Suicide is a serious phenomenon that is condemned by every religion and ethic of the world. The definition of suicide, according to the Oxford English dictionary is an intentional act of terminating one’s life due to certain circumstances beyond the normal thinking capacity of a human being.
The word suicide comes from two Latin words Sui (of oneself) and Cidium (killing).Suicide cases have become one of the common causes of death in various parts of world. As a matter of fact, the phenomenon of suicide has greatly increased over the past few years in the entire world. Our Kashmir valley, which once had the lowestsuicide rates in the region, has seen manifold increase in the suicide rates in the past two decades on account of turmoil.
World Health Organisation (WHO) data states that approximately one million cases of suicide are recorded annually world over. Every 40 seconds, somebody dies by suicide.
Pertinently, Kashmir’s suicide rate has increased 40-fold since militancy broke out over two decades ago, many researchers probing psychiatric disorders here have noted this veracity .As a matter of fact, suicide rates in Kashmir valley were almost zero before the breakout of violent conflict since 1989. Since then, there has. As a matter of fact, on the very first day of 2015, when people were busy celebrating , wishing each other happiness and prosperity and on that day four persons attempted to commit suicide in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
Three persons according to hospital sources breathed their last while a girl who also attempted to end her life is in critical condition. Even in last year there has been a very noticeable spurt in suicides contuning the trend of rising suicides in the past 22 years.
But this abnormal increase in suicide rate has sounded alarm bells among the sane corners of Kashmiri society. Suicides among women are growing at much alarming pace. Some voices blame loss of patience and financial distress being responsible for this spurt in women suicide while others believe brutalities of men towards women and lack of opportunities responsible for increase in suicide among women of Kashmir.
We as a nation of Kashmir need to understand that life is a priceless gift from God. Even when a human being has no material belongings, life will still be possessed. In light of these observations, it is very logical and ethical to believe committing suicide is awful because you are always better off than someone else out there. Why would you want to throw your life away?.
All the voices of sanity in Kashmir should engage in brainstorming sessions to put an end to menace of suicides which is harming our national fabric.