Funeral of a War Hero: Anybody motivated?

Now, as the military operation in Swat is maturing, the number of casualties from the military side is rising. As of today, they claim that 109 soldiers have been martyred. Every now and then TV channels are broadcasting the funeral of some soldier (mostly officers) and we see similar scenes – A bunch of sobbing relatives, accompanying fellow soldiers in starched uniforms, trumpets blowing, the floral wreaths as a show off. I keep on thinking about the impact of such televised events on the people who watch it – especially the kids who think “wars are fun” (yeah, fun only when you are doing this war thingy in a video game).

Would watching a soldier’s burial in full military honor a be a motivating factor for the general public? What goes on in the mind of a common viewer when he sits in front of the TV and pays his tribute to a martyr who died in the line of duty?

Perhaps the first effect of watching a soldier’s funeral is realizing the value of ‘Freedom’. The importance of keeping it, and the costs associated when you just let fanatics to hijack it. There certainly is no greater sacrifice than one’s life so that the people they serve may feel that freedom has come back to their doorsteps.

Another thing that one can’t forget to mention is that martyrs in every society are considered holier than any other thing. Not only does a fallen soldier attains respect, but compels others to be like him. How many a times, have the younger brothers of a fallen soldiers vowed to follow the footsteps of his elder sibling, how many a times does a sobbing mother wants her other sons to be like her shaheed son?

But another set of questions one must ask himself is, “For how long will it continue?”, and “What effect will it have on the same people who keenly watch a military funeral?”

The answer to first question is a bit complicated. Once you start it, you HAVE to finish it… deserting your objectives in the middle means that you have to start all over again (if and only if you can ever start). As far as the second one is concerned, my opinion would be that prolonged casualties would make the people numb towards the casualties (yeah unless its someone close to you who gets a bullet in the neck). How long would one take interest if all you see every day is a soldier’s funeral?

And finally, our media portrays these people as nation’s “Heroes”. I fully back this statement. But what I disagree on is that when they run a slideshow of pictures of our ‘heroes’, they are all officers. Never have I seen a normal “jawan” in that slideshow. Why is it so? It’s the jawans who have taken the real toll and their life is worth equally as much as the life of a captain. It’s the junior crew who needs more support and we seem to have turned our backs towards them (atleast that’s what I get from watching the TV channels, I wish I am wrong).

Ah, I wish this operation to come to an end (after meeting its objectives, of course) and that we learn a lesson that never to let some fucking loser take control of our destiny that it takes thousands of lives to get it back.

Long live Pak Army!