On Spectatorship

One of the most persistent social problems in Pakistan is not simply cruelty or neglect. It is spectatorship. We have become remarkably good at witnessing suffering while believing that responsibility belongs to someone else.

Whether it is an injured animal on the roadside or a distressing video circulating online, our first instinct is often to watch, record, share and move on. The assumption that someone else will intervene has become one of the most effective ways injustice is allowed to persist.

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