Pain and Psychotrauma of Wars

Two telephone calls that shook me and are still haunting were that I made to my acquaintances today. I could feel the anguish when I called my friend in Srinagar whose son is studying medicine in Tehran and with whom they are not having easy contact in the present situation. The family is much worried about his welfare but find them-selves helpless. They had not expected Israel’s attack on Iran since the negotiations about Iran’s nuclear programme were going on between the US and Iran. Another call I made was to my Iranian class mate during medical college days; fear and pain in his mind were quite apparent because of uncertainties in the time to come. His wife had been quite sick lately and in this advanced age they are not able to manage easily. Any violent situation, more so an all-out war brings about pain, fear, uncertainty which can become cause of mental health problems that continue for a long time and affect the mental faculties & capacity to perform even after the situation has improved.  

Unfortunately the world is now passing through deep crisis of war and violence, probably worst ever after the end of the Second World War. As a teenage boy living near the India-Pakistan border I had witnessed the pathetic condition of families who had to shift from the villages adjoining the border to the town and were depend on supply of food or other essential items by the town people. Children were not attending school. There was no privacy of a family. This led to serious mental health issues among them. As a medical student I watched the similar scenario again in 1971. Now when the wars have been imposed on the people to the worst scenario in the Middle East, it is easy to comprehend as to what mental crisis they must be passing through.

Over 55000 people have been killed in the Israeli onslaught on the innocent civilians of Gaza, majority of them being women and children. Reckless attacks on Syria, Lebanon and the west bank coupled with forcefully made resettlement colonies in the west bank by Israel are matter of grave concern. The aggression started after the Hamas’s violent attack on Israel on 7th October 2023. But response by the Israel has been disproportionate. As a result the humanitarian crises in Gaza is at its peak. After the unprovoked attack by Israel on Iran the war between the two has taken very serious turn. Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel has in very explicit terms said that his aim is regime change in Iran.  The US president Donald Trump is asking Iran to surrender unconditionally.

In 1979 the government of Shah of Iran was toppled by a people’s movement lead by Ayotollah Khomeini. People were opposed to Shah as he was selling Iran’s interests to US the companies. There were several groups opposed to the Shah including liberals, communists but Ayatollah Khomeini led group emerged as the main force. However they established a theocratic fundamentalist state and unleashed repression against those who held different views, even eliminated many of them. Imposed several restrictions on the women. We have recently seen women’s movement in Iran with the slogan ‘Women, Life and Freedom’.  The Iranian regime however essentially maintained an anti-imperialist character. On the other side the Jewish Theocratic state of Israel has been siding with US imperialism and flouting the international humanitarian laws with impunity. The Israel and the US have now made their intent clear that they want to control the resources of the Middle East and want to strengthen their geo political interests in the region.

There are reports in the social media that Israelis are asking Indians to go back. The Indian workers are not being allowed to go to shelters. What the government of India will do is to be seen. Indian students are stranded in Iran. Their being brought to India is a big task.

It is therefor important that war must end. Former Chief of Indian Army General MM Naravane has said while addressing a diamond jubilee function of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India in Pune in May 2025, ‘that a war is not a romantic or Bollywood movie but a very serious and expensive last resort’.  When the war breaks out, there is death and destruction, Narvane said. “It has its own costs, the cost of rebuilding, but also the cost of military reequipments that is lost.”

Present day wars are being imposed upon the common civilians by the military industrial complex who are out to sell the arms and earn profit through falsification of the events and raising hyper-nationalism. The civil society has to raise its voice against such profitmaking business which is completely inhuman.

Dr Arun Mitra is a Practicing ENT Surgeon in Ludhiana, Punjab. He is also the President of Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD) www.idpd.org