here was one thing that I swore I wouldn’t do, but this time around, I needed to break my promise. I always used to wonder why the newspapers were filled with all this negativity. It can’t be possible that amidst billions of human beings, there is only negative news that needs to be broadcast.

So, I told myself when I started writing for newspapers that I’d keep it lighthearted, something that tastes like marshmallow or lemon tart. But recent events around the globe have actually brought me down to the most hopeless situation I’ve ever felt.

I used to hate it when our elders talked about Armageddon and how the world was doomed, and there wasn’t any good left in it. The only feeling worse than that is realising that it’s actually true. Genocide is taking place before our eyes, and I wonder where is humanity and where is reason?

If you’ve read history, you know that this isn’t the first time it’s happening. But you would always think of civilisations of the past and feel they didn’t know better; that they were illiterate, or worse, that was how things were done back then: brothers killing brothers for the throne, and nations destroying others for the sake of power.

You read it in history, and you felt pity for the people who had to go through this. And every time you got asked as to how on earth the world let it happen, you’d think they didn’t have televisions to broadcast this, let alone social media for fairer reporting; and they didn’t have enough moral sense to tell right from wrong. Well, in this day and age, when even a fly would take offence if you didn’t say their gender pronouns properly, I, along with every other person in this country, am appalled at what’s being done to our fellow humans in broad daylight and with such brazenness.

In this day and age, when even a fly would take offence if you didn’t say their gender pronouns properly, I, along with every other person in this country, am appalled at what’s being done to our fellow humans in broad daylight.

The people of Palestine have the strength and patience that is God-given. May God reward them for their martyrdoms. This whole situation has been so hard on every one of us Muslims/ human beings (whoever has an iota of compassion in them). I have fallen into a state of depression. I sleep and I wake up watching the same things: bombs flying and babies dying, and I feel so helpless watching it all.

Even more so, I feel so bogged down that I’ve lost faith in humanity. This world is really all evil now. Sure, every day, little acts of kindness happen around the world, but the bad surely outweigh the good. Especially now that there are so many babies being murdered, and those who can do something about it won’t; and those who can’t, well, they are like you and me, shouting our lungs, our brains and our hearts out, demanding this to stop.

Our generation, scarred by the atrocities, is grappling with a loss of hope in humanity. Some wounds are indelible, akin to the annual remembrance of the December 16 massacre, which is something none of us will ever be able to move past either.

There’s only one thing that works for me, and I’ll tell you, hoping it does for you too: Look up in the sky, pray to Allah, and ask him to do justice, and when the world ends, burn all responsible for the massacre in hell.

The writer is an ex-serviceman and a freelancer. He can be reached at shaafayzia@gmail.com