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Op-Ed: Syria’s dead Aylan — A powerful image jolts humanity

Such is the haunting nature of the image; it’s difficult to confront the reality that Aylan is dead. As the writer looked at the image, he tried to convince the naïve part of his consciousness that Aylan is sleeping. Of course he wasn’t.

The kid, along with his mother and sibling, tried to reach the safe shores of Greece after fleeing war-torn Syria as refugees. They tried to seek asylum in Canada and Turkey. Death won them over.

Some reports referred to the image saying, “Humanity washed up ashore.”

One picture finally managed to communicate the extent of misery felt by thousands of civilians fleeing unwanted war and instability. It speaks of humanity’s quickening descent to the heart of darkness.

The world is silently watching the largest migrant crisis of the 21st century as streams of displaced people flee wars, insecurity and poverty, trying to seek refuge among those who created the very conditions of war and wanton misery.

According to UN Report on the Syrian crisis, at least “2,000 Syrians trying to reach Europe have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea.”

Reportedly this is the biggest displacement of people since World War II.

Meanwhile the Syrian war continues to intensify with no end in sight.

The BBC reported:
More than 240,000 people have been killed since an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad erupted in March 2011.

In terms of the response triggered, reports cited a relation of Aylan’s picture to that of Nick Ut’s Pulitizer winning picture in 1972 — the heart-wrenching image of a nine-year-old girl running naked with agonizing burns — victim of a deadly U.S.-led Napalm attack in Vietnam.

Nick’s image at that time created worldwide condemnation and some credit it as the image that hastened the end of Vietnam War.

Female soldiers dressed as Vietnam war era Vietcong soldiers march during a parade in Ho Chi Minh Ci...

Female soldiers dressed as Vietnam war era Vietcong soldiers march during a parade in Ho Chi Minh City on April 30, 2015 marking the 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon
Hoang Dinh Nam, AFP

Aylan’s photo has gone viral, evoking stunned reaction among social media users. It is to be seen how far the expressions of outrage or the mass of Facebook likes result in concrete action to resolve the situation.

Amid the mass consumption of real-life murder in action through television and social media, one question keeps haunting the writer. Will Aylan’s tragedy, mummified in a haunting image, jolt humanity’s slumbering collective consciousness to act? Will it arouse and shame our world leaders to action?

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