tragedy

Four years ago, as I woke up on Boxing Day 2004, I was shocked. I could not believe the ease by which hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost to the sea. I could not comprehend how so many people could die within hours, I could not understand such a tragedy. Today I stood with the same disbelief as I watched the news about more than 200 Palestinians killed by Israeli bombings on Gaza.

Of course, the numbers of casualties in both tragedies are different. But that is not the only difference for no sick human mind had planned the Asian Tsunami, while Gaza’s tragedy was premeditated by many sick men who saw pleasure in a “surprise” that took people at midday.

I don’t intend to talk about the reasons. I don’t intend to blame anyone. I don’t intend to undermine any justifications. Simply, I just want to state how I feel, but I am out of words for now words have yet existed to describe mass murder at such a scale. Language stands i at the site of so many lives being lost in just a few minutes with the release of a button.

At risk of being ridiculed, I say that I abhor terrorism. But what is terrorism if not the use of such force against a largely civilian and unarmed population. It is hard to maintain sanity as you see human beings, just like you, dying by the hundreds. It is a struggle to keep a faith in humanity when you see how worthless human life has become. It suffocates to witness murder being justified and accepted without a mere thought of the lives shattered by today’s events.