In
northwest Pakistan, in the city of Peshawar located in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
– nearly 140 children and adults were shot in cold blood at an Army Public
school by militants. The Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan, better known as TTP has taken responsibility for the incident. It was distressing and disheartening to see
so many families lose their innocent children in the blink of an eye. Just imagine, on a sunny Tuesday morning, the
parents had merrily dropped off their kids only to see them return in a coffin. The emotions that this news evoked were one
of silent rage, anger and pain.
Once
I slowly detached myself from this brutal reality, I went back to being at the
centre of my being with the question, what had just happened? In order to answer this, I called upon a
friend who is a peace building and conflict resolution expert. I asked her to explain to me why the Taliban
did what they did. And, the crux of our
discussion highlighted that the Taliban are individuals who are socio-economically
displaced with severe misconceptions about their religious beliefs.
Their
only means of earning money and hope is to become “freedom fighters.” God only knows what that means to them. Out of economic desperation, they have resorted
to becoming blind to the consequences that their actions elicit. This ill can be cured and reversed if we only
show them that there is a way out of their sad situation. Give them hope and show them how good life can
be without taking any more lives. And,
that those guns are not the answer. I
think if we engage their wives and daughters and show them that there are ways
of making money honestly and fairly, and that it does not have to involve
senseless killings and revenge – in other words, appeal to their good side, we
might be able to help stop this brutal cancer from spreading and causing so
much human pain and suffering.
“My boy was
a dream and my dream was shot dead” – From Twitter - a parent who lost his son
in the Peshawar attack
