NOT A FAIRYTALE

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful country called Syria located in Western Asia. The country had all kinds of terrains. A sea to the west, a desert to the south east, a river flowing into the country from the north and continuing out of the country at the east and hills and mountains in the south west.

The country was also known as ancient pearl because of its achievements. The Ugaritic alphabet which was used in the semitic kingdoms in the 12^th and 13^th century BC was a very great discovery in literature as it unified the scripts used in Phoencian, Hebrew and Aramaic. The ancient ruins of Palmyra, Homs were one of the most important cultural centers of the ancient world. The beehive houses in Hama which were made from dirt, mud, straws and stones and created in 3700 BC was an architectural marvel as it could be used for living as well as storage purposes in deserts and rural farming areas. The country also discovered the Hurrian Hymn, the oldest musical notation in the world aging back to 3400 years!

In terms of statistics, the country retained its numbers well into the beginning of the 21^st century.  Till 2012, around 99% of children were enrolled in primary schools and all of them completed the schooling. Around 95% of the youth of the country of both genders were well educated. The percentage of people living in urban areas was about 56%. Less than 2% of the population lived below the international poverty line of $1.25 par day and less than 5% of children were recorded as serving as child labours. The life expectancy was around 74 years and with all the well equipped hospitals and clinics, people lived happily without any major troubles regarding health and infrastructure.

Come 2011-2012 and all of these changed. The country started facing such chaos and constant wars that though it is known that the population has been declining considerably from its 21.4 million inhabitants, the total population cannot be determined exactly.

The United Nations and the Arab League Envoy to Syria estimated that till 2016, an estimated 4,00,000 people had been killed in the war. Out of these casualties, around 19,116 were children and 12,041 were women. More than 13,000 people were reportedly executed in government prisons.

But these numbers are so huge, the casualties so large, the sufferings so immense that it seems too big and painful to grasp. May be we need to take a look at every day photos and hear common people stories to feel the anguish of the torture and the hardships thrust onto the populace there.

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Jad Allah Jumaa was one and a half years old. He was healthy, playful and a pride of his parents. His parents gush over that photo of his in a pink sweater where he leans out of a chair he is sitting in to reach his mother with a smile on his soft red lips. A few photos like those and memories are all what remains of Jad now for his parents because Jad was murdered. Murdered for something neither his innocent soul nor his life givers are responsible for. A few days after that photo was taken, Jad died on Feb 1^st 2014 in an airstrike on Eastern Ghouta.    

Fatima, now 27, is a fortunate refugee to have escaped from Syria. She now lives in Greece in a refugee camp with her husband and two children, aged 4 and 5. She had lived in Damascus her entire life where her life revolved around her family. She recalls that her mother cooked for them every night so that the entire family could get together and enjoy a peaceful, lively time. Though Fatima is grateful for having a new life in a new country, the one thing she cannot forgive herself for is the fact that her parents aren’t with her. The family could arrange money for only one person to escape from Syria, and like every other parent in the world, the child gets everything.

Yehia, 29 was wrongly imprisoned and was locked in the underground prisons for more than six months. He tells how the screams of women being raped in the next basement room made him want to tear out his ears. He shares his trauma of having had to watch a young man in his room who had a hole in his head. The youngster was made to sit before the drain with his head above the drainage hole so that not even a drop of blood fell onto the floor.

A father in his mid-thirties went out to buy food and diapers for his children when the rations at home were over. He was stopped on the way and demanded with a gun on his forehead to join the armed forces or die. He recalls how he could see his kids and wife in his mind and curse himself for this pain. He was very lucky to have escaped from them and to flee the country with his family.

These are the stories of Syria. The mother who lost her only child, a man having to watch his wife being raped, a brother who could not help his sibling, a child having to leave his/her education, an entire generation having to go without a future, a fortunate few refugees living with the guilt of not being able to save their loved ones.

For this story to have a ‘happily ever after’, the fighting forces have to come to a common ground and resolve to settle the matter peacefully, the main powers of the world should decide on the best option to eliminate the evil forces, and the international peacekeeping forces should enforce cease-fire. But in the meantime everybody can do their bit by finding a way to contribute financially and medically to the people of Syria. It is in times of great hardships that humanity has to come forward as one and show that love always wins over cruelty.