A bitter remembrance

Two events — the Army Public School massacre of two years ago and the crash of flight PK-166 are emblematic of how the state fails those that survive traumatic events such as this. The dead are mourned and buried and the living have to carry on regardless, putting their lives back together as best they can with little or no support from outside their immediate friends and family.

The PIA flight crashed 10 days ago and the media focused on the death of one man, a celebrity, and spared little thought for those who died other than those that were headline news in their lifetimes. Relatives of the non-celebrity dead have complained bitterly that double standards are in operation, that they are of low priority in the queue for DNA testing that would allow the release of remains for burial. We are now pleased to report that all the bodies are identified and authorised for release.

For the relatives of the dead of the APS atrocity the pain continues. Parents and other relatives as well as survivors of the attack number in the hundreds if not thousands, and according to doctors willing to comment publicly that are familiar with them many are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). They may take years to recover. Some may never recover. They need professional counseling the provision of which is threadbare at best.

The unseen and unheard casualties of catastrophic events mostly suffer in stoic silence. The media quickly moves on to the next headline, and a parent quietly weeping in a child’s bedroom is not going to raise the viewer-or-readership. The state moves on as well, no more prepared for the next disaster than it is for those that have recently occurred. The Peshawar bombing, PK-166 and the APS atrocity all leave dreadful legacies of un-assuaged pain and loss. All lives matter, and the impression that some matter more than others must be dispelled as was pointed out on the front page of this newspaper on 16^th December. The needs of the living, the survivors, the ‘others’ of these tragedies are no less vital than bringing dignity to the dead.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 17^th, 2016.

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