In principle, society and the media generally believe and follow the dictum of the misattributed Stalin quote: “The death of one man is a tragedy; the death of millions is a statistic”
A society is identified and judged by the values and ideals it relates to through its actions and observance. Ironically, here Valentine’s Day is more fervently observed and celebrated than the International Day of Disappeared Persons or the International Day against Torture. The state for sure and a majority of the people probably do not have the frame of reference that would evoke compassion for the disappeared persons’ or their relatives’ angst. Consequently, even on the International Day of Disappeared Persons observed on August 30, there was not a single editorial in the dailies I read. Probably, it was not deemed an important enough occasion to deserve the coverage that water-car charades command or Valentine’s Day gets. This highlights society’s indifference to the sufferings of others. This sad day however was observed in Balochistan and the Baloch Diaspora organised protests in foreign capitals.
Baluch Sarmachar 