The death of innocence

“Have you seen the Bollywood movie Ishaqzaade?” exclaimed the young boy, “They did the same to each other.” He was trying to explain the recent teenage suicide case in Karachi in the simplest words when I asked him about what actually happened in the classroom.

The 16-year-old boy and the 15-year-old girl were Matriculation students in Gulshan-e-Fatima school near Soldier Bazaar and studied together, also sharing the same coaching centre and neighbourhood. When the news broke on September 1 that two young students had committed suicide inside the school, many questions arose on parenting styles, the co-education system and why there should be regulation on the content of movies and dramas our children watch.

Visiting the girl’s house and meeting some friends of the boy, I can conclude that the main reason behind this incident is the role played by the media in terms of the content that is aired on television and in movies. Movies and dramas, whether Pakistani or Indian, are predominantly love stories, portraying parents clashing with their children on questions of marriage, which ultimately ends in the separation of the two lovers, or death. This particular tragedy is a clear example of how the media and the content of movies and dramas are affecting the minds of teenagers.

Investigating the matter brought to light that the boy was a diehard Bollywood fan. Those who knew him described him as someone who spent his time roaming the streets of his locality and keeping bad company of boys older than him. He tried to dress like actors from popular movies and even tried to replicate their hairstyles. If you compare the story of the movie Ishaqzaade to what happened to the young couple, one does find a lot of similarities.

Another aspect highlighted here is the parenting style. Regardless of the opposition of the parents to their children’s marriage, which many say was also because of their different belief systems, the point remains that they were too young to have been thinking of marriage in any case. Perhaps, this is what the parents should have pointed out to their children instead of focusing on the different religious beliefs. It is heart-breaking and perhaps plain wrong to in any way blame those who have suffered the most through this tragedy, but maybe a closer bond with their children could have prevented what transpired.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 23^rd, 2015.