Truth shall prevail

And so now the Pope is wrong because he is calling for peace and trying to save lives. He advised Ukraine to show the "white flag", which other than meaning surrender is also a symbol of peace.

The Pope's critics are not for peace in this war with Russia, as apparent ever since his remarks surfaced in an interview last month with Swiss broadcaster Radio Television Suisse.

Usually, the Pope is widely revered and respected. His words are considered as flowing from the fountain of spirituality, and therefore must be abided by. But this time round, the righteous verse has gone down the drain with some.

Two years ago, Pope Francis told Ukrainian President Zelensky in a private meeting that he was "constantly praying for peace". The pontiff also stressed on the urgent need to help "the most fragile people, innocent victims" of the full-scale invasion launched by Russia. There was no criticism then.

Although relations between Ukraine and the Vatican have been uneasy, the leader of the Catholic faith was downright honest and unbiased. Ukraine demonstrably desires the Pope's support, and yet, knowing fully that the EU bloc will not be pleased, himself being cushioned in the continent and yes, friendly with the Russian Orthodox church, the Pope spoke his mind.

Two years ago, after his first private meeting with Francis, Zelensky was himself. Selfishly, he had said any peace formula "must be Ukrainian". In that there is no room for negotiations, the first step towards a peaceful solution. Pope Francis's suggestion of conciliations with Russia was vehemently rebuffed by Ukrainian leaders. The end of the war is not in sight. In Bangla we say, the palm tree is mine.

Politicians do not like neutrals, nor do they want to hear the truth. Wars are necessarily fought on lies. In 1971, during our war of liberation, even on December 16 the (West) Pakistani media were harping something like "hamara fouj aage baar rahe hain (our soldiers are moving forward)". Not a shred of truth in that because they were in full retreat by then. In fact, they were surrendering to Bangladesh and Indian forces that very day.

As it was, the Pak junta, military and political, had commenced their Operation Searchlight, read genocide, with the catchphrase, "Islam khatre me hain (Islam is in danger)". We Muslim Bangalees were dutifully Islamic then and still are. The Fazr azan even then in Dacca would resonate at dawn for over half an hour. Ramadan Mubarak!

In another pack of blatant lies, Israel is continuing their Biden-backed war on Hamas, now Palestine, by hitting "terrorist targets". Children and infants are not terrorists, and yet Netan-yahoo's Israeli army is killing them in their hundreds every day. Labelling the entire Palestine population terrorists is unjustified and unacceptable by any definition. Given the accusations of age and "dementia" against him, is Biden per chance thinking that the Israeli army is fighting the war in Ukraine? In his defence, President Biden last February fiercely defended his cognitive abilities. "My memory's fine", he said. You got to believe one side.

In political wars too, lies are foolishly considered weapons. They only appease the supporters of the respective parties. It is for the people to discern the truth. And they do.

The government obviously will say that despite the rise in commodity prices, people are happy. The opposition will counter that there is severe food shortage. While a minister will sing songs of praise for the new curriculum, the grim opposition spokesperson will declare that Bangladesh's education system is being destroyed in a planned manner.

"The global community now sees Bangladesh as a subject of mockery after a sham election that witnessed an illegal government ascend to power" is what the opposition deems as the truth. The fact however is that almost a hundred countries have not only congratulated Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her party's election victory, but many have expressed their willingness to work with the government towards the prosperity of the people.

Nowadays, it is so easy to hide the truth. You can sing in somebody's voice. One can have his thesis written by someone else. No wonder we see PhDs in every profession, whether they need it for their career or not. It is a status symbol, they think, but it's a lie.

Sport is one arena where one cannot fake the result if the contesting individuals or teams are sincere about winning. But occasionally bribery comes into play, or a strategy is compelling. Under those circumstances an opposing party loses intentionally or performs poorly. Rules are in place to take punitive measures against those diabolical partakers.

Falsehoods and dishonesty, sham and trickery have their place, but in time their temper wears out. They must make way for the truth.