The absence of collective outlook is the root of all evil. The strong are perpetrating atrocities and injustices on the weak; powerful human groups are exploiting powerless ones. Under such circumstances it is the duty of virtuous people to wage war on the oppressors.
It is no use sitting quietly, waiting indefinitely for moral preaching to bring results. All virtuous people will, therefore, have to become united. At the same time preparations will have to continue to fight against the demons.
Those who perpetrate atrocities on collective life or on a particular human group, cannot be pardoned. In such cases pardoning not only reflects weakness, it also encourages injustice, because the oppressors become more tyrannical. In individual life, if an innocent person is oppressed by dishonest people, the person, if he or she so desires, may pardon the oppressors, just to test his or her capacity for tolerance or for some other reason.
But if the oppressors torture a human group, in that case no single individual, as the representative of the group, can pardon them, and actually that person has no right to do so. If the representative acts beyond his or her jurisdiction, that person will be denounced by the group he or she represents. So it has to be said that pardoning is a practice for individual life only, not for collective life.
[PROBLEMS OF THE DAY - 17]
