Dialogue: Lion scores more care than people

By SANDY BURGHAM

Last week it was reported that people from all walks of life and nationalities came to the battle-scarred Kabul Zoo to pay homage to Marjan the one-eyed lion, who, despite being old, tired, arthritic, malnourished with liver and kidney trouble, was the recipient of over a million dollars of donations to prop him up a while longer.

Unfortunately, but I must say a little predictably, Marjan promptly turned around and died of old age but, reportedly, in the company of friends and with the best medical attention around him.

It was always going to be touch and go pouring so much into a frail animal in his twilight years and one wonders if a well-placed bullet some time ago may have actually been kinder. One remembers only too well the years of sadness and suffering of our own polar bear at the Auckland Zoo who should never have been there in the first place.

I am an animal lover but also a pragmatist who understands why horses get shot on racetracks. But was I the only one who thought this was all a bit overplayed?

While Marjan was positioned as a symbol of Afghanistan's determination and endurance amid years of suffering, I question the real generosity of spirit of those altruistic donors (as well as wondering if they could have chosen a more energetic and hopeful symbol).

This is not about ignoring the plight of the detained animal but about questioning whether detained human beings might be treated with the same care and compassion.

Some people find it a lot easier supporting old animals or nameless, faceless victims in countries they have never heard of than addressing directly the suffering in their own backyards and over the neighbour's fence.

Marjan benefited not only from the interest but also the actions of compassionate supporters internationally in his final weeks. The Afghan people have not been so lucky.

While the usual groups - churches, student unions, refugee support representatives - are rooting for them, it seems their pleas for help have been largely ignored by the masses whose everyday drivel continues to top their conversation priority list.

I am sickened not only by the Australian Government's hard-line policy on illegal refugees but also by its scrappy gestures designed to ward off death by desperation.

While it must be difficult negotiating through emotional blackmail, they seem to be forgetting that these are fellow humans and many mere children. I may not understand the full intricacies of the situation and related negotiations, but the lack of compassion not only from their Prime Minister but Australasians at large is disturbing.

While an increasing number of middle Australians are starting to get vocal, many on both sides of the Tasman are still deathly quiet on the issue, as if they cannot reconcile their conscience with their xenophobia.

Maybe they simply cannot grasp what it means to lose everything and be left totally at the mercy of others, and thus it merely passes through them like just another news item.

I hear of their muttering and concern regarding what terrorists-in-waiting might be hidden amongst the Woomera ranks yet it would seem that the living conditions there might in itself serve to create a breeding ground for anti-western sentiment, particularly among the young.

Have we not been taught that breaking the cycle is the only way to restore a more hopeful future?

Who knows what seeds the silence of the masses are sowing.

While I am a little uncomfortable about opening the floodgates to refugees, I wonder if I had the misfortune to be born in a homeland such as Afghanistan if I, too, would not risk everything for the human right for freedom and dignity and encourage my kids to do so too.

Since Marjan was politically and religiously neutral he was safe to back.

And thus, while in his final days he was the luckiest Afghan in Kabul, it was even more ironic that the Germans and Russians started laying claim to him (everyone conveniently forgetting that he and his ancestors were in unnatural detainment to begin with).

Meanwhile, we speculate on the future of the sad, frustrated and exhausted Woomera youth. What will become of them should they accept an offer to return to Afghanistan with pockets lined?

But, more importantly, what if they stayed in Australia and on release from their first Australian home, found that they had a talent for playing sport?

Welcome to the social dysfunction of the West, kids.