I was sitting in my
office, looking for partners for an upcoming event on social media, when my
Twitter feed started to report the attack on Army Public School in Peshawar.
The initial reaction of ‘here we go
again’ soon changed to the numbing shock that still hasn’t worn off.
The maximum age of the
children targeted was 16 years.
How can anyone do this to
children? No doctrine, no cause, nothing
can justify this act of brutality.
Animals are capable of
showing more mercy than this. Time and again you come across stories of animals
caring for the cubs of a different specie and domestic pets are seen opting a
protective role towards the children of the house.
No parent should have to
bury their child. There is no closure. They carry the scars for the rest of
their lives and no words or gesture can even come close to what they are going
through. With time other people will move on, like they always do, but the
memory of this nightmare will stay fresh forever in the eyes of those who lost
their loved ones.
This is not the first
time that we have been hit by the extremists. The previous incidents are no
less brutal. We are a classic depiction of the quote ‘A single death is a
tragedy, a millions deaths is a statistic’. Our constant state of amnesia has
not helped the situation any further. After every incident there is an outburst
from every quarter for a few days and then it is back to normal until the next
carnage that leaves a number of dead bodies and a larger number of living dead.
For how long can the
threshold be tested?
The Peshawar attack saw
that threshold broken. People who until now have taken these incidents with a
straight face broke down. Those who refused to leave this country in their
prime and clenched to optimism and hope, talked about looking for a future
outside Pakistan.
This feeling of
helplessness and anger are leading to despair. The powers to be are as always
no help. There is a lot of noise but no actual work. The moratorium on death
penalty was lifted and welcomed. However, in the same period known terrorists are
given bail and individuals like Shafqat Hussain, arrested at the age of 14 and confessed
under torture are being sentenced to death. Meanwhile, the Interior Minister
wants the general public to step up and report people who are buying too many
rotis at the same time or paying less rent than the going rate.
Where is a substantial
National Security Policy?
The only sign of hope if
any comes from the likes of Jibran Nasir from the civil society, who have taken
a stand against the use of our religion to spread hate speech. Compared to all
the reactions, only this one seems to be in the right direction. The impact of
this campaign is yet to be seen but in this state of utter helplessness,
efforts like these are the only windows of hope. Is it too much to ask that the
State provides them the security against threats?
Let us never forget.
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