Some Mother’s Son

In an environment where honor killings, rape and abductions are the norm, this article is indeed a sigh of relief. Thanks.

--Ibn

Beena
A great article. Visaka`s is an extra-ordinary courageous woman with a great wisdom.
A perfect humanist. These are people who make a difference in our polluted world.
I am feeling so much respect for her inside my heart. It is very inspiring.
I totally agree with your last paragraph. Pain is pain, and it cannot be identify by any culture, religion or a country. I belive that we should prefer humanity over nationalism.
Doing good is actually good for yourself. On the sencond thought, it is easier to think and write a poitive thought, and harder to act.

Zahra
I think we become what we being taught to a great extent. Guidance and misguidance seems so relative. Sometimes, it is so hard to distinguish between the truth and illusion.
Ironically, who know the least , they claim that they know the most. The most intelligent and the wisest claim that they know the least. Funny!!!

Regards.

Good points Zahra.

[The pain of the mother whose son was beheaded by Al Qaeda militants in Saudi Arabia is no less than the pain of one whose son died in a targeted missile attack in Wana, or whose political activist son was gunned down in Karachi -- or those who lose children in bomb blasts in Karachi mosques or the Iraqi cities. And if these women, like the Tamil and Sinhala mothers that Visaka leads, can make their voices heard above those who channelise their frustration and anger towards destruction, the world may yet become a better place. ]

The beheading mania requires a proper cleansing of the human head and heart. I truly wish the cannibals get the taste of their own medicine. I agree that a loss is a loss, but I disagree that the loss of an uncouth Al Qaida militant or the mad youth in Karachi was equal to the loss of Paul Johnson, an engineer with Lockheed Martin. There is a big difference. Just because these men popped out of women doesn`t mean that all of them were given the same training. This also highlights the sad state of affair all over the world. In many developing and under-developed countries women produce more children than they can even take care of. At the end, the poor woman only gets to hear about the death of her offspring. Indeed, for the mother it`s a loss regardless of a nincompoop son or an engineer son, but for the global community and the immediate society the latter has a significant impact.

[The pain of the mother whose son was beheaded by Al Qaeda militants in Saudi Arabia is no less than the pain of one whose son died in a targeted missile attack in Wana, or whose political activist son was gunned down in Karachi -- or those who lose children in bomb blasts in Karachi mosques or the Iraqi cities. And if these women, like the Tamil and Sinhala mothers that Visaka leads, can make their voices heard above those who channelise their frustration and anger towards destruction, the world may yet become a better place. ]

The beheading mania requires a proper cleansing of the human head and heart. I truly wish the cannibals get the taste of their own medicine. I agree that a loss is a loss, but I disagree that the loss of an uncouth Al Qaida militant or the mad youth in Karachi was equal to the loss of Paul Johnson, an engineer with Lockheed Martin. There is a big difference. Just because these men popped out of women doesn`t mean that all of them were given the same training. This also highlights the sad state of affair all over the world. In many developing and under-developed countries women produce more children than they can even take care of. At the end, the poor woman only gets to hear about the death of her offspring. Indeed, for the mother it`s a loss regardless of a nincompoop son or an engineer son, but for the global community and the immediate society the latter has a significant impact.

[Such inclusion may positively impact negotiations, given women’s greater empathy to other people’s feelings, says Visaka. “We know by the sound of our husband’s footsteps when he comes home from work, what kind of mood he is in. But we have to burst into tears or do something dramatic for them to realize if we are upset!”]

Reading stuff like this, it`s really hard to believe that we are half way through 2004.

Re#2 by ZahraJ:

Good comment overall Zahra, especially this, ``[There is strength and inspiration to be drawn from those who use their pain, not to cause further destruction, but to heal and move ahead.]``

Thanks for highlighting this story.

[There is strength and inspiration to be drawn from those who use their pain, not to cause further destruction, but to heal and move ahead.]

This was very profound! It requires a lot more than simple humanity. It reminds me of the Pearl family and what they went through. I remembered reading something by his mother after the accident took place in KHI. The step by Danny Pearl`s family to initiate a fellowship for journalists from South Asia, the Middle East and/or North Africa was a very magnanimous gesture. The animalistic behaviour displayed by some demented did not deserve any fellowship. http://www.danielpearl.org/about_us/fellowship.html.
Last but not least, his wife(who at that time was expecting) expressed her admiration for the Pakistani locals who tried to locate her dead husband`s body. She could have used that incident to create a rift, but she moved ahead.

[Of course, not all women are sensitive, just as not all men are insensitive. If some women exhort their husbands or sons into violence for the sake of ‘honour’, others can smilingly torture prisoners. But for all those who demonstrate such internalization of negative values, there are also those like Visaka in Sri Lanka, whose humanistic values link them to apparently unrelated organizations, from New York Not in Our Name, or Military Families Speak Out in the USA, to Israel’s courageous ‘refuseniks’. ]

I hope the ones who ``smilingly tortured prisoners`` are not looked down upon more than they deserve to. That would be very unfair! Just because the pictures of the semi-nude male prisoners went live, the world was hit by the thought of human rights violation. What about the day in and day out violation of women all over the world? Should that be ignored? In my opinion, the said woman should only be penalized for the violation of civil behavior. Human beings are capable of both good and evil. And, I guess the world got a rude awakening to see ``women`` in the category of human beings. Welcome to reality!

On a similiar note, how many times does the world get to see the pictures of the actual act of violation against women? Has the world ever seen the pictures of women who are gang-raped in the interior of Pakistan(supposedly a muslim country) or has the world ever seen the pictures of women who are shot dead in the name of honor killings? I think Amnesty International should provide a few digital cameras to the locals of all the villages and depute human rights` activists under cover to capture the scenes. I am sure there will be much more uproar than expressed for the Iraqis. Something like the attached link could never generate enough sympathy for many reasons: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2089624.stm There are a few chapters in ``Living History`` by Hillary Clinton that cover an interesting perspective on South Asia and Women`s Rights. Worth Reading.

Chowk is rooted in an anti-humanistic culture that glorifies violence. Revenge, killings, abductions, and regular beheadings for real or assumed injustices are the expected norm here. Few are interested in humanistic solutions. Thanks much, though.