Mercy; Still Unfathomable
The 9/11 war is over and so is the rule of Taliban. Today human rights are the articulation of the need for justice, tolerance, mutual respect and human dignity. Living in the 21st century when we speak of rights, we express the idea that all individuals are a part of the scope of morality and justice.
Some of us may not even be aware of the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba. It is a United States military prison and is considered the worst of all. The prisoners here are denied decent human treatment, they are denied their fundamental moral entitlements. It is, in a sense, treating them as if they are less than human and undeserving of respect and dignity.
The prisoners protest this injustice by hunger striking, refusing food and sometimes water too! They are beaten brutally, and not even allowed to pray. They may deteriorate rapidly but their intentions to continue their strike is steadfast. They can’t even kill themselves to end this misery. Hope for them is something beyond their reach.
US seems to want to smoother them, to kill them slowly as they are left in a vacuum of uncertainty wondering if they’ll ever be free. If the long history of Guantanamo bay proves anything, it’s that though tough regimes and requirements change, but the US navy is LIKELY TO STAY.
The US police officers get away in spite of killing black people every single time, who are their own citizens, what mercy can we expect from them to grant to these prisoners?
The world may turn a blind eye and find this cruelty small. But for each of them there, the cost of their indefinite and unfair imprisonment is beyond measurable. They have lost their families, their lives; they have unnecessarily lost over a decade of our already short time in this world, yearning to be free again.
Its not just India who needs a change!
-Ishan Khalsa
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