I’m sorry that this is going to be a rather gloomy post, but bare with me. I feel the need to vent out, and ask of you to help spread the word.
As a lot may not know by now, there have been mass protests in Sudan that martyred 210, wounded hundreds more and arrested 700 activists over the course of one week. The government chose to exercise the most brutal force against the innocent protesters. I have been reading articles, following tweets, Facebook pages, flickr albums and Youtube pages while worried sick about everyone back home and about the unknown fate of Sudan. This past week may have been the most emotionally stressful and infuriating week of my life. My heart, mind and soul are with Sudan at the moment. My heart is aching and I am simultaneously so proud of everyone that has stood against the government. I hope that they stay safe and God bless the souls of all the martyrs that died. A lot don’t know what is going on at the moment and it should be everyone’s responsibility to help spread the word. Please help spread the word!
I’ve decided to finally sit down and write down my thoughts…
Death is a difficult concept to grasp. We choose to avert our eyes away from graphic images of slain bodies or shut videos documenting the act of killing of innocent souls. Death then becomes a statistic; a number where the highest bidder wins the tragedy of the week on news media. 210 have been killed by their own government while protesting new austerity measures Sudan this past week, 67 were killed by terrorists in a Nairobi attack, more than 80 killed by government inflicted blasts in Peshawar and we must not forget the massacre that still continues in Syria (any many, many more amid media blackouts). Aside from the Nairobi attack, what hurts the most is that these acts are perpetrated by governments against their own citizens for speaking up and expressing that they cannot survive anymore. They say no one can hurt you like your kin and such events have proved the veracity of the proverb. This is akin to being slain but your own family or parents for saying “I am hungry, feed me.” It hurts to be tear gased by your own protectors. It hurts to have a bullet run through your chest or head by your own protectors for wanting the basic things in life (sustenance and survival). It hurts to be beaten up senselessly by countless rods and verbally abused by your rock, your sense of stability. It hurts to be threatened with rape. Where is the humanity? Where is the mercy? Where is the fear of God and most importantly where is morality? Are we all hurting now?
What has been mindboggling is how do we humanize these numbers? How do we relate to them from afar? What moves us to get up and act or simply share an article on Facebook or twitter? Have we become numb to death? The reality is death is a difficult concept to grasp for most people. It is the only concept that’s impalpable concept unless experienced, and when it strikes you it is then too late. You are just another statistic. Those who are able to empathize or understand are those who have experienced death of a loved one- when it hits close to home.
If graphic images, videos, names, life stories, accounts of government perpetrators of mass killings do not move us what will? We then become passive creatures silently acquiescing to the death of our human brethren. We have become so far away and removed from the crux of tragedies happening in our world today. We have become self-absorbed in the hustle and bustle of life to stop to care and speak up against what is happening. Do we have to wait until it hits close to home to act? When in doubt of what to do, we should at least help spread the word. Let those directly impacted by such events that we care and we are in solidarity with them. Let them know that we are hurting with them and we are here, fighting by their side…from afar.