worn on Remembrance Day since 1921 to commemorate the millions that fell, and last year for several weeks the Tower of London`s dry moat was filled with over 800,000 ceramic poppies in an art installation titled `Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red`. In many other places, traditions include observing minutes of silence, assemblies at soldiers` graveyards, etc.

All such ceremonies have one thing in common: they are sombre, serious affairs to reflect on the gravity of conflict and its long-lasting consequences. The message is clear: war is something that ought not to be celebrated. Indeed, to do so would be distastefulwhich is why the suggestion attributed by the Indian press to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is so particularly jarring. The Kolkata-based Telegraph reported on Monday that the right-wing government has ordered its armed forces to organise a `carnival` to mark 50 years of the 1965 war with Pakistan. This three-week-long extravaganza is to take place in the heart of New Delhi, with tableaux, processions and exhibitions.

Mr Modi`s government may have its own agenda in making these plans, but it is difficult not to find such a display of gratuitous chest-thumping abhorrent. The families of those who lost their lives, whether here or across the border, are bound to be dismayed at the prospect of the conflict, which claimed so many lives, being turned into a spectacle with the basest of motives. Yet, such a move is unfortunately entirely in line with the current Indian government`s apparent determination to adopt a hawkish approach towards Pakistan in order to garner domestic support. This is a great pity; what this region needs is peace and stability and that will not be possible until both countries make sincere efforts in this direction.