Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Pakistani forces target Indian civilians deliberately: BSF TOI - Updated: Nov 2, 2016, 03.26 PM IST JAMMU: Pakistani border guarding force, with active connivance of its Army, have resorted to heavy mortal shelling deliberately towards Indian civilian areas along the International Border, Inspector General of BSF Upadhyay said on Wednesday. Addressing a press conference, Upadhyay said Pakistan Army is giving full support to Pakistan Rangers, which have violated ceasefire "countless" times in recent past. "Pakistani forces are firing heavy mortars deliberately towards Indian civilian areas. BSF never fires towards any Pakistani civilian area. We fire only towards military bunkers from where Pakistani forces fire. We have inflicted heavy damage on 14 Pakistani bunkers," he said. Upadhyay said if there was any civilian casualty in the Pakistani side, it was because the civilian population live very close to the military bunkers that might have resulted in some damage. The senior officer of the Border Security Force also showed images of BSF's firing which targeted only military bunkers in Pakistan. In an escalation on the tension along border, eight people, including two children and four women, were killed and 22 injured yesterday as Pakistani troops targeted civilian areas in Jammu region inviting strong retaliation by Indian forces who killed two Pakistani soldiers and destroyed their 14 posts. In view of increased shelling and firing by Pakistan, Jammu and Kashmir government has ordered closure of all the 400 schools along the International Border (IB) and Line of Control (LoC). Social Justice and Equality Society and Freedom of Expression Crime and Punishment Politics and the Problem of Dirty Hands War and Peace Case Studies War and Peace Thinking of intellectuals and policy-makers about issues of war and peace is normally structured by amoral assumptions. The problems are conceived of as practical in nature. Policy options are compared solely in terms of their expected consequences and consequences are evaluated solely in terms of their impact on the national interest. Ethical issues are presented in a crude and oversimplified form best suited to the manipulation of public opinion. Justification of War Moral norms do not apply to the conduct of states, which should instead be guided exclusively by a concern for the national interest. However, if there are limits to what an individual is permitted to do to protect his or her interest then same is true of a state. Anyway, the argument goes that state is a higher and altogether different sort of entity that transcends the constraints that apply to an individual. Justification of Peace Pacifists believe that it is never permissible to engage in war. While virtually everyone believes that there is a strong moral presumption against violence and killing involved in war, pacifists differ in their belief that this presumption cannot be overridden, that the challenge to provide a moral justification for war can never be met. However, if pacifists allow individual self-defense, they cannot deny collective exercise of individual rights of self-defense. Just-War Theory A thinking about ethics of war has developed which attempts to define a defensible middle ground between war and peace. The resulting view is a just-war theory. It is justified on the grounds that it seeks to serve just and well-specified goals and it is constrained by rules. The important provisions of just-war theory are the following: The war must be fought for a just cause, such as national self-defense; defense of another state against unjust external aggression; the defense of fundamental human rights within another state against abuse by the government; and the punishment of unjust aggressors. Three Requirements of Just-war The requirement of minimal force: the amount of violence used on any occasion must not exceed what is necessary to achieve ones aim. The requirement of proportionality: the expected bad consequences of an act must not outweigh, or be greater than, its expected good consequences. The requirement of discrimination: force must be directed only against persons who are legitimate targets of attack. Concluding Remark It may not be easy to choose between war and peace but if at all war is to be justified it must be justified on the ground that the ends are just and the means are subject to rules pertaining to proper limitations. Thank You.