By Tinky Ningombam
It is sad that people have become so used to the news of death in the media. About murder, about people killed or shot and we maybe wonder “what’s happening to this world?” and after some time, we forget these names. What has happened over time is that we have conditioned ourselves to accept these news; however barbaric it is but still as a possibility. The world is indeed grim and sadly, it will go on to be. It is part of human nature. That is why we still have wars and we kill the “ENEMY” and that is ok.
Death is in fact the most intriguing phenomena. Unexplored, mysterious and have different effects on everybody. And yet, we know that one day it will be us. But we somehow keep it way ahead in the future. When I ask my friends when they think it is ok for them to accept having lived a life, most of them have replied that they do not want to be too old and suffer ailments and pass away, they would want a peaceful death at a comfortable age. And it’s not surprising, because the fear of death is never in the present, we place it ahead. And we do not normally think of death every day, we do not think it can happen to us so soon, how young or how old we might be. And only in brief moments when we get to hear of other’s passing away or death-crimes, that is when we realize how close we are at the edge. And I think it’s extremely unfair that a mortal should have the right to kill someone. I believe that everybody deserves a peaceful death and to have their lives in the hands of fate.
Everyone questions death. When will it be, what will happen, what if I am not ready. I believe the only truth and the only common fear that we have in our life is the notion of death. And no matter how much we think about it or not think about it, it is indeed the leveler. It is the only constant. I for one have not experienced death closely, nor me or nor any of the people that I know dearly. But we are a very fragile and delicate thing, like twigs that can break with the wind. And if it was not for our busy brain that makes us worry about a million other things, our fear of death could have killed us even before it did.
But time and again, we are reminded of the amount of violence that exists in our society. The recent news of Satyabhama’s murder affected most of us. And though there might be a million reasons and stories behind the crime, the idea of the crime constantly makes us question if we will ever truly be safe from criminal intent. And who can we trust? Law enforcers? Friends? Society? The idea of a “safe-zone” is increasingly getting diluted. Anything can happen, anywhere. And sadly, that is the growing phenomena that I can see in the state.
Normally, when we hear about a crime, for the briefest moment, we try to picture ourselves as the victim, well at-least most of us. This is the start of paranoia. We always have the perpetual fear of “What if it happened to me?” Emphathy in these terms can be really dangerous in some aspects, it can fuel mass paranoia.
But not to emphasize is worse. Sometimes, we tend not to be worried about crimes that are directly, (I am sorry to use the phrase) “not of our interest”. Like in movies, when the police says “it is not in my jurisdiction”. Sometimes, we look at farmers’ suicide in some remote village, we might not feel genuine empathy. Or do you? Most commonly, we react as per our gender, our values, as a community etal. But why does demography have to change how we react to crimes? Are we saying that crimes against an old man, a street-beggar, a rich boy or a married woman are different?
And hence, it is really important when we try to create a crime-free society, maybe at a great cost, is to not discriminate victims or the situations, it is to strive for equal justice to all. Our role is to question why we accept the fact that we accept crimes in our society. Who are these perpetrators, who is stopping the wheel from rolling, who is getting away at large to commit more crimes? For to lose someone in a violent criminal act, has to be the most devastating experience of all.
