suicides glore…

Poverty is a killer for the middle and lower middle class who have to keep a minimum lifestyle or sufaid poshi ka bharam, as we call locally. So, one day in Lahore, a rickshaw driver oppressed by poverty finally reached the threshold of endurance and crossed it by swallowing poisonous pills along with his family. This followed a spate of suicides across the country reported in electronic media for which it was a tailor made story to sell to an already depressed, defeated and deflated public. Endless discussions still continue with no impact on suffering of the poor. There are two angles of this issue which merit my attention: One, were the near relatives and neighbours aware of the suffering of these families? if yes what steps they took to alleviate the same. Two, did these suicide families ever shared their suffering with someone. We know some do not like others knowing their state of affairs, but then is it that our social interaction fails to indicate such instances? I am not for government having to feed everyone. I take ‘suicide poverty’ manageable by a society more compassionate and aware of the sufferings of its fellow brothers and sisters. Of course, the major chunk of responsibility for poverty alleviation falls on government which can become the biggest and most effective social work organization given its sheer size of human and fiscal resources.