Today and tomorrow of our children

There was a time, when we talked about being concerned about the future of our children. By not building better schools and not worrying about what they learn, many argued that we are short changing our children and not preparing them for the competitive world. Those were the old days. We have moved on from that rot. But not for the better. The problems of bad preparation for nation-building are still there, and have only gotten worse. Rigorously prepared reports and analyses by Alif Ailaan and others have shown that we are not moving in the right direction. Today, our problems are not just of curriculum and libraries, of bad books and lack of access, they now include fundamental safety and security. No one knows where innocent young children, all across the country, are disappearing to. There are rumors aplenty, and no one knows who and what to believe. Some in the government argue that this is no different from any other year, and we have the persistent problem of child kidnapping. As if that makes it right or brings any comfort. Others, including some in the media and opposition, argue that there is a genuine spike in our endemic problem and deeply concerning on so many levels. What we miss in this back and forth is that we are talking about real, innocent children who are our own flesh and blood and our own future.

Parents of the lower and middle classes who have to worry about providing for their families and ensuring that children are able to go to decent schools that are now costing an arm and a leg now have to worry about the fundamental physical safety of their children. Parents are worried when kids just want to be kids. When the kids go out to play, as they should, parents are not sure if they will ever come back. How much more can the already overburdened parents handle?

An image of a young boy, stunned and shocked, by the indifference of the world to his suffering shocks us, but only momentarily. We pause, perhaps cry, discuss on social media but move on. Our level of desensitisation is so acute that we are able to absorb the stories of kidnapping and of mothers shot dead in front of young children for resisting abduction without holding our government accountable. It is not just the future of the children that we have traded away due to indifference, neglect and incompetence, it is now the present that is also slipping away. Sometimes the problem is so grave that words lose all meaning. Unjust or unacceptable are among those weak words that will never describe the pain and suffering of the parents and the loved ones.

So where do we go from here? Outrage on social media is not enough, and we ought to do better. First, hard as it may be, is to start with empathy. The media coverage, with screams, cries and pain on auto-repeat with a sensational music is disrespectful, despicable and fundamentally indecent. We have to self-regulate ourselves and hold ourselves to higher levels of empathy and decency when talking about pain and suffering. Interviewing a child, a few minutes after her mother was shot in front of her resisting an abduction (as reported by several channels on Sunday), is just not right. Doing so with a background music is below any level of decency and dignity.

Second, we have to demand real statistics. Hyperbole and sweeping statements would just not do any longer. Whether through interviews and talk-shows, or through letters, emails and SMS, we have to ask the authorities what the real data is. Confusion often leads to chaos and is hardly helpful in a society already on the edge.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we have to own the question of our children and their future. We have to remind ourselves that CPEC is not a solution for all our problems. It wont take away our lack of empathy, our weak moral fiber and our indifference to the sufferings that are in the present, are very real and threatening our own future.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 23^rd, 2016.

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