THERE is in Pakistan a fundamentally flawed understanding of suicide. This was glaringly highlighted by the Punjab Police’s crude and tone-deaf tweet on Friday warning that anyone who survives a suicide attempt could be liable to one year’s imprisonment under Section 325 of the PPC. Ironically, the post was accompanied by the hashtags #BuildingForBetter and #Awareness. True awareness would entail recognising that suicide, or an attempt at it, is not a crime but a desperate cry for help by someone most probably suffering from a mental disorder, such as depression. People with suicidal ideation need support and counselling, but many often do not seek it because of the stigma attached to mental illness. The fact that taking one’s own life is deemed a crime in this country only adds to the reluctance. Thus the problems that give rise to the suicidal tendencies in the first place remain hidden, whereas detection and treatment are critical in preventing self-harm.
According to figures compiled by WHO eight years ago, an average of 13,377 suicides occur in Pakistan each year. Around 7,000 of them are committed by women and a little over 6,000 by men. Instances of attempted self-harm are 20 times higher, with women outnumbering men by a ratio of at least 3:1. Indeed, many of those who succeed in taking their own lives have a pattern of self-harm that if brought to medical attention and addressed successfully through therapy could have prevented them from taking the final, irrevocable step. Local studies indicate that suicidal behaviour manifests more often among the under-30s, who constitute a huge segment of our population. That is all the more reason authorities in Pakistan must inculcate a modern and more compassionate understanding of what makes a person carry out an act that is the very antithesis of the human instinct for survival. There are of course significant resource issues. More than 75pc of people with mental disorders do not get help partly because they are simply not enough trained experts in the field. Also, depressive disorders often closely associated with suicidal ideation are inextricably linked with sociocultural factors and the quality of life, which means a holistic approach is needed to addressing this complex issue. Nevertheless, as a first step, Pakistan must decriminalise attempted suicide, as has been already done in several Muslim countries. Secondly, it should scale up e-mental health interventions so people in distress get the support they need.
Missing OIC and AL
THE ceasefire between Hamas and Israel seems to be holding up after 11 days of heavy and indiscriminate Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip. Estimates vary but some reports say around 250 Palestinian men, women and children have been killed by Israelis and several parts of Gaza have been reduced to rubble.
The ceasefire was brokered by Egypt and the international community has welcomed it. Aid has also finally started to pour into the destroyed area as Palestinians begin the painful process of rebuilding their shattered lives. The ceasefire comes in the wake of the UN Security Council’s failure to restrain Israel from unleashing violence on the Palestinian civilian population and targeting populated areas including schools and hospitals.
Most Western governments continue to draw a false equivalence between the two sides and refuse to identify Israel as the aggressor. However, international public opinion favoured the Palestinians and there was widespread condemnation of Israel raining death and destruction on the unarmed population in Gaza.
What was missing in this entire unfortunate episode was any role played by organisations like the OIC and the Arab League. Pakistan pursued a proactive policy and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi led these efforts from the front by travelling to the UN headquarters in New York to galvanise diplomatic efforts in favour of the Palestinian cause.
He also welcomed the announcement of the ceasefire and said: “This is the power of collective, unified action … May this ceasefire be the first step towards peace in Palestine.” The minister added: “Israel’s occupation of Palestine must end, and illegal settlements and apartheid-like regime imposed in the occupied territories must be dismantled. Implementation of UN [resolution] for establishment of independent and contiguous Palestinian State, with Al-Quds Sharif as its capital [is] imperative.”
Pakistan partnered with Turkey to raise the issue forcefully and reinforce the just cause of the Palestinians at the global forum. It was unfortunate, however, that many other Muslim nations, as well as their multilateral platforms, chose to soft-pedal the issue. This crisis required the OIC and the Arab League to power up their diplomacy and utilise the collective clout of their member countries to pile pressure on Israel and its supporting countries. Instead, these organisations chose expediency over principles and left countries like Pakistan and Turkey to shoulder the burden.
In the wake of the so-called Abraham Accords brokered by the Donald Trump administration that saw many Arab nations recognising Israel, there has been a visible dilution of support for the Palestinian cause among platforms like the OIC and the Arab League. If this accord was meant to restrain Israel and make it more accommodative towards the Palestinians, Israel has buried this notion under the Gaza rubble. It may be better for the OIC and the Arab League to learn lessons from their failure in this crisis and amend their policy of silence in the face of Israeli brutality.
Low vaccination levels
NEWS that the government is opening vaccinations for people over 30 is indeed welcome, but the greater challenge of millions of unvaccinated citizens remains. Around 3.5m people have been vaccinated in the country thus far — a low and foreboding number given that we have clocked in over 20,000 recorded deaths and frequently see oscillating patterns in positivity ratios in major cities. Moreover, the devastation wreaked by the UK variant in Punjab and the capital has highlighted how inadequate our healthcare infrastructure is in the face of fast-spreading mutations of the Covid-19 virus. In this scenario, a boost in vaccine availability and awareness must be the top priority of both the federal and provincial governments.
The first challenge regarding vaccine access is a serious one. Aside from procurement problems, we know that 3m people who are not registered in the Nadra database will not be able to get vaccinated even if they wished to. The government must recognise this unique hurdle faced by unregistered citizens and find a way for them to be vaccinated. In fact, whole families could be kept out of the registration process because of the requirement of proving their identity through Nadra. The second challenge, and one that is a problem globally, is vaccine hesitancy. The reluctance to be vaccinated is partially rooted in Covid-19 denialism, and has also been amplified by the initial downplaying of the threat of the virus by irresponsible world leaders. Today, there are huge sections of the population who fear that the vaccine will somehow instal a tracking chip in the human body, or that it will cause infertility or death. These conspiracy theories and fears must be addressed by a robust and visible awareness programme. The Pakistani government should mull incentives for hesitant and vaccine-sceptic citizens. Engaging religious scholars, public figures and community leaders, too, could have a positive impact. Without mass inoculation, the threat to life from Covid-19, as well as the damaging effects to the economy and education, will persist.
