Sir: The Siachin tragedy, in which 135 soldiers were killed, is a colossal loss of human lives. I have been watching live TV coverage of President Asif Ali Zardari from Ajmer Sharif, India, and surprisingly he did not pray for these poor souls at the shrine. What type of a president that makes him? An hour later I saw live coverage of Imran Khan addressing a public gathering in Abbottabad and he too did not say a word about the martyrs. It is the same with the rest of our leadership, all giving lip service to some unknown cause. Belgium held one-day national mourning on March 16, 2012 when its 28 citizens including 22 children died in a road accident in Switzerland. Its national flag flew at half-mast and one minute of silence was observed in the country as a mark of respect and honour towards those innocents who lost their lives. It seems our leaders have become numb. I wonder if it is because of the war on terror that has consumed so many lives of this country that our hearts have turned to stone. Or is it the avarice for power that has made our leaders shallow and soulless? The Siachin tragedy is not a small event. It is a reminder of human folly that has made spirituality plastic. Guarding borders over the mountains of the Himalayas sounds silly compared to the human loss — physical as well as mental. IQBAL HADI ZAIDI Kuwait