Our shameless hypocrisy
Our shameless hypocrisy
So much has been said and done in the last few days in the aftermath of the grim tragedy in London that snuffed 50+ innocent lives. There has been an outpouring of sorrow from across the globe. World leaders have mourned, citizens from across nations have shed tears, flowers decked sidewalks, posters expressed grief and solidarity, sportsmen paid their silent respects before games, even a dedicated web-site shows London is not afraid. And that solidarity sure lends a strong shoulder to our grieving friends in London.
Meanwhile in Iraq, the average civilian death toll continues to hover around 80 per week. 80 civilians per week killed by insurgents and coalition forces! Entire villages and cities have been wiped out by the coalition forces. Women, children and the aged brutally cut down by the savagery of the coalition and the insurgents.
But yet, there are no sidewalks lined with flowers. There are no moments of silence on sports-fields. There are no expressions of anguish or cries to bring the perpetrators to justice. There are no blogs that go silent for a day to express their grief for the Iraqi suffering. There is not even an official count of the dead. The Iraqi misery continues unabated!
Such is the hypocritical world we live in. Heres hoping peace to the innocent victims and their families across the world.
posted by Balakumar @ 5:07 PM
13 comments
13 Comments:
My sentiments exactly. You know what? As insensitive as this may sound, I don't remember feeling ANYTHING when I heard about the blasts in London. I read about it like I was reading about disaster anywhere else in the world. Why do the lives of people in London become more important than those in Iraq? "As you sow, so shall you reap." But I don't think they'll actually LEARN anything from this. There'll be an extra national holiday now on, but they won't see how they're doing the same thing to someone else. Hypocrisy indeed.
Bala, i seriously think there is a huge gap here. So many of us think what is going on is all wrong and only the few who think not are at the top levels creating all this havoc!
u say - 'Heres hoping peace to the innocent victims and their families across the world.'
But can there peace in the land or in the minds of the people there?! i dont think so! All this hypocricy... when will it all stop? in a holocaust? or can it ever end in this world in a peaceful manner?! It just angers m, being not able to make an inch of idfference to anything!
So true!!! Good post. Which is a greater tragedy? Whose is a greater
loss? Which mother mourns more? Who can answer?
But having said that, by saying that London's tragedy is not very big compared to that of Iraq, aren't we guilty of the same hypocrisy (is that how it's spelt? doesn't matter) we accuse the western media of? That is, playing one tragedy over and another? 50 people blown off in London, 70 in Baghdad. All dead. Unneccesarily.
A white man's life is much more valuable than a colored man's.
A white mom's sorrow comes first amongst all sorrows.
A white dad is a foundation to his family like no other.
A white husband ... irreplacable.
A white wife's love .... unsurpassable.
A white brother is much more precious than a colored brother.
A white sister, nothing like her in the whole wide world.
Hasn't this always been the case?
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It is not about deaths in one region being any lesser than those in another... It is just that their unnecessary deaths are not treated with the same degree of contempt by the "world".
Look back in the media to the response to the London deaths and that of those in Iraq and Afghanistan... When it happens in Iraq, we shake our heads and life just goes on. When it happens in London, the world comes to a near standstill - shocked and scared. And there are calls for the barbarians to be hunted down! The irony is that they will be hunted by barbarians!
Bravo for your last comment, Bala. To this day people talk of 9/11 like a building had never collapsed in the history of mankind. Maybe some day they'll learn the real lesson to be learnt; that others hurt too when their people die.
Hi Bala,
First time visit to your blog - came here through Surya's - you write really well! i enjoyed reading your posts.
I have lived in the US and now living in Europe, and it is amazing to see how people in the Western world are so cocooned in their own shallow world that they don't see the suffering of the rest of humanity. They think, by attending a Live 8 concert, they have done their part for humanity. Here is a cool article by Suketu Mehta in the NYT that highlights the divide between the rich and the poor. Not really connected to the blast, but it brings home the point that Westerners need to open their eyes to how the rest of the world lives!
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/12/opinion/12mehta.html?ex=1121918400&en=5dc7c6a573d3e0e9&ei=5070
Anjali
Anjali: Thanks for your kind words.
And I did read Suketu's article. It all comes back to the talks on Globalization. The West loved the concept as long as they were reaping the benefits; but when the tides changed, they are doing whatever best they can to cut it down where it suits them best.
BTW, do you blog?
Hey Bala, I was in ARU. (Oracle Hyd). By the way, nice writing dude. :)
Perfect. Pictures do speak a thousand words. I, juz like Ms. V dint feel a thing, except tht i might have been pretty close to having my head blown off, if not for a decision I made. And there is so much suffering in the world, not just in Iraq and Afghanistan and London. You really seem to view the places where the US intervenes, but what we must really thinik about is how to make the life of those who live today, better. We have to mourn, cos its a loss to humanity, but once that is done, we have to move ahead. Birth and death are part of the life we live. We cannot escape from it, but we can learn. No comparisons can be made, but they are both experiences.
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Bala,
Good post. Before we get carried away with Suketu's article, here is an awesome response. from Venky Ganesan who blogs at venchar. I strongly relate to his response and the sentiments he has expressed. India has a long way to go, but hey, isnt the journey that counts ;-).
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