“Suffering in Silence” – Documentary on drone victims screened

In 2006, the first drone strike in Pakistan killed 82 children in a religious school (locally called madrassah) and the world didn’t cry. It was taken as a counter terrorism practice and it is continued till the day. There has been complete absence of empathy for civilian victims of war on terror.

This was lamented by Aisha Ghazi, a UK-based Pakistani writer and activist, who has painstakingly researched the suffering of the people living in FATA and has highlighted the psychological impact of drones and the controversial war on terror on the community in North West Pakistan, the intensified feelings of revenge in youngsters and its after effect on overall society in Pakistan.

She was speaking at the screening of her documentary “Suffering in Silence” at the Institute of Policy Studies, Islamabad on Sunday, Dec 1st, 2013.

The screening was hosted by IPS LEAD – the Learning, Excellence & Development Program of IPS – in collaboration with Positive Pakistan, a youth organization with country-wide representation.

The event was addressed by DG-IPS Khalid Rahman, senior journalist Mohsin Raza Khan, senior IPS associate Brigadier (retd) Said Nazir Mohmand, and Abid Khari, president, Positive Pakistan.

DG-IPS said that in the present age of information, where perceptions were deemed more important than the reality, the humanitarian aspects of the drone victims were kept hidden from the masses. He said the documentary was a praiseworthy effort from the director as it presented the hidden side of this war of narratives.