THERE would be hardly any philosopher or thinker who has ever spoken in favour of war. Countless arguments against waging war have been presented, and almost all of them are convincing. But one sentence (often attributed to the inimitable philosopher Bertrand Russell, though one is not sure) hits hate-mongers the hardest: `War does not determine who is right; it only determines who is left.

The September 1965 India-Pakistan war was no different. India`s unprovoked aggression led to a bloody battle that lasted for a couple of weeks, causing physical and psychological damage on both sides.

Among the worst victims of the conflict, as is always the case in a dispute between countries, were children.

Hundreds lost their parents, rendering them shelterless and no one to care for them. Unlike today, the authorities in Pakistan at the time tried their best to handle a critical situation before it went out of hand. In Karachi, there used to be a Committee for the Care of Orphans and Destitute Children. On Dec 10, 1965 thecommittee held a meeting presided over by commissioner of Karachi Syed Darbar Ali Shah. It was decided at the meeting that 400 orphans rendered homeless by enemy action would be looked after by welfare agencies that were operational in the city. And they did. Come to think of it, if today such a committee existed, it would do countless street children a world of good.

Two months had passed after the war, and the pungent smell of gunpowder was still in the air. After all, it was the first full-blown battle between the two neighbouring nations. That week, President of Pakistan Gen Ayub Khan was in Karachi. He arrived in the city from Rawalpindi on Dec 6. Addressing a large number of people who had come to the airport to greet him, he said Pakistan wanted to live in peace with India, but peace could not be maintained unilaterally.

He was right, because peace is a prerequisite for any country that wishes to tread on the path of progress and prosperity. Disquiet impedes growth (in every field of life). Take, for example, education. A survey conducted by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, published on Dec 13 in this newspaper, disclosed that inKarachi more than 450,000 boys and girls between five and 20 years of age were not receiving education. The number constituted about 65 per cent of the total schoolgoing population of the city which was 708,000, to be precise. Wasn`t that alarming? But why use the past tense? The situation in 2015 is not an encouraging one either.

Education is important for many reasons, one of which is the fact that illiteracy breeds crime (not that only uneducated people commit crime). The crackdown on corrupt practices and people is not a new exercise.

On Dec 11, the anti-smuggling squad of the Karachi Sea Customs seized a big quantity of smuggled gold, watches and 300,000 rupees from a decrepit house in Mithadar. According to a media report, the smugglers had earlier succeeded in eluding no less than three investigating agencies. They had used an `ingenious` method of hiding contraband items, concealing them inside an electric switchboard on the cracked walls of the house. A search revealed that there were tin-panelled cavities behind the board and bulb fittings. Sounds like a scene taken from an Agatha Christie book!