As Rosa Luxemburg had said, “socialism or barbarism”. And we are witnessing that the world is returning to barbarism again. Rosa Luxemburg had emphasized that if the world doesn’t move forward then, it would move backward. The world is witnessing all the barbaric acts. Humanity against humanity and country against country. Censorship is the new fashion of this world, where everything is censored by the government. Leaving behind the fundamental rights of the people and their freedom is in grave danger.

The Ukraine-Russia war has again repeated a world of disorientation and of disillusionment that the world has witnessed during the two World wars. Some countries are now banning the alphabet which signifies “war” them.

The Parliament of Latvia has adopted a law banning the display of the letter ‘Z’ and ‘V’ in public. The symbols used by Russian troops in Ukraine stand for glorifying aggression and war crimes. The former Soviet member, acted after the government in Kiev called for censorship of the symbol. The law also says no permits for public events will be given if they are held within 200 meters of monuments commemorating the Soviet Army in Latvia.

‘In condemning Russia’s hostilities in Ukraine, we must take a firm stand that symbols glorifying Russian military aggression, such as letters ‘Z’, ‘V’ or other symbols used for such purposes, have no place in public events’, Artuss Kaimin’s, chair of the Saeima’s Human Rights and Public Affairs Commission, said in a statement.

These symbols signify the “criminalization” and “barbarism” of the Russian troops against Ukraine. Latvia officially bans symbols glorifying Nazi or Communist regimes, except when used for “educational, scientific or artistic purposes”. Neither V nor Z is part of the Russian alphabet, which uses Cyrillic. Russia taking part in military operations in Ukraine over the past month use these symbols to distinguish the Russian vehicles.

Thus, this censorship is yet another sanction on Russia. Claiming Russia as ‘war criminals’ and ‘barbaric’ has made them the new Hitler in the 21st century. The dystopia that the world is witnessing right now has put the world into a humanitarian crisis as well an existentialist crisis.

As George Orwell quotes in ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’, “war is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength”. And we can very well understand that this has become the motto of the 21st-century country now. Also, lie is the new truth of today and war is peace in itself.