While Sitaare Zameen Par is finally out in theatres and sparking conversations about disabilities, real-life incidents continue to remind us that the problems are deeply rooted and a single film is not enough to make people truly realise how urgent and important this conversation is.
In recent news, an elderly couple and their 38-year-old son with special needs died by suicide yesterday in Kolkata due to overwhelming financial debt.
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In their suicide note, they wrote, “We are surrendering ourselves to God. We are leaving this world voluntarily.” As their final wish, they requested that all three of them be cremated together.
Investigators believe the decision was driven mainly by financial distress.
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The son, who had special needs, was also battling depression, which deeply affected his parents as well.
This heartbreaking incident forces us to look inward at the kind of society we live in.
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This country spends thousands of crores on the well-being and foreign trips of politicians, but when it comes to everyday citizens, there is no help. No social security. No safety net.
Many on social media have voiced a chilling truth- every single one of these deaths is a murder.
The cost of caring for a person with disabilities is massive, and the son wasn’t offered any proper job opportunities due to his condition.
In such a situation, how is a family supposed to cope?
It clearly reflects how the government cares more about numbers and rising statistics about wealth generation and GDP than it does about the lived reality on the ground. And that reality is far crueler than the data suggests.
Films can be powerful conversation starters but we need more than that. We need structural change, real support, and a society where dignity isn’t a luxury reserved only for the rich.
