Suicide – an easy practice in Pakistan?

Why are so many suicides taking place for what seem to be trivial reasons all across the country?

Khadija Husain December 30, 2010
Being privileged enough to have access to a number of wire services, I stumbled upon a rather disturbing figure: There were at least 10 suicides this week across Pakistan according to these sources alone.

The reasons for suicide were varied. A 22-year-old swallowed poisonous pills due to a domestic dispute, a young man took his life after killing two women and injuring four others over a matrimonial dispute, a security guard shooting himself within the limits of Bahadurabad police station because he wanted to marry someone, and a youth committing suicide after being reprimanded by his parents in Sahiwal.

The reason for this blog is not to put forward some kind of thesis on why these suicides are happening. It’s only to ask why so many suicides are happening for what may seem to be trivial reasons – apart from the terrorist suicide attacks that have become a regular aspect of our lives.

Has giving up your life become that easy in our country? Or have situations in the country just forced them to?

A man tortured his wife to death and then committed suicide. The reason given was poverty. The man was a tailor and was depressed because load shedding had ruined his business. So he gave a small amount of poison to his wife – torturing her to death – and then committed suicide himself.

Recently, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has been bombarded with terror attacks, and the incident of a blast near a school bus in Peshawar, which killed the driver and wounded at least two children, is just one out of the numerous tragedies.

I wonder what the psychological situation of the province is. Do their children grow up accepting violence as a way of life when their own school buses are in peril? And the violence is not limited to that province – it extends countrywide and has led to a situation where everyone has become immune to people to dying around them.

The only consolation which one seems to be getting is the fluff words of politicians which really amount to nothing at the end of the day...
WRITTEN BY:
Khadija Husain A graduate from the Lahore University of Management Sciences
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (5)

Usama Zafar | 13 years ago | Reply I certainly have become immune to people dying around me. Even when I hear about the death of some close relative or family friends I don't feel any grief or sorrow at all...
Sana Saleem | 13 years ago | Reply It is a day by day Increasing problem of Pakistan. There is poverty every where in Pakistan except for some people. People here are distressed and so many issues remain unresolved in ones life, so one thinks of committing suicide as getting rid of all that !
VIEW MORE COMMENTS
Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ