The morning of December 16, 2014 proved to be the most tragic day in our history. Terrorists attacked a school in Peshawar and shot innocent children, killed teachers and the principal of the school, burnt one of the teachers alive and exploded themselves. The innocent students, who were not even aware of the words like violence, terror, bomb blasts, explosions and conflict were victimised. All day long, the electronic and social media readily streamed the condemnations, condolences, announcements etc. The news of death toll increased with every passing minute. All political leaders grieved and condoled with the families of the martyrs.
But the fact remains that none of this can reduce the pain, the loss and the sorrows of the parents who lost their children, who lost their hope for a bright future in this brutal militant siege. At this stage in the country, when the political chaos and the war between the status quo and a lay man is at its peak, this brutality and extremism has left a number of blank spaces to be filled. Who is supposed to monitor the security and to detect the responsible figures or organisations?
At last all political figures agreed to ignore their conflicts and join hands and stand as one on bilateral dialogues but the main question is; do we have to pay such a heavy price to make them sit together and decide a better way to maintain democracy and transparency? The tears and wails of the parents and the souls of innocent children asks, will we be remembered? How many children will have to die before we realise that too many have died?
SANA MALIK,
Lahore, December 17.