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SPEAK OUT

By Azra Zeb
Fri, 02, 16

It was a dark misty winter morning, but winter never comes with its real charm for Pakhtoons. It always comes with some sort of grief. But I think I understate the case when I use the “grief” because it was not only grief but a lifelong tragedy which has effects on different generation at different times.

And once again we lost...

It was a dark misty winter morning, but winter never comes with its real charm for Pakhtoons. It always comes with some sort of grief. But I think I understate the case when I use the “grief” because it was not only grief but a lifelong tragedy which has effects on different generation at different times.

That was the morning when everyone went to their respective educational institute in the hope that some time in the future, they would be able to jobs and support their families. The martyrs of Baccha Khan University Charsada (BKUC) also went to their classes but all their dreams went to their graves with them, because of the cowardly terror attack by the Taliban.

The clock had just struck 8:30 in the morning on 20/1/16, when they once again tried to re-enact the APS tragedy. This time, however, they selected a non-army institute, BKUC and shed the blood of more than thirty innocent people including both students and university staff. But it was not only thirty lives - thirty families were devastated by this attack.

Does anyone actually know who they really are? The main thing is that they once again ruined our lives, stained our city, and tore the hearts out of the bosoms of the parents, spouses, siblings and other loved ones of those who were martyred that day.

And then our government comes with the statement that it was not as huge a disaster as APS, so we should be thankful! The condemnation statements were many, but can empty words heal their wounded hearts or bring back those precious lives? The most they can do is announce some financial help for the victims’ families, as the value of their lives can be quantified at twenty or thirty lacs.

But here the question that arises is what happened to the security and search operations? What was the result of them because there had been rumours about an imminent attack on educational institutes a week before it actually happened. In fact, the security was very tight throughout Peshawar but our enemies are so resourceful and intelligent that they can deceive our army and police and perpetrated their horrific act once again.

Another question that haunts my mind is why KPK only? Why Pakhtoons only? We should raise our voice about this matter? Why should we be the only ones to suffer? Why ever year, every month, and every week blood flows like a river in KPK?

We have no answer to these questions and we don’t even know what to do because in our childhood we were told that “pen” is the only weapon with which you can win each and every battle of life. But no, only “guns” are the original weapon which can lead us. Now, does this mean that we should give our children guns instead of pen so that they can protect themselves or should we let them stay at home?

This is a very serious issue, and the government must deal with it very seriously. We are not supposed to lose our lives each and every day and then blame the lapse in security. We should think about the loop holes and plug them, making it impossible for these Taliban to come and wreak devastation at will. Because if we fail to stop them then they will find more loop holes and one day we will lose our nation. To stop that from happening, we have to protect our citizens.