How can you heal the wounds made in someone’s heart or recover one’s reputation after blackening it? In other words, what can soothe a mother who is saddened by the death of her child or a dignified individual who has lost his reputation?  One can neither undo the pain a person suffers nor the feelings which have been hurt. Suppose your harsh tune touches your friend’s religious beliefs, will you be able to heal his bleeding heart?

Emotional harms are not exchangeable for money. For instance, the mental effect of spraying corrosive acid on one’s face – as Taliban sprayed on the faces of schoolgirls in Kandahar – will never be erased from one’s mind, though the scar be removed and his/her face be recovered. A photo of a violence victim which was posted on the cyberspace of Facebook, revealed this fact. The woman whose nose was lopped off by her husband, for not making his favorite tea, was putting her hand on her nose. It means that watching her with sympathy will be as painful as lopping off her nose. Hence, she would suffer a deep mental pressure for being ugly. If you give her the whole world, she will not be pacified.

Suppose, sorry to say, when a rape victim loses her virginity, which happens widely in our country, can money or property undo the harm or recover her reputation? She would be labeled with bitter terms and may remain bachelor forever in the traditional society of Afghanistan. Suggesting money as compensation for the damage will rather add insult to her injury.  Her destiny has been ruined and she would hate the entire world.

There is a very meaningful proverb in Dari as, “The wound made by sword will be healed but not the wound made by word.” This saying nicely reflects two injuries and their effects. Physical injuries will be healed with the passage of time and one can pay damages, however the injuries which has hurt one’s feelings will remain forever. If you belittle a person or upset him/her by your sarcastic words, neither an apology nor money can undo the injury, though s/he apparently overlooks your mistake.

In many religions, man is considered a dignified creature. He, unlike other creatures, is born with natural rights and dignity. Therefore, nobody can violate one’s rights or disrespect him. Likewise, men are endowed with a set of rights, including the rights to life, liberty and property by Creator. If a person damages one’s property or cause him/her to sustain harm, whether intentionally or unintentionally, he must pay for it. Though, this fact is supported by man-made law, religious codes may underline it more than any other laws.

There is no doubt that damaging one’s property can be recovered by paying for. Suppose if you burn one’s home or car, you can pay for it. Or suppose a person signs a contract with a company to transport him goods at a particular time, but the company fails and deliver the goods at a later date and this delay will result in decrease of the interest rate. Or a person makes use of a company’s logo which leads to its loss; he will pay for all these damages which are called material damages. But spiritual damage or emotional harm remain controversial issues.

Regarding payment for spiritual harms, some argue that paying for the harms does not mean undoing it rather it is intended to gain the victims’ satisfaction. They further believe that even some material harms cannot be undone such as killing one’s favorite pet or ruining his/her favorite paintings.

In spite of an argument that taking money for sustaining harm such that being hurt emotionally is insulting, some argue that  demanding money for emotional injuries is not necessarily tinged with a feeling of vengeance. Additionally, irresponsibility in such cases will be unfair. Hence, some believe that one has to be paid in case of being hurt emotionally or damaged reputedly.

Over all, it is hard to believe that mental effects or emotional harms can be healed. A mother’s all claim to fame is to grow her child in the face of all difficulties. She stays awake at midnights to comfort her child, carries it twenty-four/seven, nourishes it in the best possible way, etc. Finally her child grows up and loses his/her life in an accident, terrorist attack, suicide bombings, etc. How this pain will be tolerable for the mother?

This tragedy will put an indescribable wound in the heart of the victim’s mother – and it would be too painful to erase from her memory. Her child’s picture will strike her persistently and she may always dream him/her. Nothing can soothe her anguish.

Ill-fatedly, the graph of grieve-stricken mothers is on rise in our country. In other words, losing life or sustaining injuries are the daily practices across the country. Taliban insurgents add insult to the injury of the bleeding nation with each passing day. They feel no iota of mercy in killing innocent civilians, including women and children. The painful groaning of Zubair’s mother, a 22-year-old terrorist victim, in his funeral ceremony was extremely heart-wrenching. She was railing against the government with harsh tune and wounded heart. Zubair, who was a member of media staff, was wounded in terrorist attack in Kabul, and died in hospital two days ago. Can the president’s condemnation or condolence soothe his mother? The answer is negative.