16 December 2014. A Black Day in the history of Pakistan. A heart-wrenching, painful and wicked day in the history of humanity. The actions carried out on that day comprised of mass murder. The twist is that mass killing consisted not of armed men or soldiers prepped for war, but the targeted killing of young souls, small kids, those whose hands were void of corruption, of sins. It was the inhumane act of tarnishing the sanctity of human life, its value, and importance.

The vile act was carried out in Peshawar, in Army Public School. It was “Jihad” or something venturing over those lines. It was “Jihad” according to the Talibans responsible for this act. It was apparently a big sacrifice to please a God who seemingly wants havoc and blood of young children. As a member of this society, as a Pakistani and a Muslim, I question this act and ask for validation. Does Islam preach this? Does it allow us to become vindictive instead of forgiving, does it enforce us to practice justice or fear?

There are some questions that have left me flabbergasted; my arms weigh too much for me to stand and my heart feels numb. Even today, thinking about that incident, tears stream down my face as I realize what a huge loss it was. It was a moral and ethical blow to all humans, no matter which religion, caste or creed they belonged to.

I beg to differ from the word media spokesmen use to describe the killers and murderers. A Taliban is a student, not a terrorist. They need to brush up on their Urdu. It is a mockery to recall what the media did that day, how they hyped up the emotions of all the people, the survivors. A clear mockery was made out of those who experienced death over and over again. For people like us, the media plays a vital part in showing how conscious they are about the ratings of their channel and viewership. The media was shallow, clever and emotionless, delivering the news in a monotonous way.

How can one quietly inform the viewers that their children have been killed brutally? By adding spices to news, by not heeding to ethical guidelines?

They martyred 144 innocent kids’, students from class 1- 9, including school staff members. They used heavy guns and finished them off by firing & a suicide attack. Worst day ever in the history of Pakistan!!

A person cannot maintain positivity within or stay calm and peaceful. What role could we have asked the media to play? Should they not clarify that terrorism has no religion and repeatedly fails to understand the idea of reaching out to Heaven. What kind of a God approves of such acts? What kind of a nation sits still and indulges in a deep slumber?

After such an evil attack, one becomes quiet, silent. We start to questions our surrounding, our environment, those who swore to protect us and even those who promised our religion meant peace. What would have those young kids thought; Is God on a leave or has the Creator forgotten to control those who are not good enough for the sake of humanity!

One cannot only pay heartfelt condolences and deep sympathy. The loss of life is terrible, very sad and the untimely demise of those beautiful children who were in uniform and at school to pursue their education is terrifying. I don’t have words to console the broken parents and people dealing with the fateful incident on their face. I don’t know how to portray or react and my anger has no limits. As a student of Mass Communication I dare to ask the society for allowing such animals to preside over us.

This is the most vulnerable time for tackling Terrorism which needs urgent treatment. Yes, treatment because it is more dangerous than Ebola, AIDS and even cancer as it won’t spare a single person. We have seen the wretched face of terrorism. It won’t even have mercy on children.

Let’s hope, our children are safe, let’s make their future better and work together for it. Humanity is not limited within border and this is and should be a single religion we follow globally. Rest of the things are only personal choices. And ultimately, we are given beautiful life to enjoy, not for destruction. Aren’t we? These questions ring not only in my mind but in the minds of all my friends and acquaintances.

I hope the priceless sacrifice of the Nation will not be useless because Pakistan has been facing gun and bomb attacks for a long, it is tempting to think it will continue to muddle along, the situation never becoming so bad as to galvanize it into action. And maybe it will. But a series of attacks in and around Peshawar in the past few months should give serious pause for thought.

And for Pakistanis, the potential loss of Peshawar should be even more alarming – even a small risk of that happening should be enough to stir memories of the unthinking drift to war that led to the loss of East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, in 1971. Indian military intervention ensured Bangladesh won independence, but the origins of the conflict lay in the dissonance between Pakistan’s Punjab-dominated heartland and ethnic Bengalis; just as now there is a difference in understanding of the threat of militancy between mainly Pashtun Peshawar and the centers of power in the Punjabi cities of Lahore, Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Karachi too is suffering from violence, but Peshawar is even more vulnerable, lying next to the tribal areas.

Many of us have declared Pakistan to be on the brink so often over the years that it becomes hard to take ourselves seriously. Are we not worried about the safety of our own people, our own country for which our forefathers shed blood; blood which belonged to them and that of others too. Our country survives, doesn’t it?

And yet the steady infiltration of the Taliban into Peshawar, and their apparent ability to carry out attacks there with impunity, should worry everyone. All the more so since so many elsewhere in Pakistan are showing no signs of responding to the threat to a city barely two hours’ drive from the capital. Where are we heading? Is this what can be expected of a nation who fought for independence for the sake of rights, for morality, or religion.