Daily Times

Sir: How does it feel to live in constant sounds of guns and barrels? How does it feel to be perpetually enveloped by clouds of fear and threats of bombs, terror attacks, and airstrikes? How does it feel to smell the corpses rotting under the rubble? How does it feel when seeing charred and maimed bodies is a part of the routine?

These are the horrendous circumstances under which the younger generation of Syria is growing up. Of late, the photo of a 5 year old Syrian boy — Omran Daqneesh, is doing rounds in media. His bloodied face, dazed eyes and body covered in dust after being rescued from rubble in Aleppo, is enough to jolt the conscience of the world.

But this is not the first time such heart-wrenching images of a child made headlines. Earlier, a photo of the lifeless body of 3 year old Syrian Aylan Kurdi sent shockwaves around the world, and the world expressed outrage, grief and disappointment over the plight of the migrants. But such heightened emotions proved short-lived and soon subsided because of the threats of terror and demographic change in West that came along with migrants.

The image speaks volumes about the plight of Syrian people, especially children. They are forced to watch the horrors of conflict and war on daily basis. Their impressionable minds see blood and gore as a routine affair. Their schools are bombed and homes destroyed. Almost every child has lost a near and dear one. Does this young generation deserve to live like this? At an age, where they must be living carefree, joyful lives, do they deserve to see such awful circumstances? Certainly, not.

In the 4 year long Syrian civil war, people are killed like flies — some at the brutal hands of terrorists and others in counter terror operations. The lucky ones who escape from bloodshed, are killed by the merciless waves of the sea, when they try to make desperate attempts to reach safe havens. Those who are luckier enough to survive the perilous sea journey and reach the shores of other countries in the hope of a safe tomorrow, are outrightly rejected by the authorities or are forced to live in squalid conditions in refugee camps.

There is a need of greater realisation in world leaders to do a lot more to stabilise this war-torn country. The imperialist and interventionist politics of some Western countries have created a state of perpetual turmoil in many countries, like Syria. The people dying in the conflict-ridden regions are not mere statistics. They are real human beings. All stakeholders must bear in mind that Syria is not a chessboard to play their dirty power games. The country has long been burning, and it is about time the world leaders found an inclusive political solution to the mess that it has become today.

FAKEHA FAIZ

Islamabad