Today, as I’m writing this piece with my heartbeat racing to the top and hands quivering as I express my inmost sorrow for the martyrs of today’s Bacha Khan University Attack. The students, faculty members and six hundred guests were to be gathered at today’s poetic ceremony when four gunmen unexpectedly entered the premises and began firing at people. This resulted in deaths of four security guards including Dr. Hamid, a chemistry professor at the university and two students.

I, for one am tremendously saddened by these heart-wrenching incidents where each time innocent civilians are targeted. Somehow Pakistan’s government manages to overlook these crimes and come up with nonsensical narratives on live television.

Have we not learned anything from the Army Public School attack that 144 innocent children including faculty members and staff dead? Or was that not a good enough wake up call for us? The cold-blooded culprits responsible for carrying out such abhorrent attacks didn’t just kill children but tore families apart and destroyed our future generations. I implore all nationwide universities and schools to be more vigilant and careful as such attacks are often unexpected. As a nation, our government ought to take responsibility for such terrorist activities and formulate policies to curtail Taliban’s influence in Pakistan.

Pakistan has been battling terrorism for decades and very little has been done about it. Instead, our politicians blatantly talk about future negotiations with Pakistan’s TTP. Why has Taliban’s influence become an epidemic? Why is that, we Pakistanis feel intimidated by them? Shouldn’t it be the other way around? At times, these noteworthy questions are often sidelined as very few people have the audacity to speak their mind. And as much as I hate to say this, Pakistan’s government has hardly taken any preemptive measures over the years to counter domestic terrorism.

As a Pakistani, I denounce those merciless individuals perpetuating brutality to its core. I truly empathize with those families who lost their loved ones today. It is easy to tweet lovey-dovey words on Twitter or post statuses on other social networking websites, but it takes a lifetime to do something significant for this nation. Moreover, I fear that Pakistan will fail in its mission to eradicate terrorism given our government’s current disposition.