A war has no victors

There is war hysteria all around. Emotions are running high for a war. The war hawks are calling the shots. The news channels are shaping public opinion in favour of a war. Minute to minute commentary is being offered to state how the enemy is going to be attacked and about to get finished. The headlines and breaking news are sensationalising the upcoming or happening war. Each country is taking a high moral ground to rationalise its attack. The people are being asked to participate in mock drills to prepare for an actual war situation. Everything happening in the name of nationalism.

As the missiles strike, drones fly through and drop bombs, air attacks or shellings take place; it does not differentiate between a militant, military and civilian location. Common civilian lives are too lost in the process. A child losing his parents, an earning member in the family losing life creating insecurity in the family, a family life getting destroyed is something that would never be presented. Diversion of resources from education, health and development to military needs get rationalised in the name of meeting war requirements.

Achieving victory becomes a final aim which could come at a high human, social and economic cost. Dangers of nuclear attacks run high threatening loss of millions of lives. Escalation poses risks of chemical, biological, nuclear warfare threatening the very future of life itself. Distrust gets created between the nations for decades further by. The cultural bonding across the boundaries, the people to people contact, exchange and appreciation of artists and arts over the other side of the boundaries stop. Trade halts, borders close, and cultural bridges collapse. A poet’s words, once celebrated across borders, are now branded as treasonous. Scientists across boundaries who could have collaborated to address global challenges now serve rival war machines. There are no humans but only enemies on the other side, the people are told. Beyond the battlefield, the scars run deeper. Nations distance themselves further from each other. Shared history is erased, and one turns blind to the possibility of shared humanity.

An internal war too takes place at the time of external war. Dissent voices are crushed. Independent voices of the media are closed down. Freedom erodes. Surveillance tightens. The role of the state extends further in the lives of its citizens. Any voice against the dominant mood gets seen as ‘either you are with us or against us’ leaving no room for an alternative voice.  Those who question the war are vilified, their voices drowned by accusations of disloyalty. Artists, journalists, and thinkers face censorship, their work deemed a threat to the cause. The state’s grip tightens, dictating what can be said, thought, or believed. Fear replaces dialogue, and nuance is buried under the weight of conformity. War hawks and self-proclaimed patriots troll those calling for peace and harmony and conflicts to be resolved diplomatically.

There would be profiteers during times of war. Things would get sold in the name of nationalism whether it could be clothes, shoes, a trademark getting registered or even liquor. Corporations dealing with arms would prosper. Arms dealers grow rich, their factories humming. Corporations brand their products with patriotic slogans, turning war into a marketing campaign. Media would compete to sensationalise and provide the latest breaking news on the attacks. Media outlets thrive on the spectacle, their ratings soaring with each new explosion. Politicians seize the moment, consolidating power further. For them, war is opportunity—a chance to profiteering from destruction, silence critics, and cement legacies.

Public mood would be tuned to indicate that the most important thing to be achieved now is victory over the other. But it would never be told that war has no victors. It is only the differences in losses – who lose less and who lose more. The public, caught in the fervour, chants for victory, unaware of the truth that lingers unspoken. It is a ledger of loss, measured not in triumphs but in graves, in shattered lives, in futures stolen. One or each side might claim a gain, but the human, moral, and societal cost would never be told. The wounds and enmity are transferred to coming generations. Mistrusts widen. Trauma passed down through families.

The fervour of war consumes societies. Leaders stoke the flames, framing their cause as righteous, while the machinery of propaganda churns out tales of imminent triumph. The airwaves buzz with pundits dissecting strategies, predicting swift victories, and dehumanizing the enemy. Flags wave, anthems blare, and citizens are swept into a tide of fervour, urged to sacrifice for the greater good. Schools teach children to salute the cause, workplaces rally for war bonds, and communities organize to support the effort—all under the banner of unity.

As the bombs fall and the skies burn, the cost becomes undeniable. Entire neighbourhoods vanish in an instant, reduced to rubble. Families are torn apart—not just by death, but by displacement, hunger, and despair. A teacher, a nurse, a shopkeeper—ordinary lives extinguished or upended, their dreams buried under the weight of destruction. Hospitals overflow, then crumble. Schools close, their playgrounds silent. Resources that could have built futures are funnelled into arsenals, justified as necessary for survival. The toll mounts, but the narrative insists: victory is near, and no price is too high.

War’s only legacy is the absence it leaves behind—a world diminished, divided, and forever changed. A war has no victors. Wars need to be rejected as the illusion of glory may hide the truth of ruin.

T Navin is an independent writer