In the midst of the extremely abhorrent events that have taken place during the past week, a clear picture of the human mentality has been painted, a picture saying more than just a thousand words. A picture painted with a sword as a paintbrush and the blood of the innocent as color.

The people are less concerned about the atrocities taking the entire world by storm, one town, one city, one state and one country at a time. They are more concerned by the fact that some atrocities are getting more camera footage than others.

Innocent souls die, children lose their parents, brothers lose their sisters, husbands lose their wives, and yet we are more concerned with why Paris is getting more attention than Baghdad. Crime is a crime, whether it is against a Palestinian, a Lebanese, a Jew, an Indian or a Parisian, because the severity of a crime is not measured in terms of ethnicity or social status.

For the ardent supporters of the poor souls undeservingly punished in terror-stricken countries, who express their support by sharing videos on the social network and immediately forget about the event when a Bollywood or a Hollywood trailer springs up on their Facebook newsfeed, their transient, one day support is of no use.

Instead of indulging in the game of blaming the “media,” a moment of silence and a minute or two of prayer for all those affected by the series of sorrowful events would be of more significance.

Anubhav Sharma

Dammam