editorial:
Readers would have noticed that this newspaper is not reporting on suicide cases as regularly as it used to till quite recently. The absence of reports on suicides has fallen not necessarily because Sikkim is recording fewer suicides, but because a editorial course correction is being undertaken on how suicides are reported in NOW! Some years ago, when a conscious decision was taken to try and report every suicide in Sikkim in the paper, it was not to fill space, but to shock readers into action. It was hoped that readers would notice the disturbing frequency with which suicides were occurring in Sikkim and that this would lead to a social response to address the situation. The people noticed, they were even shocked, but that was all. The Government made some gestures towards addressing the social challenge, but has apparently lost interest because the people don’t seem to really care because the reciprocal engagement has not materialised to direct even the feeble departmental attempts to face up to suicides. To continue reporting on suicides in the absence of a strong societal response runs the risk of just reinforcing suicidal tendencies among those already at risk.
A civil society is a powerful force and needs to get its hands dirty with some challenging social issues and not just light candles and hold up multi-colour flex banners recording their ‘support’ for the flavour of the day media event [which ‘issues’ have been reduced to. The distressing suicide rate of Sikkim, had it been the challenge imposed on a State [or city] of more responsible citizens, would have motivated NGOs working on social issues to start refocusing on the need to reach psychiatric counselling to more people at risk and the whole civil society would have started deliberating on the disturbing trend. In Sikkim, however, none of these reactions can be expected. NGOs do not even undertake plantation drives any more [because either the funds or the saplings have not been released], and are keeping busy with orientation and AIDS awareness camps not so much because these are issues that they feel strongly about, but because these are initiatives that have a funding programme supporting them. Even social engagement and commitment has become dependent on dole, and this compromises everything.
The State Government had accepted that the rising number of suicides is a matter of concern, but now, perhaps because they can sense the general disinterest, has begun ignoring the issue. But is it only the government’s lookout to do something the suicide rate? What contribution are the various quasi governmental organizations and NGOs and social organizations going to make to real concerns of the State? Let us predict the future here. The moment the powers-that-be, distressed by the somnolence in the concerned departments to the disturbing trend, crack the whip and order action, the couldn’t-care-either-way officials will organize a workshop or a series of awareness camps [fashionably pegged as ‘skill development’ efforts]. Social workers might get para-dropped into Sikkim or the usual suspects who appear to pull off everything from youth empowerment to cultural renaissance to nationalism will get re-fitted to hold forth on suicides, read out general findings on suicides and its causes to an audience of ‘volunteers’ who, if the project has funding, will go to the villages and conduct more awareness drives. None of them will make any sense because they will be using a template devised for different situations and solutions worked out for dissimilar causes. For example, what will an imported analysis on suicides among the young reveal. No matter how they word it, the experts will offer competition, peer pressure, stress and pressure to perform as the reasons that contribute to suicides by the young. How accurately would these contributing reasons fit in Sikkim’s case? Tokenism will prevail again because the people are too civil to demand better...
Readers would have noticed that this newspaper is not reporting on suicide cases as regularly as it used to till quite recently. The absence of reports on suicides has fallen not necessarily because Sikkim is recording fewer suicides, but because a editorial course correction is being undertaken on how suicides are reported in NOW! Some years ago, when a conscious decision was taken to try and report every suicide in Sikkim in the paper, it was not to fill space, but to shock readers into action. It was hoped that readers would notice the disturbing frequency with which suicides were occurring in Sikkim and that this would lead to a social response to address the situation. The people noticed, they were even shocked, but that was all. The Government made some gestures towards addressing the social challenge, but has apparently lost interest because the people don’t seem to really care because the reciprocal engagement has not materialised to direct even the feeble departmental attempts to face up to suicides. To continue reporting on suicides in the absence of a strong societal response runs the risk of just reinforcing suicidal tendencies among those already at risk.
A civil society is a powerful force and needs to get its hands dirty with some challenging social issues and not just light candles and hold up multi-colour flex banners recording their ‘support’ for the flavour of the day media event [which ‘issues’ have been reduced to. The distressing suicide rate of Sikkim, had it been the challenge imposed on a State [or city] of more responsible citizens, would have motivated NGOs working on social issues to start refocusing on the need to reach psychiatric counselling to more people at risk and the whole civil society would have started deliberating on the disturbing trend. In Sikkim, however, none of these reactions can be expected. NGOs do not even undertake plantation drives any more [because either the funds or the saplings have not been released], and are keeping busy with orientation and AIDS awareness camps not so much because these are issues that they feel strongly about, but because these are initiatives that have a funding programme supporting them. Even social engagement and commitment has become dependent on dole, and this compromises everything.
The State Government had accepted that the rising number of suicides is a matter of concern, but now, perhaps because they can sense the general disinterest, has begun ignoring the issue. But is it only the government’s lookout to do something the suicide rate? What contribution are the various quasi governmental organizations and NGOs and social organizations going to make to real concerns of the State? Let us predict the future here. The moment the powers-that-be, distressed by the somnolence in the concerned departments to the disturbing trend, crack the whip and order action, the couldn’t-care-either-way officials will organize a workshop or a series of awareness camps [fashionably pegged as ‘skill development’ efforts]. Social workers might get para-dropped into Sikkim or the usual suspects who appear to pull off everything from youth empowerment to cultural renaissance to nationalism will get re-fitted to hold forth on suicides, read out general findings on suicides and its causes to an audience of ‘volunteers’ who, if the project has funding, will go to the villages and conduct more awareness drives. None of them will make any sense because they will be using a template devised for different situations and solutions worked out for dissimilar causes. For example, what will an imported analysis on suicides among the young reveal. No matter how they word it, the experts will offer competition, peer pressure, stress and pressure to perform as the reasons that contribute to suicides by the young. How accurately would these contributing reasons fit in Sikkim’s case? Tokenism will prevail again because the people are too civil to demand better...
I’m not sure if I agree with your view that over reporting can desensitize the people on the issue of suicide. I have never been in favour of sweeping things under the carpet, especially not by the media. The media should project the social realities- however unpleasant- as they exists which glossing over them. SikkimNow could delve into serious academic studies on high incidence of suicides in the state.
ReplyDeleteIm also a great believer in patterns but I have been told that no overarching pattern has emerged so far when some kind of study on the suicides was done. I read an article somewhere written by quite an acclaimed socialist that rise in suicide cases can be correlated with rise in prosperity of a particular country. Of course, like you mentioned there cannot be a template solution for every problem and Sikkimese society for all its uniqueness may demand a different explanation. Yet, the article still goads one on to perceive these cases with the writer’s point of view. There is a view that Sikkimese people are financially more secured that most of their Indian brethren and that money is an accessible commodity in the state. What this has done is that it has made Sikkimese society an extremely aspirational one. To say that aspirational societies are shallow and beget evil in mankind is a digression which one can avoid, but despondency certainly is in preponderance in such societies. Now, Im not sure if the degree of despondency is so high that it induces people to part with their lives.
Also, I am not sure if we raise our kids properly. I personally feel- although I havn’t yet raised any kid- that we allow our kids to grow into emotionally volatile individuals. This we do through application of extremes of both pampering and spanking. Although, I must add here that Im no child psychologist, but any nurturing which assumes that generous dosage of spoiling and thrashing is surely wrong nurturing.