How can we dream of a better world when hundreds of people are dropping dead, falling mutilated and becoming homeless everyday in Gaza? What has happened to our dear earth? Has it survived millions of years only to see the collapse of the human race, the so-called ashraful makhlukat or, the best creature created?
The images of the bloodbath on the world media only make me shudder, leave me paralyzed at times. My mind and body stay numb at the photos posted on the world wide web. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is taking the look of a catastrophe with hundreds dead, thousands wounded and maimed. An unfair war has been waged, a war where the opponent is too weak to combat.
A friend of mine forwarded me an e- mail a day ago with gruesome images of dead and wounded Palestinians. My heart wept in silence for those small children who hung lifeless from the arms of their fathers and uncles. Their dangling hands bloody; their eyes shut; their faces innocent… What have these children done to embrace death at such an early age? I know that photos of children in warzones disturb us, make some of us think about the justification of a war. Unfortunately, those who wage these wars never think about its consequences on the innocent and helpless.
Here I am sitting in a country which is believed to be an accomplice of Israel in its Gaza carnage. The world is becoming such a hostile place to live. Where can we find peace? Nowhere, I guess. The countries of South Asia are at unrest. They are blaming each other for terrorist attacks; sometimes they are blaming themselves for rise of extremism. Why does everything have to reach an extreme point today? Has education taught us to be less tolerant than ever before? How far has the world really come in the last one century? Science and technology are now used to build weapons, tanks and bombs. It was the same science which made steam engines, electric bulbs, telephones, telegraphs, computers, cars, and what not. The purpose was to make lives easier for the mankind. It’s sad to see that the development of science and technology being used by a handful of people to bring hell to this world.
We were taught as kids that education widens a person’s horizons, it makes a person a better human being, and it makes a person more open-minded. What was taught in school seems so untrue in this 21st century. So, what is real? The things that schools taught us as children or what we see around us today? War, crimes, death, bloodshed, hunger, suffering and more suffering cover the pages of newspapers today. So, what's real?
As humans we have become desensitized to human pain and distress. Our exposure and over-exposure to war and violence in the media do make us shudder, but less vehemently than before. Why? Because crime and carnage have become parts of our everyday life. We begin our day with newspapers whose front pages display stories of the turbulent Middle-east, South Asia or Africa. Even the domestic news that find space in the newspapers talk about murder, burglary, corrupt politicians, and their politics. Where can I find some good news?
We have become more self-centered, both individually and collectively. The book on self-interest has made space for itself on the top shelf, whereas the book on philanthropy and human welfare lies on the lowest shelf – dusty and deserted. It’s time we picked up the latter, dusted it, read it and started working toward building a better world...
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