APRIL 6 — I write this not as a form of banter or of ranting, but of what I believe is the true state of affairs in a society that is largely superficial. The very recent massacre in a Kenyan university has provided me the scintilla to write what should have been, or has been said many times.
On September 11, 2001, the United States suffered the worst terrorist attack in its history which resulted in the loss of approximately 3000 lives. The attack drew opprobrium from all corners of the world. The US reacted with a war against “terrorism,” and a wave of “islamophobia” insidiously swept in.
The war in Iraq and Afghanistan claimed approximately 115,000 lives. Dreadful human rights violations betided in Guantanamo Bay, where victims were innocent Muslims. Putting that on hold, let’s look at what happened in Palestine. The conflict in Palestine has taken tens of thousands of lives since 1948. In the Gaza hostilities alone, the United Nations reported that seven out of 10 Palestinians killed were civilians (approximately 2,100 Palestinians were killed).
Considerable support for Palestine and carping against Israel came from the Muslim community. The US threw its support behind Israel, and has from the very beginning, employed various tactics to impede Palestine’s access to an effective forum for the discussion and possibly, a fair solution to the conflict. The reactions from the rest of the globe were largely divided, when it clearly should not have been so.
Moving to a much smaller scale, on January 7, 2015, two assailants killed 11 people in the offices of the French satirical weekly newspaper, Charlie Hebdo. The international community reacted strongly. On 11 January 2015, approximately two million people including more than 40 world leaders led a rally of national unity in the heart of Paris.
In contrasts, the international community, albeit reacted, but in a more subdued way, towards numerous other massacres which claimed more lives. The Sri Lankan civil war claimed the lives of approximately 40,000 Tamil civilians. The Muslim Rohingya people in Myanmar have continued to suffer from grave human rights violations since 1978, with hundreds massacred and over a hundred thousand forcefully displaced.
Countless massacres have occurred throughout the Middle East. The civil war in Sierra Leon has left over 50,000 people dead. The massacre in the Kenyan university has claimed the lives of approximately 150 students.
The impetus of providing the above facts is to outline the dissimilitude of the reactions of the international community towards different events. It could be due to, among others, political, racial, religious or financial reasons.
At a slightly different dimension, individuals seem display the same level of thought, albeit for different reasons. For example, I couldn’t help but notice that almost 70 per cent of my Facebook friends mourned the passing of Paul Walker on their Profile Page. However, when Irene Fernandez (leading human rights activist) passed away, only a few Facebook friends shared similar sentiments. The same can be said on the various massacres taking place all over the world.
Everyone has the right to express on what they believe claims priority. However, I believe that as human beings, we have an innate obligation to uphold humanity in its basic form, in whichever way suits us most according to our individual strengths.
Society, at all levels, particularly in regards to the human rights violations and the loss of human lives, needs to act and react regardless of race, religion, and personal gain in all its forms. In an era where boundaries between the international community are diminishing, the need for society to fully comprehend that all human beings are equal is crucial.
Some, or many, might disagree with me. Some might see it as a utopian ideology.
However, hope is what drives us when all else seems bleak. After all, it is humanity that makes us human beings, for without it, we are no different than any other being in this world.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.
