Pakistan - #PeshawarAttack - Dying young

What does one say when children are mowed down while taking an examination at their school? What does one say about those who use guns, grenades and bombs to kill those children? What does one say about a country where all this happens? We are left with very little to say. There are no words strong enough to describe the horror of what happened at the Army Public School in Peshawar on Tuesday morning. All that is left behind is a deep sense of grief and hollowness as we realise that we are up against a force that lacks humanity and morality and knows only how to inflict pain – pain that for over 100 families will never go away. The militants quite clearly intended to kill as many as possible. Early reports that they may have intended to take the pupils hostage were proved incorrect. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack, and stated it was directed against the army that is killing TTP members in the tribal areas. At last count, as per ISPR, the toll at the school stood at at least 141 dead, with nearly 125 injured. Most of the victims, over 100, were children aged between 12 and 16 years. At least one suicide blast took place, claiming the maximum number of lives. Others were lost to bullets and other explosives. During the efforts to clear the school, spread over many hours, reportedly nine militants were killed with the situation complicated by the fact that they had laid land mines in some areas. The sense of horror reverberating around the country, and the world, is very genuine. The prime minister, who rushed to Peshawar, has announced a three-day national mourning. The army chief, who also cut short his trip to Quetta to reach Peshawar, met with the PM there to brief him on what details were known about what counts as among the worst terrorist attacks in our history. Certainly, children have never before been targeted in this fashion. Condemnation has come in from virtually every political and religious party while Imran Khan, describing the attack as an act of unjustifiable brutality, called off both his plan to shut down Pakistan on Thursday and his talks with the government. One does wish that Imran Khan had taken the opportunity to condemn the TTP by name rather than wonder who might have carried out this attack when the militant group had already claimed responsibility for it.International condemnation has also poured in. No one, it appears, can quite believe what has happened. But we have to stare at our ugly reflection in the mirror – and understand that this is what has happened to us; this is us – schoolchildren dying in their classrooms while taking exams. The grief stricken parents of the children who have died in Peshawar deserve for us all to pause and reflect on what we have become. So do other families who have been torn apart by terrorism. The question to be asked is: how can we make this stop? How do we keep our children safe? The military operation in NWA and other places must continue. But we need political will and political action to back it, as well as every effort to tackle the root causes that lead to such acts of terrorism. The prime minister has called a meeting in Peshawar of the leaders of all parties. Now is the time they must come together and put aside any differences of ideology or perspective. Nothing matters more than ending militancy and the brutality it has brought to our society. Nothing matters more than avoiding, for the future, the scenes we saw on Tuesday. This should be our only concern right now.