“War is the greatest plague that can afflict humanity, it destroys religion, it destroys states, it destroys families. Any scourge is preferable to it.”

The words of Martin Luther King cant possibly make more sense for me than they do now. Being brought up in a nuclear family household I consider myself more attached to my Grandparents than most of my friends. Its something that naturally comes with living together. That is probably one of the reasons why the dawn’s story about Rehmat Noor had me twitching in pain. The pain of the elderly and the children is perhaps the hardest to overlook. Something that brings outbursts of sympathies more than the usual.

However Rehmat noor is not the only elderly woman out there. There are many among the 1.3 million Pakistani’s. A fact that can be easily overlook since we refuse to identify them as people and prefer acronyms instead. Rehmat noor’s story is no different than the other victims of war. She is old, weak and scarred by the war that has brought her life to a fatal halt.

Through the wrinkled eyes which can barely see now she recalls the horrifying flight from the terror zone. Yet her heart continues to live where it belongs, her paradise, home. I can’t even begin to imagine the same for my Grandparents, I would rather not live to see the day. But the fact is this could have very well happened to me. I can’t help but feel the pain every time I shoot a glance at her picture. I see suffering, I see pain and most of all I see helplessness. The most awful feeling is to witness pain ,helpless ,to sit idle while you can see helplessness around you. My pleas merge with the Pleas of Rehmat Noor let there be peace! Help these innocent sufferers like you would help your own! This is our chance to humanity, earn it!

Sana Saleem