Caring for more than one

Foreign-made weapons. A death toll that continues to climb every day. Several million people forcibly displaced from their homes and living in miserable conditions. Outbreaks of deadly diseases and a real chance of a long-term famine. Seemingly no end in sight.

All of the above statements are just as true for Sudan as they are for Gaza. A civil war that broke out in mid-April in Sudan has displaced over 7 million persons in the last eight months. Health conditions are precarious and the fighting has engulfed nearly all of the country as cities large and small are being flattened and bodies of the deceased are left in the street to rot. Sudanese are asking why they do not seem to matter to the world. We should ask that question to ourselves as well.

Many of us are rightfully angry at the global hypocrisy, injustice and dehumanising of Palestinians. But there is no reason for us to create a perimeter around our concern for innocent lives lost in other parts of the world. A child, who loses his or her parents in an evil war, is worthy of full support regardless of whether the bullet comes from the gun held by a soldier from another country or a militia member from one’s own. Hunger bites whether it is because the entry points are blocked or because no one cares to send food anymore. The death of a loved one — because there are no more medicines — hurts with raw pain, whether that happens in Khartoum or in Khan Younis.

The point here is not to forget Gaza, or disregard the historical context, or not speak up about it, but to make sure that we care for every person who is caught in the perpetual nightmare of violence. At the same time, we should also ask: why do we not speak up or (to put it more bluntly) care about other innocent civilians whose lives are just as precious? Why is it rare to find any coverage, whatsoever, about the tragedies in Sudan? It cannot be simply because it is too far, for if distance was the argument, we should have been thinking a lot more about Uyghurs or Afghans — which we clearly do not. It also cannot be because the Sudanese situation is an internal matter of a country because then many of our arguments about treatment of Muslims in India would collapse. Saying that we need to focus on one crisis at a time also sounds bizarre since most of us are not on the ground providing aid and our main support is either through advocacy, social media, or through donations to the relief organisations. Could it be that we have assumed that Sudan in particular, or Africa in general, is a place where conflict and tragedy is the norm, and we are fine with this troubling assumption? Could it be that we think this is how life there is — angry people always fighting on something or another? How would we think if other people used racist and stereotypical ideas concocted from afar about us?

Each one of us should examine why we do not care, and why the loss of life, limb and livelihoods in Sudan (or other places) does not trouble us as much as it should. Media houses and news organisations — in Pakistan and all over the world — are responsible for not highlighting the tragedy, but we all are just as complicit in moving on. But we should not move on. Caring for everyone who is suffering does not dilute our focus, instead it gives our concern a much stronger foundation. Recognising that ceasefire is the only option — whether the suffering is in the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe, or any other part of the word — gives our arguments the moral consistency that is necessary for a better, safer and a more dignified future for everyone, including us.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 9^th, 2024.

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