Live or die… who cares? [Archives:2002/38/Focus]
BY ARIF AHMED AL-AHDAL
While travelling from Sana’a to Hodeida, I saw a very tragic accident. The driver of our car stopped, we got out of the car and witnessed with our eyes a horrible kind of crash- a lorry and a truck. All people in the truck lost their lives. Yet, we could still hear some voices coming from the deep pain of the agony. We then learnt that it was a baby’s voice. We could do nothing other than watching that poor, innocent child gradually losing his life within the clutches of death.
I had a look at all the faces of the people there … fears, pains, cries, tears but helpless. Immediately I asked myself “Where are the competent authorities?” “Isn’t it their essential role and duty to give a hand to people in such a situation?” “What are all those vehicles and cars of the authorities for?” “Are they just for getting in and lazing around in streets in a sense to prove that the government is for people?”. Needless to say, at that time I felt that human life in our world is of no value. Six hours passed and no help was sent. How poor are the poor!
A lot of questions arose in my mind. So did they in minds of my fellow travelers. “Who is to blame? And why aren’t there urgent precautions for such a case?” are just two. You could think of others. These cost nothing but a sense of safety in the hearts of the citizens that they are treated as humans by the government.
Couldn’t drivers be restricted by speed limits?
Can’t the government do anything to decrease the possibilities of such accidents from happening? Hopefully something would be done in the days and months to come. Yet, we also have to be just in our judgement. That is we shouldn’t put the whole blame on the government, rather, those who work for the government are also to blame. Why do these people not do their responsibilities properly? Obviously they give priority to “enjoying themselves” in “Qat-chewing sessions forgetting that they have other yet more important responsibilities to shoulder. Do you think we should dream of a better future? Well, let’s hope for the best.
In fact, the present issue is not only restricted to the foregoing story. Rather it is very much related to the whole aspects of our life. Shall we live with fear filling up our hearts? Does life have any sense of meaning with this fierce sort of anxiety? And how can we continue our life when the sense of security is lost? How can a sweet dream breathe while the horrible nightmare is suffocating the atmosphere? Regretfully, this is the reality we hope to change.
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