Off lately, the still photograph of ISIS militants clad in black, wielding either a Kalashnikov or knife standing behind their victims clad in orange jumpsuit keeling on the barren ground, has become all too frequent. The victims belong to various nationalities, ranging from US to UK to Japan being the latest. The mark of similarity is not only restricted to the same barren background or the carefully coordinated costume colour of the victim and the militant. What is strikingly similar is the expression on the face of all the victims. What really leaves a lasting and painfully disturbing impression is the image of the naked fear in the eye of the victims who are painfully made aware of the fact that death is awaiting just around the corner and that they are hanging on to the few precious living moments at the mercy of the Kalashnikov wielding militants. This powerfully moving imagery relayed all across the globe on account of ISIS’s access to the internet has impact at multiple levels. It once again reiterates the impact of a picture on human psychology. When you read statistics in the newspaper about the loss of human lives caught in cross fire, you are more often than not, not affected by it and often tend to ignore it terming it as “collateral damage” necessary for greater good. However, when you see these gory videos, it pulls the carpet off your feet. Numerically speaking, the number of victims may be few or far off between. But you take the loss at a personal level. You feel the pain of the victim and the family. It unnerves and disturbs you at a level you may have not imagined.
Presuming if there are no third-party string pullers who are using this militant organization for ulterior motives and presuming if there are individuals of twisted mentality who are day dreaming about establishing a medieval era’s power structures consisting of Caliphate based rule; some relevant questions are worth analysing organization. Is the ISIS smart or plainly stupid? While it certainly succeeds in drawing attention to itself by means of circulating these disturbing videos, what does it stand to achieve at any level in the long run? I hope the stalwarts behind the organization are aware of the fact that they are looked down upon as a bunch of blood sucking barbarians who operate on the basis of the most twisted ideology that has no place in the rational world. I hope that they are also aware of the fact that all that they succeed in is bringing bad name to Islam! I hope they have the common sense to understand that a Caliphate style power structure does not fit in the 21st century global geo-political world.
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