The smallest coffins are the heaviest

Death of a child is the worst nightmare for a parent, enough to break the strongest people. There are no words to console them. They should be allowed to deal with the pain in their own way and at their own pace.

Unfortunately, Qamar Zaman Kaira lost his young son in a car accident and had to hear this news shouted at him by a stranger during a crowded press conference. Kaira’s reaction was one of slow disbelief as these horrible words floated towards him. This moment was caught on camera and we can see him unable to react as he walks off.

The video clip of this moment is available online with captions like “See the moment when Qamar Zaman Kaira was informed about his son’s accident” and is being consumed by cyber scavengers in morbid fascination at the death of the young. And somehow the tragedy of a known person adds to this fascination.

It seems that in this world of technology, we seem to have forgotten that victims/victims’ families are humans and not just images on our screens. They deserve respect and privacy to deal with their tragedies.

We should remember Qamar Zaman Kaira is not just a political leader, he is human and should also be given space. And he is facing one of the most difficult times in his life.

There is no doubt that humans are fascinated with death and it finality and there is no doubt that everyone has to face it someday. But we should give Kaira and others grieving like him space and privacy during grief is not only our religious duty but also our moral and social responsibility.

However, privacy is an alien concept in our society and with time we seem to have gone on a tangent and mutated into something callous almost inhuman. And media has only helped to aggravate this and we are attracted to the most horrid images that are available only a click away.

For the moment it seems like this society and its components are numb to horrors around them especially crime against the vulnerable like children. News of crimes against children make headlines almost on a daily basis but we seem to be immune to it.

The society seems to be in suspended animation avoiding to deal with reality – almost as if the crimes, violent deaths and tragedies exist outside its periphery. The wails and screams skim past without making an impact on it. The components – the humans – watch the dance of death with fascination as it takes away victims. And then all is silent until the next time.

It has been seen time and again. The society wakes up after tragedies and then returns into the arms of delicious, things settled down and return to normal. No one asks for follow ups. The victims and their families fade from the screens and memories, and are replaced by the ongoing political circus enacted on screens all the time. And life goes on.

But shouldn’t the smallest coffins be the heaviest?