Sir, - Why are we not allowed to acknowledge the suffering of one group of people without being attacked for "denying" that of an opposing group?
One can't point out that some men are beaten in their homes without being attacked for not acknowledging female victims of domestic abuse. Similarly, one can't acknowledge or speak of the suffering of the Tibetan people at the hands of the Chinese without being accused of attacking the many lovely Chinese people of someone else's experience. Other examples include the inability of anyone to acknowledge the suffering of German men, women and children following the second World War without being almost accused of denying the Holocaust. Or the inability to acknowledge the suffering of Iraqi people at the hands of the UN/US without being strongly reminded of Saddam Hussein's crimes against his people.
In my own experience, it seems impossible to comment on the suffering caused to any community in the North of this island without seriously offending the "real" victims. Does anyone have any idea why people are like that? - Yours, etc.,
Petra Woods, Eglinton Road, Dublin 4,