Killing and insecurity; the factor that weakens the psychological security of society

The resurgence of the mass killing of Hazaras in Afghanistan, especially in west of Kabul, besides causing of life and financial losses, has also seriously damaged the psychological security of the society.

The occurrence of each terrorist event, depending on the amount of victims it leaves behind, includes a corresponding destruction radius in the psyche of the society. In the same way, the financial damages that every terrorist event causes to the property and personal assets of citizens leave a deep impact on the economic situation and then on the mental state of people. Therefore, the result of every terrorist incident, and most importantly, the increase in the repetition of incidents, directly and indirectly affects the psyche of citizens and members of the society and disrupts the social order.

As an example, if the recent terrorist incident targeting a passenger bus in west of Kabul is considered, in the first step, the killing of five young people, each of whom was in an important stage of life, and perhaps the only hope and desire for their families, in addition to being deprived of the right to live and rushing towards destruction, at least dozens of other families with whom they had causal and relative kinship were mourned and imposed huge psychological pressure on them. The psychological impact caused by the grief of losing a young family member may remain in the minds of relatives for many years and may even lead to severe mental disorder, depression, anxiety and despair in life and destroy a person’s destiny.

Another consequence of terrorist attacks is the disabilities caused by these events. People who lose their body parts and their ability to perform daily tasks and go to work and duty, suffer serious and long-term, even permanent psychological damages and their families are in a similar situation.

From economic point of view, the devastating consequences can be imagined. All the families who have lost their breadwinners or their sources of income have been destroyed, due to the increasing poverty and the deep economic crisis that dominates the country; they are in a very chaotic and unimaginable economic situation and finally facing with a psychological security crisis.

In addition to these issues, what affects the society as a whole more than the above is the general fear and anxiety that dominates the society. With the increase in the frequency of terrorist explosions, a kind of nationwide fear pervades the society and everyone is in a situation where they carry fear with them at every moment of life and make decisions and actions in all matters of life based on the fear they feel in themselves. This is where psychological insecurity is formed and strengthened in the society, as a result of which people’s comfort and personal security are endangered. In this situation, insecurity, helplessness, loneliness, isolation and the feeling of no one comes to people and puts them in a situation where, due to their inability to make decisions and facing wide doubts, they are unable to pursue their goals, develop their talents, and maintain and expand. Social relationships are not done with other people as well. Terrorist incidents and mass killings of Hazaras, in addition to the fact that it causes casualties and financial and life losses and inflicts heavy blows on the society, also starts a kind of psychological war, so that it can target the psyche of the society as well  and finally destroy the target society from the ground up.

In this way, protecting the society both physically and psychologically is very important. This issue is one of the very clear and definite duties and obligations of the government that governs the society and manages the affairs. The caretaker government should, understand the importance of the issue and consider the indisputable right of Hazaras to live in Afghanistan, take very serious security measures so that the Hazara community does not experience more genocide and targeted killings and they can live peacefully as citizens of this land and live away from fear.