An advertisement showed on different television channels always leaves me sad. In this advertisement, some teenage boys are shown going to play football. They carry a football and seem to be very excited about their match and are shown to be laughing and talking with each other. Of these numerous boys, one is paralyzed who walks with his walking stick. When they reach near the ground, they all start running. The paralyzed boy cannot run and he is left behind but he tries his best to walk faster and not remain behind from his friends. The expressions on the face of this boy are both strange and saddening. He doesn't seem to be much frustrated rather his inner feelings of loss and irritation are overwhelmed by the feelings of joy that he draws by watching his friends play the game. And then the moral of this story appears which says that, ‘If you don’t want your children to be in the similar condition, save them from polio.’
This is one of the few means that governments and different NGOs utilize to convince the people about importance of polio vaccinations but the anti-polio thoughts are also spreading sharply. The ignorance and sentimentalism present in our society and lives of every individual is so much drastic and deep-rooted that we turn a blessing into a curse. Many decades ago, polio was not accepted as a disease at all and it was due to its nature of attacking and paralyzing a person. A child may get fever and soon end with a crippled life that would never be cured and he would lead a parasitic life, depending on his relatives for all his different needs. It was thought to be a curse of evil forces that drained the energy out of the legs of the child. Some people considered it a condemnation or punishment for any bad deed of the child or any of his family members and this was frightening enough to convince the people who had developed the habit of accepting everything shown or explained by their elders, be it religious or tribal. When such stupid perceptions were widely prevalent in our society, advanced nations of the world had invented the cure of this disease and then it was made available for all the nations of the world. It was made easily available so that all the nations of the world should join the effort to make the world free of polio. This crucial task was undertaken by the United Nations and soon many countries were declared free of this perilous disease. Number of countries with polio cases kept shrinking and then it became limited to some of the countries where so many reasons still pose a threat to completely set these countries free of polio.
Many years ago, polio vaccination campaigns were silently in progress and it was not regarded as something negative but the wave of unrest and militarism in the region, involving our country as well, getting birth as consequences of post 9-11 circumstances greatly affected this positive act for the well-being of humanity. In my opinion, keeping aside the deaths of thousands of people and economic and cultural disaster of the region, most regretful loss to the people of the countries of the region was penetration of sentimentalism and irrational behaviors in our daily lives, extending from a poor illiterate person to the educated members of the society. Once Islam was used for promotion of good feelings among the public and presented as a religion of peace but some powers used it for their heinous objectives and it became an element for committing anything wrong. More or less was the case with the polio campaign. Almost 4-5 years ago, a propaganda briskly circulated in air against polio vaccination that Non-Muslim countries added something in them (most debated was alcohol) that is very lethal for the faith of Muslims. This propaganda was so much repeated that it no more remained propaganda and was accepted as an absolute reality. People who were looking to use this occasion to talk against the West and increase their public image jumped into the arena and criticized the West for their cowardly objectives to deprive Muslims of their faith. They also criticized their accomplices in government for facilitating them in their cause. And then there was no looking behind; people had got a matter to talk about and in the society bustling with increasing hatred, it was a matter having great worth to talk about. Thanks to the social communication websites of Facebook and others where such misguided information are given and people keep sharing them without having even a tinge of reality and truth. While writing these lines, I feel both sorry and ashamed: sorry for the loss of our children and ashamed for our people who have used a religion in a way that its beautiful shape now appears ugly for everyone (if we dare to look out of our limited scenarios). I wonder how people would be laughing at us, at our thinking approaches and of course, at our religion where people are getting void of any kind of logic and rationality and this behavior is getting more and more common with every passing day.
When these misperceptions were spreading, no one dared to talk against these. Large number of influential religious scholars advised the people not to let their children to be vaccinated and some people were found to be saying these grand thoughts, ‘If something is doubtful, we should remain distant from it. And there is not present any reality about the disease of polio and its vaccination. I did not drink any such drops in my childhood and I am leading a healthy life, hahaha!’
But the actual statistics are far more frightening. Before the invention of its cure, thousands of children were paralyzed in all the countries of the world. When a country is declared free of this disease, it means that not even a single child falls victim to this crippling ailment and no one becomes a burden on the society but these facts need to be studied and discovered and sentimentalism is the biggest enemy of learning and discovery.
When we come to the blames against the polio vaccines, we fail to find any kind of trustworthy evidence against it. Till today, I have never heard or read that someone tested these vaccines in a laboratory and found the traces of alcohol or any other thing in it that is claimed by people. In the same way, no one ever dared to ask why these things were propagated when there was not present any tangible proof in this regard. If anyone has any such information, it would be a great service to the people of the region if made public on social media. If not, a clarification report would also serve the same important purpose.
Frightening news are coming from our neighboring country Pakistan where many polio-vaccinators and their security guards lost their lives due to the attacks by militant groups with anti-polio sentiments. More or less, same feelings and perceptions are getting root in our country as well and if these negative ideas were not stopped, there would be an end of polio vaccination campaigns and thousands of our children would be vulnerable to be its victim.
If our children are crippled and we bring up a generation with thousands of paralyzed members, we would do no harm for the United Nations or any nation of the world. It would be like chopping your own leg because of your stupidity and lack of rational behaviors. The scenario would change by adopting the exact reverse of the propaganda campaign; we will have to talk more and more in favor of polio campaigns if we keep dear our children.