Drawing the Wrong Comparisons. Of Artistic Shrinks & Fallen Defenders

Photo Credit: raylook Flickr via Compfight cc

Yesterday, the voice of my late teens consumed its own life. Chester Bennington, spoke to me and many people of my generation at a totally different level. Within no time, my Facebook feed was flooded with the news. Why was Chester so important to me? You see, growing up in times when there was no counseling to handle teen angst and the world, as it unraveled its dark side, Chester’s lyrics gave solace to our clueless minds. I, along with thousands of millennials worldwide, mourned at the news. It wouldn’t be wrong to say Chester was our shrink.

At around the same time, a Pakistani soldier Abdul Jabbar, was martyred in a terrorist attack. I was unaware of the news until I saw an Instagram story. But there’s a reason behind my ignorance – I don’t subscribe to any local news’ channel. The primary reason is ‘Sadistic Journalism’ practiced by our media. You see, every casualty is reported with sickening amounts of gory detail. Rarely do you see a victim’s picture from an identification document, but a picture of a blood covered carcass. Amidst hundreds of terrorist related casualties daily, does the media assume viewers won’t believe the news until they saw the picture of a dead body?

Not to mention the fact that in the age of extensive media consumption, the martyrdom of our soldiers didn’t get adequate coverage anyways. Notice they hyperlinked article above? It has ZERO shares. If only a handful of military personnel had shared the article from a reputable website, the story would’ve gotten viral.

Having said that, does turning down local media due to their unethical practices make me unpatriotic? I’m a tax paying and law-abiding CIVILIAN, if that isn’t considered patriotism then I don’t know what is. Not to mention, despite my good citizenship I get treated as third grade vermin every time a VIP’s entourage passes by me on the road, but that calls for a separate blog post.

Besides, we’re drawing the wrong comparisons!

How can you compare the martyrdom of the soil’s son with the suicide of a singer? One’s THE reason we have freedom to enjoy luxuries of life while the other helped us get through tough times. Sure the previous generations were more aware of whatever went on around them. But back then the whole family huddled next to the TV for the 9 o’ clock news and went to bed. They never feared being bombarded with sickening images of dead bodies daily. Not to mention, those were simpler times and people didn’t fear losing their lives because they belonged to a minority race or religious denomination. Things are more complicated to judge in a system gone awry.

The loss of life, regardless of faith or country of origin is plain sad. In the end, it’s the only thing that matters.