Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Tuesday, March 19th, 2024

The Hero and Villain

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The Hero and Villain

There are not only individuals who shed the blood of innocents but also a number of people who sacrifice their lives to save the blood from being shed. We live in the world where heroes fight against villains and vice versa. People play their role either constructively or destructively in the society. Both selfish and selfless roles are played all around the globe.
To view the human history, human beings ushered in playing the role of protagonist and antagonist. The role of hero and villain started when Cain murdered Abel. Subsequently, their children followed in their footsteps and changed either into selfish or selfless individuals. The blood of an innocent person was spilled from the very beginning of human creation and continued throughout the history. Still we live in the world where killers and victims abound.
In other words, blood evokes a deeply historical meaning in human history – especially in Islamic culture. Human history starts with blood which divides the men. When Cain slew Abel, it was the first drop of blood shed on Earth and the first ever sin committed upon Earth but Abel was chronicled in history as one of the first believers and as the first ever martyr. The Abel’s tribe was filled with a strong feeling to avenge his death. This animosity was recorded in the heart of history and went on for centuries, yet continues. 
According to Dr. Ali Shariati, an Iranian religious intellectual, now there are two new tribes: “the Divine tribe” – which has pledged allegiance to God – and “the Devil’s tribe” – which has pledged allegiance to Satan. Still a revenge for blood continues between the two new tribes, the concept of blood has been changed, though. The Cain’s tribe still owes blood to Abel’s tribe and it is an obligation on Divine party to take revenge, as it was started in the beginning of human history. The heart of history is still bleeding and Cain is considered a murderer in the history. Shariati then adds that the tribal blood was changed into ideological blood.
With the divine and devil’s tribes, he means that men are divided into two groups: The first group plays a constructive role in the society and acts upon the words of Lords. The second, however, plays a destructive role and seeks to spill the blood of people mercilessly. Nonetheless, I do not agree with owing blood. But he uniquely points out that tribal blood has been changed into ideological blood. In the state of nature, tribalism held strong sway and people killed one another in light of tribal conflicts. In modern world, ideologies are the bone of contention and people murder one another due to ideological differences.
This drop of blood continued from the beginning of human history up to now. There are still two groups in war with each other and those who pledged allegiance to Cain, still kill the followers of Abel. Streams of blood have been spilled throughout the history and the cruelty of devil’s tribe continues unabated. That is to say, the blood oozes as a result of the cruel practices of fundamental ideologues. On the other hand, the followers of Abel seek to save people from death.
An incident in Afghanistan depicts the selfish act of a devil’s tribe and selfless act of divine tribe, to use the words of Dr. Shariati. On Thursday, an Afghan police officer hugged a suicide bomber bravely so as to save the life of civilians. The police officer, Sayed Basam Pacha, was killed as the suicide bomber detonated the explosive vest hidden under his coat. Although both the police officer and the suicide bomber were killed, the former was murdered with the sacred aim of saving people; whereas the latter was killed with the sinister objective of killing innocent individuals. The former played the role of a hero but the latter was the very villain who sought to shed blood.  In Thursday’s attack, fourteen people, including Lieutenant Pacha and seven other police officers as well as six civilians, were reportedly killed; 18 others were wounded.
Afghan soldiers play the role of heroes and their names will be perpetual not only in the history of Afghanistan but also in the hearts and minds of Afghan nation. Hugging a suicide bomber to save the nation is a great heroism and bespeaks of the fact that there are many selfless individuals who fight against the wicked. They let their blood be shed to save the blood of their nation. On the contrary, those who seek to destroy the society and choose the negative role, they will be cursed by the history and nation.
To die the death of hero, we need to do our best to respect people’s rights to life, liberty, and estate. In brief, we are doomed to play either the role of hero or villain. Otherwise, the third group is the viewers that do not take active part in the society and will be indifferent to all social, moral, and cultural issues, which is also negative.

Hujjatullah Zia is the permanent writer of the Daily Outlook Afghanistan. He can be reached at zia_hujjat@yahoo.com

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