The fear of fear

A couple of weeks back, pandemonium broke loose at New York’s JFK Airport when reports of gunfire emerged. Social media was instantly abuzz with endless speculation, fuelling the fear. The police evacuated two terminals, only to realise that it was a false alarm. A boisterous Olympic celebration in the airport might have been to blame for the noise, which many assumed was gunfire and hit the panic button. Days back, rumours about a shooter at the LAX delayed flights and sent panicked passengers fleeing onto an active tarmac and on the open roadway outside the airport, which itself was against public safety. Again, the reports turned out to be false. A man sitting outside the airport, beside a plastic sword, and dressed as Zorro, may have been to blame. The LAPD was all over him till it became known that he was only an actor who had rushed to the airport after an audition. Yet some other reports insisted that there was an “active shooter” lurking in Terminal 8, though, nothing, mercifully, became of the rumour.

More frightening than the incidents themselves is the alarming level of paranoia, suspicion and fear that has been embedded in people’s minds as a result of the cruel terror incidents that are an ongoing affair in Europe and US. The climate of mistrust is heightened. People have become hugely wary of public places, particularly restaurants, airports and malls.

Every bit of information sounds like an omen. The power of hearsay has never been stronger. People react because they see and hear what people around them do and say. Rapid dissemination of information on social media without filtering feeds this kind of frenzy. It’s wildfire you can’t control. Even the minutest hint of something odd is enough to spark an over-reaction, paralyse normalcy and turn into a headline.

Terror groups and mentally imbalanced lone-wolf attackers reading about and watching such incidents are probably having a loud laugh. Their mission to create an environment of uncertainty and fear has succeeded. Terrorism is fundamentally a form of psychological warfare. The constant threat perception of being vulnerable to mass violence has seeped into our collective consciousness. The common man is justifiably scared and on the edge. Terror can strike anytime, anywhere and in any form. An umbrella in a man’s hands can become a rifle; the bang of a suitcase hitting the ground, a gunshot, and a sullen looking man with a long beard, a terrorist.

There is, no doubt, a need to downplay knee-jerk reactions rather than sensationalising them. Such false alarms end up propagating more hysteria. However, this is easier said than done. It is convenient to comment from a distance, but chances are that if placed in the same situation, we wouldn’t react any less abnormally than the terrorised travellers. It isn’t unfair to get jumpy about the threat of attack — it is human nature to respond irrationally and unreasonably, especially when precedents like Brussels and Istanbul exist. People have realised finally that anything could happen to them. Our survival instinct has turned alive.

But the big question is — where do we go from here? Is there a need for public safety procedures and crisis communication protocols to be further strengthened? Is the overall anxiety about mass attacks reflective of the real level of danger? Possibly. But what we cannot escape anymore is bracing ourselves for the worst before visiting a public place.

Tailpiece

Grammy winner Chris Brown was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly gun which he pointed at a beauty queen’s head in his sprawling mansion. You think becoming a parent would change a person, but clearly that’s not the case here.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 1^st, 2016.

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