Hypocritical, duplicitous, deceitful are some of the words which come to mind to describe the ‘behavior’ of media houses and leaders of other nations who are ‘seriously’ condemning the terrorist attacks which took place in Paris on a normal Saturday evening, which also featured a friendly football match between France and Germany.
There is no doubt that the attacks were against the essence of humanity and what happened in Paris is condemnable, accordingly the perpetrators should be brought to justice, however what is happening in other countries is not right either.
Why does the world turn a blind eye to conflicts which happen in places which are not relatable? Why do people remember a place because the cafes seem familiar, or because you had a great time under the Eiffel Tower…essentially, why not remember and pay respect to other places which are not as well known or important. Why are those places not given significant? Are the people inhabiting those places lesser human beings than us, and it is clear where the discussion is leading to...There is a constant flow of dead people especially in the Middle East, and none of the countries nor the leaders of any nation seem to be interested in solving the crisis, which has also precipitated into the migration issue which Europe is facing today.
To begin with, numerous Parisians have been killed in the recent strike, we should begin to explore and introspect on who is accountable for the countless people who have been killed in Syria, and Yemen, and other countries which are under war because of external influences. Additionally, who is to be held accountable for all the people who are risking their lives crossing over to Europe to escape war? Why are some lives costlier than others? And who is responsible to make sure that we view lives of others without a prejudiced mirror in our highly conflicted vision? It is a tough question to answer, and the delicate matters of reasoning lie somewhere in between.
Most importantly, this begins with the conflict in the Arabic world, which has become a hotly contested game for Russia, America and others countries, and every player wants to take credit for the high profile targets they kill or capture. Russia and America will quarrel with each other to target or not, and/or selectively target some areas and not others, which seems to be sort of a race of defaming each other and embarrassing on the inconsistencies rather than leading a joint coordinated effort to fight the evils, which the developed and civilized world in the form of America, Russia and Europe, are capable of repelling. In conclusion, instead of resolving issues and moving forward, the Middle East seems to be descending into further danger and chaos which has transformed into ‘The Area Of Frozen Conflicts’.
The entire charade should end and we need to take an unbiased vision of the issue at hand. Till the time we don’t view the entire global humanity as ‘us,’ we won’t be able to feel the pain that some people are undergoing and if we don’t put ourselves in their positions, we would not have the resolve or the desire to end the problems faced by them. For them, each additional day is like a Gift from God, for their children a meal a day is a big deal and milk is a far cry. Leading a normal life is a distance dream, kids don’t go to school, but stay in tents or makeshift homes running on the streets, their mothers fear of the constant persecution and each second is filled by the fear of getting bombed by someone in the next.
Relating this to the Paris bombings, putting bans and targeting certain items which belong to particular religions does not do any good, but instead it alienates that particular community, which leads to isolation of that community in the society, which consequentially leads to hatred between different parties. For instance, in France’s case, L'affaire du voile Islamique or the Banning of the Hijab, makes sure that we selectively pick out religions which have a higher status in society and others which don’t. This is a direct mockery of the entire idea of democracy, taken in any form. It places some people on a higher platform than others and favoritism is forever abound with negative repercussions. Moreover, by making fun of God of other religions is insensitive in all forms and should be prohibited. It is not the reflection of a civilized society. A democratic nation doesn’t mean people have the right to target only one religion, since it is not a sign of a cultured society, which France actually is. A democracy by no means should give power to organizations to selectively target certain groups to make fun of their God, as it an impression of intolerance and does not reflect the values of a good education, but reflects the deep seated inconsistencies and fears about one’s own belief and the fallacies revolving around us. This is not to blame Charlie Hebdo for the attacks or the Laws, but it goes on to reflect the kind of society is it tending to.
In retrospect, the Beirut Bombings which took place two days before the Paris attacks were not covered by the global media and neither did the Facebook statuses mention it. I did not know about the bombings, till the time I started researching for the topic. Nobody is praying for the millions of refugees who are walking on desolate paths which lead nowhere, with no secure place to call home. And, Facebook as a company made sure people could accommodate changes to their profile pictures in accordance with the Paris attack, so that people could show solidarity in a hard time faced by the French, and a million people changed their pictures, but Facebook did not do the same for the Beirut Bombings, or for the continual onslaught of terror which is taking place in the Middle East which seems to have no end in sight. To add, not even a single global monument to support the other bombings. Who will remember the Arabic father who sacrificed his and his little daughter’s life to save the lives of others in Beirut, while everyone wants to remember the writer who wrote for a French Magazine. It is not to say, we should not remember people, but why this selective justice, selective outrage, selective grief, selective support, selective agony….why is this complex partisanship engulfing us and our minds, and shaping the way with think of others, about others, and shape and most importantly define others. We have to decide whether we have to pause or not and ponder on what differentiates the attacker and the person running away from the very same thing you are. We decide whether we are prison bitches of bias or whether we can hope for a better world.
Je suis Charlie, Nous Sommes Charlie, Je t’aime Paris, Je t’aime France, Je t’aime Bierut, Je t’aime Syria….We love all countries regardless of whether we have differences, of any form, because differences make each of us unique and diverse in this beautiful world.
