Im starting to feel that a single-minded focus on identities, whether religion or nationalism, is really the root of all evil in the world. While this may seem like an obvious point to many in academic circles, its not so obvious to the general public and maybe needs to be debated more. Im not advocating for a breakdown of identities and the lack of respect for sovereignty of nations. Im only pointing at the psyche of identification that makes us condemn human rights violations on foreign soils, but condone the same within national boundaries, in the name of state security and other catchphrases. If Pakistan kills minorities, it is fine, according to state agents. If Israel does the same, it is atrocious. Alternately, for some, if Israel commits atrocities, it is not our concern, as we must handle our national issues first. Even in America, conservative pundits can be seen rolling their eyes at the mention of Palestinian deaths on national TV, but decrying the killing of Christians in Syria. In Pakistan, people do not want to raise their voice against the murder of Ahmadis, but want to protest for Gaza. We cannot possibly raise our voice against every evil action all over the world, and the basic human function of selectivity will always make us appear biased to one party or another. While there certainly are human rights violations that are happening at a much larger, more consistent scale in some parts of the world than others, and do need our urgent attention, this could also become a grey area to some. Whose injury is more important? A personal injury, no matter how small, will hurt more, even if compared to others inflicted on a larger number of people. Still, we definitely do need to look within our souls and evaluate our personal biases and see whether they are making us completely insensitive to human suffering. We need to start thinking more universally. And we need to resist the psychological restrictions placed on us by identities.
Posted on: Fri, 01 Aug 2014 18:33:29 +0000
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