Save Humanity From Scourge Of Wars

The four Geneva Conventions adopted on August 12, 1949, mark their 75th anniversary this year. Together with their Additional Protocols adopted in 1977, these Conventions form key instruments of international humanitarian law (IHL). These instruments contain rules that limit the effects of war, protecting those who do not take part in the fighting (civilians, medics, aid workers) and those who can no longer fight (wounded, sick, and shipwrecked troops, prisoners of war). IHL also regulates the means and methods of warfare. The original Geneva Convention, adopted in 1864, served as a predecessor to the 1949 Geneva Conventions and laid the foundation for modern IHL. IHL, also known as the law of war or the law of armed conflict, finds its roots in the religious texts of major religions. The Ramayana and Mahabharata, two Sanskrit epics in the Itihas category of Hindu Dharma, contain elaborate rules of war.